We Don't Do Winter or Summer!: Provence

Our interest in Aix-en-Provence is what led us to this entire European trip...and that interest was sparked by a travel brochure I received 5 years ago titled Provence: Adventures in International Living. It described a 4-week spring trip to Aix-en-Provence (a major city in the district of Provence) that included living independently in an apartment, 3 hours of French lessons each weekday, Friday evening get-togethers with other members of the trip, a few dinners out, and weekend trips to surrounding sites. There were also options for cooking lessons, art appreciation, and architecture classes. I was hooked. Thinking this trip would be offered again in the future, we simply waited for it to be offered at a more appropriate time for us. We waited and waited. Unfortunately, that trip was never offered again...even after I approached the tour company directly and said PRETTY PLEASE!

So, we decided to create our own version--the 2-½ month trip to Southern Europe that we have shared with you through this blog. Our trip reduced the time in Provence to 2 weeks and eliminated the French language lessons. Both were mistakes on our part. We would have enjoyed more time in Provence and some French skills would have been very helpful. Still, we had an absolutely fantastic time exploring this beautiful area of France...reminiscent of A Year in Provence by Peter Mayle who made the area famous.

We stayed in a cute little apartment in the historic center of Aix-en-Provence (Aix is a little smaller than Boise). It was a one-bedroom with a kitchen/dining area looking out to a large patio/garden area. We enjoyed the sunshine flowing through the dining room windows, but the mosquitos prevented us from spending much time on the patio. (The mosquitos didn’t bother us anywhere else in Aix—only on the patio due to sitting water.). As per our pattern, we spent the first day in Aix exploring our surroundings and stocking the refrigerator and pantry (once again, we do most of our cooking at home). The historic district of Aix has narrow winding streets, tons of cafes and shops, galleries and open-air markets.

The street where we lived

Our front door

Our back patio...lots of sunshine

The open-air market. They also have grocery stores.

Typical streets in Aix

We did a few excursions out of Aix into the countryside. One day we hopped a bus in the hope of doing some hiking in Saint Victoire National Park. Instead, we found ourselves in the middle of a Harvest Festival in Puyloubier where free wine, snacks and entertainment were being offered in the town square. Needless to say, we didn't do the hiking...but had a great day.

Saint Victoire mountain and park

Another day, we took a tour to nearby hill towns (one of which Peter Mayle lived in until he died a year or so ago). It was a great day of seeing 5 very different small villages in the hills northeast of Aix. We have chosen one to live in depending on next year’s election outcome. You all would love it too...so plan on visiting us if we make the move.

Lourmarin

Narrow street in Lourmarin

Roussillon, known for its ochre-pigmented soils

Street in Roussillon

Fontaine-de-Vaucluse, a small town with the largest spring in France.
Source of the Sorgue River

Gordes Village

Ile-Sur-la-Sorgue known for water wheels

A couple of days later, we did half-day wine tasting tour of two estates. Lots of fun getting to see how the French “do” wines. They have mastered organic wines after all these years. We have not yet done so in the U.S. Their way of naming wines is determined by the region in which they are grown rather than the dominant grape variety (as ours) and they have a lot of rules about what they can and cannot do to produce a bottle of wine. We really enjoyed the wines we tasted and bought a couple of bottles. Since each estate produces only small quantities of wine, it’s almost impossible to find the wines outside the region.

Roger learning about wines

Vineyard on side of Saint Victoire

Tasting is fun!

We took two other trips into the surrounding areas, one to Avignon by bus and one to Cassis (a coastal city famous for calanques and their white wine). Avignon is the city that the Pope lived in during the 14th century when Rome was in chaos. The Pope's Palace is the big attraction here. But we also enjoyed the Rhone River that flows on one side of the city and the quaint tiny streets in the historic district.

Avignon on the Rhône River

On the Rhône

Historic bridge on Rhône

The Pope’s Palace

Our last trip from Aix was a tour to the Cassis, a village on the coast known best for nearby the calanques (gorgeous aqua-colored inlets in the rocky coastline protected by a national park) and for the white wine it produces. We tasted the wine and took a boat to see the calanques.