A Window of Opportunity

 

Heading to France for several weeks.  Three weeks in Paris with two of my friends and then Mr. B will join me and we will take the TGV to Avignon where we will rent a car and travel through the South of France for several weeks before returning to Paris. 

Hope you will join me for the journey!

Cracker of a Day

Song - Autumn Leaves by Nat King Cole

A few photos from the garden and travels this year......

"I would rather sit on a pumpkin and have it all to myself, 

than be crowded on a velvet cushion."

--Henry David Thoreau

Friends, Romans and Countrymen - Day 20

Video - Les Grands Jeux Romains 2018

This post is taken from my French travel journal and my trip through Southern France in April 2018.  For some reason my iPad and Blog were not communicating at the time so I was unable to write posts. At home I am able to blog "post" travel! Thanks for joining me on the journey!

 Got off to a bit of a late start this morning but we enjoy listening to various street musicians who play most everyday as we walk to our car park.  This morning it was a man playing the saxophone beautifully and with great passion at the steps to the Popes Palace!

 We pass by Pont d'Avignon on our way out of our car park and was built in the 1100's.

We are enjoying the trip to Nimes along a little country road when we came across this chapel.  We remembered it from a trip we took many years ago.  La Chappelle Saint Laurent near Jonquieres is a Medieval chapel and was recently renovated. Nice time to take a break and stretch our legs.

Nimes is a lot bigger than we remembered and the town was filled with people - actually a ton of people for a weekday.  We finally find Centre Ville and a parking spot.  Walking over to the Roman Arena we pass a couple of ......pirate boats? 

There is noise coming from the arena and I am thinking they are testing a sound system for a concert. Maybe the Rolling Stones?

 As we rounded the Roman Arena we run into........

......Romans............country people with sticks & rakes............Gladiators.............oh my!

They are practicing for a weekend re-enactment of Spartacus. My understanding is that Spartacus (111-71BC) was a Roman soldier that deserted and became enslaved and eventually escaped with 70 other slaves. 

Even Julius Caesar was there! Holy cow!

 I'm enthralled but Le Mr. B thought it felt too much like a Pirate Faire so we found a restaurant across the street for lunch - La Grand Cafe!

We had plans to go to Musee Calvet in Avignon late that afternoon as it was our last night in Provence. So we purchased a few post cards and walked around the arena enjoying the sights.

Why? 

Oh my!

I guess even girls in chains need their ciggy breaks.....

Unfortunately I got my museum closing time wrong and they were just closing down when we arrived.  So we enjoyed some free time in Avignon and returned to our hotel to freshen up before dinner at Restaurant des Teinturiers.

Mr. B had phoned this restaurant three different times.  On Wednesday they said that they were not open that night and on Thursday when we had reservations, the restaurant called to say they had an urgent matter to deal with - so Friday night was our last chance to experience this restaurant. Mr. B had read great reviews of this place and they had become phone friends exchanging their messages.

 

The chef, Ollivier Guillaume came out to greet us and to thank us 

in our perseverance in getting a table.  He explained to us that his wife had just had a baby and needed him at home.  Later he brought out photos of his beautiful family. He was so kind that I asked him if I could take a photo in front of his restaurant to paint!

 Mr. B had a seven hour cooked veal with polenta sticks.

 And I had foie gras ravioli in a  mushroom and truffle cream sauce. Talk about a heart attack!!!

 It was so incredible that we licked our plates............

 ....and were in awe of this beautiful evening and wonderful food.

 Dessert was a berry cobbler with ice cream, caramel sauce and fresh berries.

 While strolling back home we stopped for a glass of wine and a little music.

This poster was in a window and it's what Mr. B's face looked like that night!

 Delighted!

 "A tree is known by it's fruit; a man by his deeds. 

A good deed is never lost;

he who sows courtesy reaps friendship,

and he who plants kindness

gathers love." 

--Saint Basil

Becoming Vincent - Day 18

Song - Vincent by Don McLean

Mr. B and I have breakfast at his favorite patisserie in Avignon.....maybe in all of France - "Festival des Glaces".  He loves the food but also the waiters.

This is "fast food" in France - good ingredients and well made!

Our next stop is the TGV station in Avignon to see if we can get a train on Friday to Paris as it seems they will be striking on Saturday which is the day we have tickets.  After a lot of waiting it was determined that there was not availability on Friday in any class cabin.  So we find out that it just may be possible that our current train might be running on Saturday but we will have to come in again tomorrow to check......

So off to Saint-Remy-de-Provence to see the hospital-asylum where Vincent Van Gogh stayed and where he painted many of his famous paintings overlooking the Alpilles.

The ancient olive grove is still there.....

The hospital is now called Vincent Van Gogh Monastery Saint-Paul and is just outside of Saint-Remy. If you go through Saint-Remy on a Wednesday as we did, prepare for a lot of traffic and detours as it is a huge market day in town. I have heard it is exceptional and next trip plan to partake!

Me and my friend!

The chapel next to the hospital

The cloisters

 Vincent's bedroom

 Above are the tubs that they used for "shock treatment" in the 1800's.  They would place the patient in the tub, cover them with the board and then poor ice water inside. Yikes!

The iris, rose & lavender garden in the back.

The path back to our car

 It was peaceful, quiet, simple and no crowds.

Right next to the hospital is the ancient Roman site "Glanum".  We have been here before and we had several more adventures on this day so I just took a photo from the car.

 We were headed to Gordes but stopped for lunch in the old part of Cavaillon - Mr. B says it is famous for it's cantaloupe. I did not know that!

 I had a small little salad.........and finally learned the word for a drinking straw - "paille" which sounds like a combination between pie and pay.

 And Mr. B enjoyed fish with basil sauce......

This is town of Gordes and there is a little pull out on the road before you arrive so you may take photos and enjoy the view of this amazing cliff-side town. It was a beautiful warm day and we found a little shop to purchase several Provencal tablecloths to bring home.

The shopkeeper was very nice and so appreciative of  Mr. B's French. He showed us a walking tour of Gordes which we only did a portion of because it was so steep - duh - the town is on a cliff.  Also, we wanted to get over to the Abbaye de Senanque before they closed.

 Ten minutes from Gordes is the Abbaye and although the lavender isn't blooming right now (July - Aug.) it is still an amazing place to visit. 

 It has been a Cistercian Monastery since 1128.

 And it still is a working community today.  The monks bake bread, plant vegetable gardens, tend to honey bee hives, and grow lavender for a livelihood. 

 The cloisters

 You can take a tour but if you do make sure afterwards you go into the rear chapel during services so you can hear the monks sing.  It will bring tears.  Be sure to check their website for times, fees and dress codes.

Click HERE to enjoy.

The bight red poppies were just beginning to bloom and it was hard to snap a photo even when Mr. B slowed down for me!

We stumbled across a great place for dinner that had baked potatoes for a side dish which made us feel like celebrating!

 Mr. B had their generous portion of steak........

 ......while I dined on their generous portion of duck!

L'Ardoise has a 14 century wine cellar below the restaurant with a well which Mr. B toured with one of the waitresses.

Luckily he returned to moi!

"Great things are done by a series of 

small things brought together." 

 --Vincent Van Gogh