After yesterday's adventure on the road we opted for a low-key day of doing laundry and shopping...yes, we have days like that here too. Lionel took part of his day off to lead us into the nearby town of Chateaurenard to the laundry, then drove us to the big U Super where his daughter works to shop, while he refilled the empty propane tank for our burners. He works at Mr. Bricolage (the French version of Home Depot) in St. Remy. Valerie stays at home with the two dogs, a Jack Russell named "Iam" and a long-haired Chihuahua named "Djesy". They are always looking for a chance to get into our suite, sniffing around for food. Iam eats olive pits and gravel!
We explored St. Remy, strolled through the fields that inspired Van Gogh in his last year, the ruins of Glanum, the Roman remains, and found a path to climb in the afternoon.
May 18: Les Baux
We ventured a little further south today to the Carrieres de Lumieres at Les Baux. The multimedia show projected onto the walls of an old quarry cut out of the limestone, featured the art of Marc Chagall.
In the morning we braved the crowds at the weekly market where every product imaginable seemed to be for sale, but local specialties were the most popular: cheese, olive oil and olives, tapenades, wines, soaps from Marseille, lavender......
May 19:. The Luberon
About 50 kms from here lie the hill towns and sensuous landscapes of A Year in Provence fame. We put in a long day exploring a number of them: Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, its ancient water wheels formerly used for grinding flour, then for the paper and textile industries; Fontaine-de-Vaucluse where the River Sorgue is at its most powerful and there is still a working paper mill (tho the main industry seems to be tourist parking); Village des Bories on a twisty stone-bordered dirt road to see mortar-free beehive-shaped stone huts built during the bronze age and inhabited by shepherds until 1839; the tiered honey-coloured village of Gordes; Joucas where we walked above the town for a sweeping view of the valley; and Roussillon, probably the prettiest of all with its ochre cliffs and houses. On the way back we found Pont Julien dating back 2000 years when Roman armies crossed it on the main road from northern Italy to Provence.
water wheel 
Gordes
Roussillon
Pont JulienMay 20:. Orange
Not the colour, not the fruit, but the town with its Theatre Antique, the best preserved in existence, built during Augustus Caesar's time. It's still used for performances today as the sound is so good and it seats 10,000. The audio guides and visual presentations were very informative and we spent half a day there and at the museum and the Roman Arc de Triomphe. Of course driving there and back, through the vineyards of Chateauneuf-du-Pape and Avignon, made it a full day. We caught glimpses of the Palais des Papes and Pont Saint Benezet on our way back through Avignon.
May 21:. Aix-en-Provence
Finally a hot day! And a one destination day, about 75 km. through canopies of plane trees along straight, fast roads to the sophisticated city of name-brand shops, including a huge Apple store. We were lucky to find parking within a kilometre of Vieil Aix as it was market day. It is amazing how many cars can be squeezed into parking spots along narrow streets never meant for cars. Everywhere the parking lots give you about 90 minutes free parking at mid day when the shops are closed plus a free 30 minutes to start so if you arrive close to noon you get two hours of free parking. They even add your free time on so you can use it after 2:00. Today's parking space was so small Jim had to manoeuvre back and forth to fit in, then you have to pull your mirrors in. Anyway, we finally got to the fashionable Cours Mirabeau with its Fontaine de la Rotonde and had a stroll through town with lunch on the Plaza Richelme. I had paella and Jim had Salade Nicoise and chicken brochettes served with the usual fat-saturated fries. You'd think a country with a dish named after them would do a better job.
Driving back the same route we stopped for some local melons and wine at a roadside stand. The French are every bit as good at upselling as North Americans as we bought three melons when I was only planning to buy one, but they were different stages of ripeness. Ummmm, they smell good. The Madame gave us samples of the melons as well as the wine, so who could say no. And her English was perfect. Today was as close as we're going to get to the Mediterranean. No oceans for us on this trip.
Valerie and Lionel went out this evening so we took advantage of having no dogs around, jumping up on our laps to have our light evening meal outside at the picnic table just before sunset. A very pleasant day.
Sunday, May 22: Pont du Guard
Our last day in Provence and again a single destination, driving west and north of Avignon to the 3-tiered aqueduct the Romans built to transport water from Uzes to Nimes. We also had a good walk along some paths by the river and above the Pont.
A short distance away are the dramatic Gorges du Gardon where people canoe down the River Gard.
Tonight Valerie and Lionel invited us over for drinks and hors d'oeuvres to say bon voyage as we're off tomorrow morning. Valerie makes a terrific tapenade and I tried some pastis, the anise aperitif from the region. We had the first steady rain this evening.
There are so many wonderful places to visit in this region and one week is not nearly enough. Tomorrow night we'll be near Lyon and the following day we arrive in Bourges, two long days of travel.
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