My Travel Blog
Today we decided to do a bit of exploring and checked out the town of St. Remy du Provence and the archaeological site of Glanum. St. Remy is well known to many as where Van Gogh lived in the Saint-Paul asylum and painted many of his (now) very well known paintings. It is only about 20 minutes from where we are staying, and so it was a very easy drive on narrow roads through fields and fields of sunflowers. Van Gogh had a special interest in the flora around this region, and it’s easy to understand why artists are drawn to this area. There is a softness to the light here, and the weather makes for such gorgeously lush flowers and vegetation.
St. Remy was a cute little town with the requisite shops and restaurants, so after a lunch of GIGANTIC salads (no joke, they were huge!) we strolled through the alleys while the kids ate ice cream and Jeff and I enjoyed café crèmes. In a fairly unremarkable alley with narrow passageways, Jeff noticed a sign high up on a building. 
Normally I am the nerdy one who wants to read every single sign, but this one missed my attention. It turned out to be the house where Nostradamus was born in 1503! Can you imagine that?? In that exact spot 511 years ago… boggling. Feeling like we’d gained at least one informative and educational tidbit we headed to the car and drove a few minutes up the road to Glanum.
Glanum was fascinating – it became a Roman colony during Augustus’ reign somewhere between 63 BC and 14 AD. Seriously? And it was impressive… I can’t believe the level of complexity and innovation they had back then. Bath houses with cold, warm, and hot pools, a steam room and a swimming pool; a market, temple, basilica, Roman forum and many large and elaborate two story houses. Mechanisms for keeping fresh water away from waste water… all things that many countries can’t figure out in the modern world! I’ve visited many old ruins in various countries and I am always impressed – it never gets old to me! (No pun intended. Well, kinda.)
There was a lot to see and explore, but it was very hot and sunny and the kids weren’t enjoying the experience as much as the adults were. I randomly threw capfuls of water at their heads which would temporarily placate them, but eventually we called it a day and aimed for home. We did, however, go into a gigantic supermarket on the way back – the French equivalent of a Super Walmart. How exciting! I was overcome by the Boursin cheese aisle (Fig and Walnut… omg) and we stocked up on some basic provisions for the rest of the week. Feeling like that was enough excitement for the day we came back to our apartment where we sat on the veranda eating a platter of cheese, olives and salami and enjoyed doing nothing. (Nothing = reading, snoozing, and blogging.)
Dinner was at a cute little pizza place (I know, I know… we aren’t in Italy). It was recommended to us by the guy that checked us in to our apartment – and it definitely delivered! It was on a quiet, nondescript street with (no!) smokers and had the delightful occasional whiff of lavender blow by. All in all, it was very relaxing, delicious, and perfect. A few dogs got in a slight territorial stand-off, but that’s life and who can blame a dog for wanting to stake out its territory. No pee was involved in the dispute.
PS – Interesting thought of the day. Why do the French have colored toilet paper? It’s either white with a strange pattern on it, or it is solid pink. I find this disconcerting! Do they think our toilet paper is boring? (This is a photo of the toilet paper in our apartment. What’s up with that??)
Absolute perfection. This is the place we have in our minds when we think of old, historic France; cobbled roads, quiet streets, and warm people. When I booked this apartment I had high hopes but tried not to expect too much (there’s no need for extra-anticipatory disappointment!) and this place has more than delivered. The town itself is quaint, but quite small and sleepy – its real draw is being smack in the middle of the major historical towns of Nîmes, Arles, and Avignon. We did a road trip to this area 5 years ago and hit all 3 cities in one very long day, and all 3 of them struck a chord with us. So much so, that because of that we specifically looked for a place in this area to capitalize on the amazing history all around us.
The apartment itself is spectacular. We are built in to the side of a rampart leading up to the ‘back door’ of a castle. As I sit and type this on our top floor veranda I hear nothing but the sound of crickets and look over the vista of this amazing spot we call home for the next week. This place looks unassuming from the outside, but once inside you are greeted with a huge living room, kitchen, and full bathroom. An old stone staircase takes you upstairs to a large area surrounded by comfy (yet historic) looking chairs with tables filled with art books and other interesting pieces, off of which are two bedrooms and another full bathroom. This owner takes some serious pride in his place and it really shows. 
And then the veranda at the top of another stone staircase… what a treat! Multiple chairs and tables and a hammock surrounded by very, very old stone walls. Makes me wonder who put the mortar between these very irregular stones hundreds of years ago.
Getting here yesterday from Paris was a breeze. We left the apartment, had a nice lunch, and then headed to Gare Lyon where we had a train booked to Marseille. We have taken this route before and it’s a very easy 3.5 hour high speed train on which I ate a croque monsieur washed down with some Burgundy wine. Umm, that’s the way to travel!! We picked up our rental car and patted ourselves on the back for only bring carry-on sized suitcases because our trunk was fully maxed out. I wonder how many people get there and try and figure out how to carry all the people AND the luggage. My computer bag had to sit under my feet because it couldn’t fit in the trunk! It’s times like these that I am thankful that we are all on board with this carry-on only policy. Oh, and also when we are dragging our bags down the street and up and down the metro stairs… having older children now make that a lot easier!
Jet lag has been virtually non-existent for us, aside from the very first day. The kids slept about 2 hours each on the plane, I slept about an hour, and I think Jeff may have snuck in 4 minutes of shut-eye. So…, we were a tad sleepy upon arrival, but the excitement usually gives enough adrenaline to carry us through the day. We landed in Paris around noon and didn’t go to sleep that night until about 9:30 pm. I win the record because that night I slept straight through until 9 am, while Jeff was up at 5:30 and the girls were up at 6:30. They were very nice and quiet and played Rummy in the living room until I roused from my slumber. I felt great that day, and only Jeff had a nap that afternoon – the kids stayed up until about 9 and then slept straight through until almost 10 am! Last night we went to bed normally and woke up super late (like teenagers, it was 11 am!). Anyway, we feel great and are ready to hit the ground running. I feel strongly that the key is not to nap if you can avoid it, and if you do you have to keep it to less than an hour. It works for us, and I would be scared to try otherwise!
Last night we walked down to a little restaurant for dinner and were treated to a beautiful lightning display accompanied by a torrential downpour. We ate outside under an awning and it was warm and beautiful despite the weather. Actually, the weather added interest and excitement as we felt like we were crazy people living on the edge. ;) We weren’t the only ones, as apparently insane rain doesn’t stop people from eating outside! I think we are wimps in North America. (PS – the photo is of the amuse bouche they gave us at the restaurant – melon basil gazpacho. The kids thought it was ‘okay’, but Jeff and I loved it. I particularly enjoyed the shot glass and mini spoon it came with! This picture is a shout out to my sister who requested food photos. Hi Candice!)
After finally rousing ourselves from our beds this morning we walked down to the market to get provisions for the week. We were excited to hear that Sunday is market day here – how convenient! We stocked up on fruit, veggies, olives and tapenades and came home for a makeshift lunch. And now, on this lazy afternoon I look around and there are two adults on their computers, one child engrossed in a book, and the other child doing a quiz called “Are you Sun Smart?” from a magazine. To each their own!
I look forward to what’s to come. 
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