This summer, Mr Baggins and I went to visit Provence, my desire to wander and his desire for warm and sunny.
In essence a compromise, as it tries to do with who you love.
I planned the trip in stages of about 3 / 4 days in each city, traveling by train and staying out two weeks. All
two star hotel without breakfast and booked in advance, train tickets in advance made by the French railways and shipped free to your door. Specific
"no breakfast" because it is much cheaper than in hotels around, trust me.
I will not go to tell the holiday as I did before because I'm not thrilled but still spend a few words in support of this' emotional return "as the blog is still and always my diary and it helps me to keep on course.
Probably my little enthusiasm is partly due to the type of travel a bit 'wrong and personal experience / torque that I got. Surely, however, I learned a lot and hopefully not just me.
Also my mind has discovered more than I thought Nordic and so I understand the confusion, lack of order and "carelessness" not for me.
You will not have to hurt you, people of Provence, that we live or who you love. Each is made in its own way and each has its own place in the world, mine is not Provence but not want to criticize it.
I just try to tell my point of view.
destinations, as you can see from the picture, were some of the major cities of the region with a quick over into Languedoc.
Traveling by train we could not afford big "cheap" and then first advice :
if you can, avoid visiting France by train, better to have the car. Absolutely. You'll see more, better, with less anxiety and less.
The French trains are expensive and connections are good, indeed.
In addition, some small areas are not even served by bus and then forget it.
If you're wondering we did "a virtue of necessity", which mean ... We have more experience to remember. And let
But I want to be an essential and summarize with a few photos.
When a place you do not enter the heart photos become minimal.
The general feeling, apart from the beauty of bright light Provencal swept by a steady wind is state of decay, poor cleanliness and its poverty that I did not expect to be popular cities like Arles and Avignon. And here the second
advice: shun the big cities, visit them in one day but then go into the villages in search of lavender, sunflowers, fragrant spices and people.
Well, this trip if nothing else I can say that he had looked more deeply the people and to have had more than one occasion to deal with language and customs of the post-obtaining impressions and feelings varied.
It 's always nice to travel and see people traveling, discovering ways of observing and attitudes. Abroad, then it is even more interesting and beautiful to hear different languages and get your ear trying to communicate.
I like to go abroad and learn even just watching, listening or reading on the spot:)
Weather:
Thanks to the strong wind, constant we have always had brilliant sunshine and clear skies, only a storm has washed Arles and dried in a quarter of an hour, and another, one night in Carcassonne.
did not stifling heat, was very good, sometimes a bit 'too cool.
Sure, just set the wind you feel the warm Mediterranean and the mosquitoes come, tenetene account!
brief comments on the sites:
Arles:
very Roman, many travel, very windy, not very well preserved and a little 'ill attended. Eye when you turn in the evening.
There is really fancy to discover the places Van Gogh, but every so often there is some indication.
positive note: the train of the Alpilles
takes you from Arles to Fontvieille small. Go softly, opens and pauses every so often along the road skirting the Abbey Montmajour.
bucolic half-day walk through fields of sunflowers and a visit to the village of souvenir shops, bars of soap and hats.
stop for Mr. Baggins in the shade with my new hat Provence.
Arles remember to have dinner before eight o'clock, nine o'clock already and do not cook more, to 22:30, the local close.
We remain without dinner the first night due to a long delay due to a train deleted. And here
third suggestion: always buy yourself a sandwich in the station before arrival because you never know.
Carcassonne: rather dirty, sad and poorly attended la Bastide, very nice and characteristic medieval Cité, with its Chateau Comtal (though really overflowing with tourist shops).
Rennes le Chateau:
a tiny country perched on a peak reached only by car or walk 4.5 km. Home to the famous small church and house of the abbot Sauniere. Magical place, provided that you first read something about gold Templar and Mary Magdalene.
from Carcassonne train takes you to Couiza and from there go up as I was saying.
If you did not care about the mystery of the abbot save yourself the trouble. We were curious and we accidentally had the company of an old Scottish Templar and his daughter who made the trip richer:)
Avignon definitely a city, many large stores, many tourists, crowds and too much fame that goes around what little remains of the bridge of the song.
Beautiful view from the walls assuming that you want to go tantitanti steps.
The palace of the popes has given me great emotions. Very austere, severe and now incorporated in new houses and many hotels nearby.
Cavaillon: expensive, small, inhospitable, poorly connected to the popular areas around (Gordes, Roussillon, etc. ..) are not able to see what they were going to come St Remy
and Salon de Provence
looking for Nostradamus.
Another disappointment, other shops and rip off the famous house-museum to house a museum and has nothing very little.
The towns are nice, however.
La Ciotat: area of \u200b\u200bsea, many tourists on the beach impossible. Cute the Vieux Port illuminated at night by stalls selling souvenirs.
little cleaning here and also very small and empty streets that do not get lost on their own, much less in the evening.
CONCLUSIONS:
-Nothing lavender and very few houses in the Colors window. The big cities are always city. Better to travel by car and take lead nosed through the fields and villages. Baggage-
comfortable, adaptability and speed of thought and reaction, the trains are not always reliable. Be prepared to stay calm when things do not go as you planned.
-Good organization for meals with salads and delicious sandwiches on the fly in France. Maybe indulge in dinner and sample local dishes, some are very good.
-If you opt for a compromise included in the trip you want to see something that strongly.
will be a strong point when you realize that certain choices were totally incorrect and, in return, pay off some disappointments.
I am confident the next trip, while hoping that there is!
A hug.
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