Light on Provence

This past week brought me to places in France that I'd never been before. We flew from Paris to Carcassone (through Toulouse) where it only took us an hour of walking to find our hotel. That sucked. Carcassonnne was really pretty though because it is another hilltop medieval village. It was originally built by the Trenceval lords but then fell into disrepair and was restored in the 19th century in a mostly accurate kind of way. It's very touristy but so picturesque it's understandable. We spent one night there but you really could do it as a daytrip.

Next we went to Arles and settled there as our base to see Provence. We stayed at the Hotel Calendal which I would recommend if you have the means. It has a little spa which the guests can use. Very very nice. We did day trips to Avignon (yes I saw the bridge) and to the Pont du Gard. It took forever to get to the Pont du Gard but it was pretty cool, despite the super lame video in the museum. Possibly the cheesiest least informative thing I've ever seen.

Arles had a lot of Van Gogh sites, although none of his actual paintings, because he lived here for 18 months in 1888-89. During that time he painted more than 200 pieces which is quite mindboggling. You can see the Yellow House and the Cafe (yellow now and in the painting although at the time it was just whitewashed).

After Arles we went to Nice mainly because my Dad's flight left from there and because my Mom and I wanted to see another hilltop medieval village, Eze. Unfortunately our train was delayed by an hour and a half so we didn't get into Nice until quite late. But we went for a walk along the Promenade des Arts at sunset and then had a nice Italian dinner so my Dad did get a taste of Nice. He flew out the next morning (my birthday) really really early and Mom and I went to Eze. Another medieval village and totally different again. Eze was very expensive, very boutique-y and very tiny. There is a cactus-heavy garden at the top with a magnificent view over the Mediterranean.

Now we're in Cassis, about half an hour by train from Marseille. We came to see the calanques which are these narrow fjord like inlets on the coast. Yesterday we did the 3 calanque hike which nearly killed us. The first two were easy enough but getting to the third took about 1.5 hours along the toughest 'path' I've ever been on. There were parts so steep we were literally hauling ourselves up with our hands rather than stepping up. The entire expedition took almost 7 hours and I'm still exhausted the next day. The calanques are beautiful but take the boat trip if you want to see more than the two closest (Port-Miou and Port-Pin).

Now it's time for lunch! But I almost forgot to mention, it's October 3 and I'm wearing shorts and a tank top. You can't beat the weather here!