The beauty of Provence

So the next day we ‘Sete’ off (okay, last time I’ll do that promise) and headed into the heartland of traditional Provence – Arles and Aix-En-Provence.

I must say upfront that I have an incredibly soft-spot for Provence, and it’s a place that I have travelled to many times with my family and have many special memories there. Provence, to me, is all that is France – traditional stone villages with lace-curtain windows, purple seas of lavender fields as far as the eye can see and delicious gastronomic delights and wines.

Our first stop into this cultural and historic heartland was Arles – the city which inspired the colours and light of Van Gogh. Arles is a truly beautiful place, with pristine trimmed gardens and flowerbeds everywhere one looks and gorgeous little streets, open and bright and bustling with tourists and shopkeepers and cafés. The Roman ruins in this ancient town, a Forum and a glorious Coliseum, are in wonderful condition and easily accessible in a day’s touring. We ended up finding a gorgeous creperie in a sheltered courtyard as a hideaway from the baking midday sun, and inadvertently spent our time in the courtyard of the old ‘Hospital of Arles’ right next to where the Van Gogh Museum now stands. The courtyard is the subject of one of this master’s most famous paintings and we were both moved by the beauty and light of this space - the rare gentle and gold light of Arles.

Next stop Aix-En-Provence. Much bigger, grander and more elegant than we had expected for a notorious university town, there is nothing quite like arriving in a place you’ve never been to before at 6.30pm and having the tourist officials laugh at you when you ask for accommodation advice. “This place is booked up a year in advance, even for one night, and is certainly more expensive than Paris”. Ho hum. Whilst I began to work out just exactly how we were going to repack General de Gaulle in order to fully extend the front seats overnight, my gallant husband had already found us a lovely hotel in one of suburbs of the city, Le Mozart. Triumphantly opening the curtains and waltzing onto the balcony of our room, I couldn't help but ask Gary, "Why are there so many tress right in the middle of this city?". It was then, after much looking at upside down maps and GPS directions, that we realized we had based ourselves completely outside the city limits. A bit of a walk to be sure, but up until that point we had not been happier to see a clean, safe bed.

The following day we took the petit train tour of the city of a hundred fountains, each more beautiful and intricate and meaningful than the next. We walked in the footsteps of giants such as Cezanne and Zola, and saw the sights which gave them their inspiration. The air here is just intoxicated with creativity. What a superb city and one that I could easily spend weeks, months or even years in! Despite buying a dud EuroMillions ticket there, we even adopted a breakfast café spot, just like the locals. Aix-En (pronounced ‘ex-on’ as we conveniently found out just before we left) is well worth a stopover if you are ever passing through Provence.