I went on my first group tour today to Provence. We toured Les Baux de Provence, Le Pont de Gard, Avignon and finished the day with a tour of the museum at Chateauneuf du Pape and wine tasting. It was a full day, leaving at 8:00 am and returning at 6:45 pm. I truly enjoyed the village at Les Baux de Provence – great place for pictures and wonderful historic buildings. Our guide was very knowledgeable and added to the overall experience. The museum there was small but worth the stop and entry fee if you like Bayer and Chagall.
I also toured the Palais des Papes in Avignon which was incredible, at the end of the tour you walk down these stone steps into the souvenir shop. The stone steps stop about 15-20 feet from the floor and the shop had a rolled staircase attached to the end of them. At first I wondered what happened to the rest of the stairs and then looking around the room I realized they were the stone steps of a window sill which most likely had been reached by ladders back in the day. They were also working on the inner courtyard of the palace and under the risers where they were removing the grass above you could see part of the old well.
Time was limited at each stop so I did not tour the castle at Les Baux de Provence or the museum at Le Pont de Gard. I would recommend allocating at least 2 hours at Les Baux de Provence and 3 hours at Le Pont de Gard. Avignon is easily a half day or more depending on the amount of shopping you wish to do. The hour allocated to Chateauneuf du Pape was appropriate – the wine was very good and I only wish they were able to ship to the US. Unfortunately with 5 more weeks of travel to do, I was unable to make a purchase.
I am headed to Nice tomorrow and then onto to Italy on Saturday. I am looking forward to Italy as I have held off sampling any Italian food other than gelato in France. I still don’t understand why the restaurants have chicken liver and gizzards on most menus but very rarely have a chicken dish. The one restaurant I found that offered chicken had it served in a casserole. The boulangeries or bakeries in France are magnificent. I have enjoyed going into them not only to grab a croissant or baguette but also just to see their displays. I wish I was not allergic to berries because some of the items topped with raspberries and strawberries are works of art.
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