I visited the South of France with my friend Micha this October. We did a lot of sightseeing and took in our fair share of wine and cheese. Here's a recount of the 6 days and fun times. Part 2. Part 1 is here.
Day 3 - Some more Rhone valley sights
We definitely did not rush out the door day 2, and day 3 was the same. After a long day 2 we slept in and got up without a plan of attack for the next day's adventure. I had read a bit in the AM while sipping coffee and Misha and I agreed to see a few thing post visit to the Palais des Papes.
After grabbing a quick bite we explored the Palais des Papes. The Palais as mentioned was home to quite a few popes in the 14th century. Apparently the reason it became a spot for the popes for 60+ years was the popes used to travel around a lot at the time doing whatever they had to do then and at one point after a French pope was chosen he refused to move to Rome (apparently in chaos + he was French) so instead setup in Avignon (Clement V). In the coming decades the Palais was built up to become quite grand (it was started in the 13th century in fact but got its larger size due to the Avignon Papacy).
Various Palais Photo & Scenery
The Palais itself is quite interesting, it is quite large with a lot of ground to cover. I wouldn't say the architecture is particularly amazing, however it is called one of the largest and most important medieval Gothic buildings in Europe (as we covered yesterday). The best part of the tour though is the provide an Android tablet which allows you to interact with the tour through A/R, maps, information, games and QR codes to scan. You even win a prize if you find all the hidden coins! The tablet certainly makes the tour more fulfilling - I imagine most places will have these soon enough.
On the road again
Soon after our Palais visit we headed on the road again to see a few spots around Avignon and Rhone. I had a France road trip book so we partially took the route from the book. I left the book with Misha so I can't tell you the name of it, but it had 15-20 French routes to choose from.
First stop was an abbey (monastery?) up a tall enough hill (mini mountain?) that we had no reception. It was called Frigolet Abbey I admit we stopped almost to tick a box, but it was actually a really nice stop. We wandered the grounds for a while and poked our head into a couple buildings. As it was raining we didn't see a ton but still got a good sense of the grounds. A quick snip from wikipedia:
"The monastery, dedicated to Saint Michael, was founded about 960 at Frigolet by Conrad I of Burgundy on one of the numerous hills which lie between Tarascon and Avignon. It was initially occupied by Benedictine monks from Montmajour Abbey"
Ok so apparently a monastery can also be an abbey (i.e. with abbot), a priory (i.e. with a prior), or a hermitage (i.e. with a hermit).
Next stop(s) was/were the twin cities of Tarascon and Beaucaire on the east and west of the Rhone respectively. We didn't spend a lot of time in either spot but we did stop to see a castle in Tarascon called the Chateau de Roi Rene. We didn't go in as it was closed but we did walk around it. I didn't bother to even look up the history, my observations being that it is another castle and it does look imposing with very tall walls and a very square / symmetrical appearance. Thankfully it wasn't open, because I have to admit I am castled out!
After Tarascon we crossed the Rhone and stopped briefly in Beaucaire to have a walk around. I will admit its main attraction the canal was not really that interesting but it gave us a chance to see another spot and realize again that you can't win them all.
From there it was on to Pont du Gard!
Is anybody thirsty?
There is a saying that if you need an aqueduct built right build it yourself! Or just ask the Romans to make one for you. The highlight of Day 3 was no doubt the Roman Aqueduct called the Pont du Gard. I admit there was a spoiler as the lead photo in part 1 of this story is the Pont, however there is more to the visit than just the Pont.
First a little bit of history:
Built by the Romans in the 1st century - check
Part of a 50km aqueduct to carry water to Nimes - check
Three tiers of Gardon River crossing mastery - check
Drops only centimeters in the 275m crossing - check that Roman engineering
Carried 8.8M gallons per day - gurgle check
Unesco site to the max - check
Attracts tourists like Trump to trade conflict - check check check
In addition to being able to walk on the Pont (only the first level in October), you can also hike all around it. There is a trickle of a river, plus very high banks on each side which give great views if you're willing to walk up the paths made of dirt, stones, stairs and bush.
Photos of the Pont and the general area. More cannot be said than it's worth a visit and take a picnic and spend half a day there.
After the pont we headed back to Avignon for a home made charcuterie and some wine. Not as productive a day as day 2, but just as enjoyable - I like a slower pace in my old age of 42.
Can't complain with this dinner, drink and mall graffiti (between our flat and Avignon)
Day 4 - Marseille and on to Antibes!
Ever since watching the show Marseille on Netflix I've wanted to go see Marseille the city. It did not disappoint. Marseille is the second largest city in France (or sometimes considered 3rd after Lyon as well). Much smaller than Paris, but still quite big with a metro population of over 3M, it is situated on the south coast of France on the Mediterranean sea. The city is known a being a little rough around the edges and while we didn't see that it was easy enough to imagine given how big it is.
We left for Marseille around 11 from Avignon and it took us around an hour to get there. Once there we found parking around Cathedrale La Major, a beautiful Byzantine-Roman Revival style cathedral built in the second half of the 19th century. Unfortunately it was closed but we did a walk around there before heading towards Le Panier.
Le Panier is the oldest location of Marseille and was part of the original Greek settlement which grew over time to be a very large fishing, then over time industrial port. As a city-state it became an ally of Rome and one of the first centers of Christianity in the West. Over time Marseille bounced back and forth between many powers but ended up part of France and became a focal point of the French revolution at the end of the 18th century. The French national anthem was born in Marseille and not surprisingly called the La Marseillaise.
This article had a far better description for Marseille than I could muster:
"Exuberant, eccentric, melting-pot Marseille is unlike anywhere else in Europe. Set spectacularly ‘twixt hills and sea, it is France’s most ancient city, yet is constantly shape-shifting and reinventing itself. Surrounded by top regional sights and boasting many of its own, it’s one of the most popular ports of call on the Med."
Le Panier was interesting to walk through but we didn't really know we were in it until we'd walked through half of it!
Photos: Street art in Le Panier, some Bocce ball & The Hotel du Ville
We then walked out of Le Panier and exited the area by the Hotel du Ville (city hall) and came upon the very large and beautiful port of Marseille!
The port has been around in some form for over 2,500 years. It's very large, so large that in the middle of its great length there is a ferry which crosses every 10 minutes or so help people get from the south to north side or vice versa. What strikes one the most is how many boats are in the port. It seems like many thousand - I imagine it is a complex job to assign spots and manage traffic!
Some photos of the port.
The port and surrounding areas were completely destroyed by the Nazis in WWII and had to be rebuilt post war.
After the port we walked up the Canebière, the historic old high street in Marseille and found lunch just off the main strip. I ate the biggest and one of the best Nicoise salads I had ever had. That lunch fueled us up enough to hike up to Basilique Notre-Dame de la Garde which has a prominent and towering location above the city. The Basilica is nice but the view is amazing.
Photos of the Basilica and from the Basilica down over Marseille.
After the walk down we did end up back at the port and having to get to the other side we took the ferry across the port in a fun ride and then back to the car to drive to Antibes. We got to Antibes around 7-8pm after a 2 hour drive but had some wine and food and sat out on the nice balcony facing the sea as a night cap.
Comments