The missus and I have just enjoyed a week's holiday in the south of France, in beautiful Provence.
I'm a keen Francophile yet, because of circumstances, I haven't been to the land of Asterix the Gaul for some 15 years. I am loving it.
There are positives and negatives about wherever you go, but the negatives haven't spoilt it at all for me so far.
[Image of Asterix courtesy of Amazon]
The negatives were:
Having to turn the car round and return home to retrieve my wallet and phone charger, which caused an almighty row with her indoors.
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Problems with our car hire at Marseille airport. I shan't go into detail, suffice to say that we were at the desk for well over an hour to pick up our PRE-BOOKED car. I had a row on the phone with the booking agent (Auto Europe) and we ended up paying double the price we had originally agreed to and paid for in advance. After the holiday is over, they'll be hearing from my lawyer. There was a positive which came out of this disaster, however, when the nice man at Europcar upgraded us to a higher category car, an automatic no less, at no extra charge.
Photo of our upgrade [PW]
Only Rita was permitted to be a driver, because my Spanish driving licence is due to expire in mid-May. Inexplicably, I may not use it, even though we are only in April. So, in Spain, you pay for a licence for a period of time, but it's not usable for the three months prior to its expiry date! Is that not some kind of institutionalised theft or fraud? I rest my case.
More negatives have been the high prices, eg drinks and restaurant food more than double what we would pay in Spain; supermarket prices for just about everything "through the roof".
No pensioner discounts on tickets to museums, art galleries and other sites. Worst of all: the cost of our accommodation. We got basic at luxury prices; in Spain it's the other way around. We always find luxury at basic prices.
A typical menu [Photo: Paul Whitelock]
Poor internet access and brittle WiFi (although that could be a positive, of course).
I could go on …..
The positives were:
EVERYTHING ELSE
The always pleasant and polite French people; breakfast (pains au chocolat, croissants, great coffee); the beautiful landscapes and villages of Provence; no TV; and so on and so forth.
Un petit pain au chocolat [Wikipedia]
What have we done in Provence?
Our hosts are Rita's daughter, son-in-law and three grandchildren from near Heilbronn in Germany. This is their third time at this same campsite near Avignon. They love it! Camping, Provence and this campsite.
They invited us to join them this year, so we did, although we don't lie on the ground at our age - we prefer a bit of luxury, ie a house with proper beds and ensuite bathroom. Not that we got luxury - we just paid luxury prices (see above).
Our spot on the campsite [Photo: PW]
It's all very relaxed, we breakfast apart, but sometimes share lunch and dinner. We've planned a barbecue for Easter Sunday and a meal in a restaurant on the evening before we fly back home to Spain.
So far we've visited some enchanting Provençale villages passing through gorgeous scenery and vegetation, much of it similar to where we live in the Serrania de Ronda (Malaga, Andalucia). The villages remind me of the pretty pueblos blancos near us in Spain - except they aren't white in Provence, but a terracotta colour.
For those readers interested in names we were in Ceuvet, Gordes, L'isle-sur-la-Sorgue and Roussillon.
Photos of Provencale villages we visited (L to R): Gorges, Ceuvet, Roussillon x 2 [Paul Whitelock]
Today it's dancing on the bridge at Avignon! ("sur le pont d'Avignon, on y danse, tout en rond")
Le pont d'Avignon [Images courtesy of Wikipedia and YouTube]
Change of plan
My right Achilles tendon is playing up - after all the walking we've been doing, probably - so I decided to have a day off and rest it.
I snapped it over 30 years ago playing squash and after lengthy physiotherapy to get me mobile again after the operation to mend it, months in plaster and in a wheelchair, I've only ever had the odd twinge, usually in very cold weather.
Until now!
[Wikipedia]
Knowing how much I wanted to see Avignon, the others kindly decided to postpone our visit till after the Easter weekend, and they went off to Le Beaux instead.
I had a quiet day at the campsite, spending most of the day writing.
When the others got back they told me what I'd missed and showed me photos and videos. Later they painted boiled eggs, which will be hidden around the campsite by Katrin and Gero for the children to hunt for and find on Easter Sunday morning (a very German tradition).
Easter Sunday …..
…. and we're over halfway through our stay here. All the eggs were found before we sat down together for an Easter breakfast.
That was quite international in content. The Germans all had a traditional German breakfast with bread, cheese and Wurst (except Katrin and Madita - they're vegetarian).
I stuck to my French petit-dejeuner of pain au chocolat and croissant, washed down with hot coffee.
Painted eggs [Photo: Wikipedia]
Then Lotta, Katrin and Omma went climbing. Well, just Lotta and Katrin, as Lotta has become an enthusiast. Omma was happy to watch.
When they returned we had a sandwich for lunch before they all went off to walk to the source of the river that flows through the campsite. I was going to go too, but then I decided to save my sore ankle, so that I could take part in the postponed trip to Avignon.
In the evening we went ahead with our planned BBQ.
The weather was pleasantly warm so we were able to sit outside together by the river and have a relaxed meal with lots of banter auf Deutsch.
I brought a bottle of the local rose to help wash it all down and a good time was had by all.
[Photo courtesy of Joom]
Easter Monday
Up at 6.00 am for tea and typing. The tea is Tetley - proper stuff, mmm! Typing, yes just typing - there is no internet in our "luxury" wooden hut. I get access only when I go to Reception to collect our pre-ordered bread, croissants and pains au chocolat.
That's at 8.00 am so I'll squeeze in an hour online before the missus wants breakfast.
The revised plan for today is ….. a relaxing, flexible kind of day which might include revisiting L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue for the flea market alongside the water. The Germans also want crepes again. "A load of crepe", I reckon!
A bit of food (and beer) shopping too. We've run out!
What actually happened
Gero and I went shopping to SuperU in L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue but we didn't linger.
Katrin had baked a cheesecake, which we enjoyed with a coffee, then we all went off to Lagne. Some walked there and rode back by car; others swapped. Anton (disabled), Wuki the dog (disabled) and I (old and lame) rode both ways. We were disappointed that the only two cafes/restaurants were shut! On a bank holiday? Don't they want to make money?
Photos of Lagne [Paul Whitelock]
So, we settled for an ice-cream back at the campsite.
After an early dinner - fresh white asparagus again for us - we all did our own things. Katrin and Gero walked to the nearby aqueduct to see the sunset, while the rest of us studied (Madita), played games (Rita and Anton) or worked on the free internet only available outside reception (me). Lotta read and Wuki slept.
Three generations of Rita's family [Photo: PW]
Tuesday
Avignon today. The place I really wanted to see. I'll probably be disappointed, because what we've seen so far has been "out of this world".
Le Pont d'Avignon and the city wall [Photos: Paul Whitelock]
Well, I wasn't at all disappointed. The bridge is so interesting and the city is a walled city, like Avila (Spain), Carcassonne (France), Chester (England), Salamanca and Segovia (Spain), Trier (Germany) and York (England).
Le Palais des Papes (The Popes' Palace) was stunning. I didn't know previously that seven Popes had chosen Avignon as their "home".
This was during the period when Avignon belonged to the Italians and Rome was a bit of a dodgy place to be.
Le Palais des Papes [Photos: Exterior (Wikipedia); others (Paul Whitelock)]
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STOP PRESS: We learned that Pope Francis passed away on Easter Monday morning aged 88, which added a certain poignancy to our visit.
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Avignon is very touristy, of course, and expensive, but we had a great day.
We had a super lunch at a pizzeria in one of the pretty, traffic-free squares. Quiche Lorraine, three sorts of pizza and a vegetarian lasagne, washed down with cokes and a quality beer from the region. 180€ with tip for seven people. Not a bad price and the food was delicieux.
After a stressful drive back to the campsite, which coincided with rush hour, we were glad to "put our feet up". Rita started packing, while I attended to a few things on the internet. Then it was something to eat, a shower and early to bed (we need to leave the campsite at 2.15 am in order to get to Marseille airport for our early flight back home to Malaga).
Lunch at Le Milano in Avignon [Photo: PW]
Wednesday
We got to the airport in good time, topped up with fuel, parked at the Europcar depot and posted the key in their box (no staff were there at this ungodly hour). Trekked to Terminal 2, went through security and in no time at all we were on board and in the air.
This time, the international Ryanair cabin crew included two Portuguese men and a statuesque African lady from Cote d'Ivoire.
We landed 25 minutes early and headed off to Leroy Merlin the DIY store to pick up something we needed which we can't get in Ronda, and before we knew it we were home after a scrummy breakfast at Casa Diego near Teba.
Our voyage en France had been a delightful experience, but now we were back in Spain to the reality of everyday life and the shattering news that a young Spanish friend from Montejaque, Cayetano Postigo, 30, had suffered a cycling accident and died the day before and was to be interred today.
But that's another story for another day ..... (although there are a couple of links below).
Useful links:
Bienvenidos a la Provenza - france.fr
Pope Francis live updates: Vatican may extend hours to pay respects due to turnout - ABC News
La Terraza Mark II – Interview with Borja Tornay - www.secretserrania.com
Hallan el cadáver de un ciclista en una zona de difícil acceso en Montejaque | Diario Sur
Vive la France! - I've missed you! - Eye On Spain
© The Spanish Fly (Paul Whitelock)
Photos and images:
Amazon, Joom, Palais des Papes, Paul Whitelock, Wikipedia, YouTube
Acknowledgements:
ABC News, Diario Sur, france.fr, Wikipedia
Tags:
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