Paris to Provence

Thursday 22^nd August,

We departed the Hotel Ariane Montparnesse, Paris, to change trains 4 times to end up on the TGV fast train from Gare De Lyon station for a less than 3 hour train ride to Avignon where we picked up a car. Luckily for us Michael is happy to drive over the next week and to take us to St Remy where we begin our Provence adventure. With a little training we got the Satellite Navigation system operating and then we were off with another 5 effortless transfers/connections.

It would have been the easiest thing in the world to spend another month in Paris. As every arrondissement  in Paris has its own history, all of which is so beautifully displayed and catches you by surprise every time a corner is turned. However, a lot of blood has been spilt along with acts of extreme cruelty and brutality in this city’s history. That the paradox is that although we appreciate the beauty created over the centuries we hope never to see those times again. Terribly beautiful

And what better place is there to forget the truly sumptuous grandeur of Paris than in a beautifully transformed ancient white stone farmhouse/manor and its barns and stables and cottages which is our Hotel de Soleil, St Remy de Provence. The old town is reportedly the oldest town in France and has been continually occupied since 700 years BC. There is a plaque on the old house where Nostradamus was born in 1503? There is an artist walk which takes us to the spots where Vincent Van Gogh painted some of his 150 paintings during the last year of his life when he lived here from May 1889 – May 1890, including the time and place where he was hospitalised. It is a moving experience to be walking in his footsteps. However, the experience is somewhat diluted when it is shared with a large number of very well to do Parisians enjoying their wonderfully warm summer holidays in this remarkable old town.    

Dinner in the old town was very nice with a very reasonable 13Euro set menu. However, there is no shortage of good places some with live entertainment to revive us after days of exploring all that Provence has to offer.