Jane and Hal's Trip to France
Summer 2005
Aix-en-Provence

Friday, July 29 - Left the Hotel Negresco around 11am and headed west. We couldn't find a place to eat near Nice. We finally stopped on the Peage at a rest stop. Even there the croissant and cafe au lait were terrific. We headed on the highway for Frejus to continue through to St. Tropez. From Frejus into St. Tropez was just one huge continuous traffic jam.

We stopped for lunch at a lovely seaside tourist town, St. Michele. Jane had some oefs sur la plat avec frites and Hal had an omelette. Lovely setting. The town is a little up-scale and was packed on this last Friday in July.

We finally got to St. Tropez and were unimpressed. The Hamptons redux. Lots of fancy shops. Quaint town. We didn't even park but continued on our way.
Again getting into a traffic jam we were rear-ended just outside of town. Ugh. A giant Lexus SUV from Switzerland hit us from behind while we were in this traffic tie up outside of Grimaud. Fortunately Madam Michel Riccard spoke fluent English and helped us fill out the accident report. There was no damage to the Lexus. The trunk and rear bumper of the Megane were destroyed. No one was hurt. We were able to drive and continue on our way to Aix-en-provence. Tried to contact Renault along the way but couldn't get through on the cell phone.
After a few wrong turns and some exploration of the uninteresting area west of Aix we finally found the Hotel Le Mas D'Entremont. They helped us contact Renault. Renault was very helpful and not perturbed that their brand new car got smashed. They arranged for a tow truck to come get the car and for us to get a rental car from Avis.

 

We had dinner that night at the hotel. A very lovely restaurant with a beautiful terrace where we had dinner. Hal had Bloody Mary followed by a little gazpacho freebee. Jane just had some wine. We had a nice St.Nuits Villages 1/2 bottle. Hal steak and Jane had lamb chops. Hal had a sorbet and Jane had a mango tatin for dessert. Excellent, lovely meal.
Saturday, July 30th - We called back Renault and they sent a taxi to take us to the TGV station outside of Aix where the Avis car was rented for us. They gave us an Opel station wagon. Ugh. Ugly. High. Hal never seems to be able to secure a decent automobile anymore. Thought he had it arranged this time - with the Megane. Jane didn't like the Megane so she was happy with the truck we ended up with.

We then headed into Aix-en-Provence centre ville for some brunch. We found a lovely little cafe opposite the fountain at the start of the Cours Mirabeau. Jane had a fromage sandwich and Hal had a Croque Monsiur. We then walked down the Cours Mirabeau and on some of the streets in the old city.

Aix was much larger than we had expected. It is NOT some small little town, but rather a very nice small city. The Cours Mirabeau is the center of activity and full of both young people and families.
There is a wonderful upscale market in the town of Celony, where the hotel is located and we stopped there for some fruit and water. The produce just looked wonderful. Made you want to consider renting a place nearby just so you could shop there. We went back to the hotel and had a nap followed by a swim in their large lovely pool.
We then headed for Cours Mirabeau to get some dinner. A very late place. At 10pm some people (including us) were just sitting down to eat in many of the cafes. We had dinner at the Cafe Bastide du cours. Hal started with some amazing soup de provence, complete with toast and aioli. Wonderful. Then he had a blanquette de porc which was good if not unusual. Jane had a loup de mar that was very good. For desert - Profiteroles!!!! Finally. We then walked back to the car through a craft (junk?) market that was still going strong near midnight.
Sunday, July 31 - We got up pretty late and headed for the local Cafe in Celony. Closed. So we went instead to the boulangerie and got some croissants to eat on the road.
We headed for Marseilles. We drove around the city. It is a huge city, and is very French looking. Mostly small low rise houses with terre cotta roofs. The new port was teaming with cruise and commercial ships. The old port on the other hand was just full of small pleasure boats. Thousands of them. The old port is ringed by cafes and I would expect would have a very lively night life.
We then headed for the Notra Dame de La Garde which sits on this most impressive hill top overlooking the whole city. We drove around the town some more and then headed east to Cassis.

 

 

 

 

The theory was to follow the shore all the way around to Cassis. Unfortunately the road doesn't go that way. We ended up at a dead end in the town of Goudes where we turned around and headed back a bit. We ultimately ended up on the D559 which is a spectacular road leading to Cassis.

We got to Cassis for a late lunch. The town is impossible to park in. It was just mobbed. The cops were out in full force giving tickets. We were about to throw in the towel and head out when a parking space appeared. We had lunch at a little waterside cafe. Hal had a crepes with jambon, fromage and oef. Jane had a salade avec fromage and avocat.

We then headed back toward the highway. The road lead through many of the Cassis wineries that were quite extensive. We got the highway and headed back to Aix.

 

We took a nap at the hotel, checked out the terrace that was part of our room, and completed this log. We went to Centre Ville, had a great deal of trouble parking - as usual, and looked for a restaurant that was no longer there. So we ended up at an Italian restaurant that was near where the other restaurant was supposed to be. We had Pizza - fantastic - champagnons et fromage. Then a tomat and mozzerella salad. Profiteroles for dessert.

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Monday, August 1 - Got up around 9:30, got dressed and headed west. We stopped in the town (Celony) near the hotel for some cafe au lait and croissants. Delicious.

We continued west to Arles. A very peasant drive most of the way along NR7. We got to Arles and stopped at the tourist bureau. Not a single Van Gogh in the town. Unbelievable. We drove around and ended up going to the ancient roman amphitheater. It dates from Roman times but is still in use!!! They have bull fights as well as other activities in the place. Amazing.

 
We then left Arles and headed north to Avignon. We drove around Avignon a bit and then stopped at a cafe in town for some lunch. Jane had nothing other than a coke as she was not feeling well. Hal had a Quiche and some diet cokes - Coke Lite. We then drove around some more. The city is completely walled in. We didn't go to the Palais de le Pape. We did get a good view of the Pont Avignon - but didn't go on to it. The pont shown in the picture is only a fraction of the original structure. There is a large island that splits the rhone river and only a few of the original 23 arches remain. There is even a little abby above one of the existing arches.

 

We then headed back to Aix along the peage. We hit a huge traffic jam at the toll both. Seems like all of France was heading south to start their August vacations. Cars laden with people, pooches and bicycles.

We arrived at the Hotel and took a nap. Jane wasn't feeling well and asked if she could have a plain dinner. They served her some tea and then a wonderful piece of plain chicken with some rice. Just the thing for her upset stomach. Hal had a skewer of prawns in a wonderful honey lemon sauce. Then he had a chicken dish - also with lemon and some interesting side veggies including wonderful ratatouille.

We then used the hotel computer to read email and headed back to our room to work on this log.