More fun in Provence.

Saturday was another wonderful day of sightseeing as the group met with their local guide, Anna in the town of Arles.  Arles has an ancient Roman connection with several 1st century AD buildings.  The Arena is almost intact and used today for Bull fights.  Arles also has a strong connection to the artist Vincent Van Gogh who lived in Arles in the late 19th century.  Vincent painted some of his most famous paintings during his time in Provence.  It was quite a treat to actually walk in the footsteps of Vincent and see the exact spot where he painted treasures like "the yellow house" and "starry night". 

Also on Saturday the rest of the group arrived into the  Marseille airport.  These 6 people will join the tour members  from the VC.  Missy Davis and Sarah Eoff traveled with the Kemms and Wallaces a few years ago and have returned to enjoy more fun in France and Italy.  Missy is from the San Antonio area and Sarah is a dear friend of mine living only about 10 minutes from my home.  Missy has actually brought along some friends of her own as well.  Michael and Martha Haupt from San Antonio, Texas are here, as well as Dennis and Carol Hall from Missouri.  The Hall's are from Missy's home town, so that means that the state of Missouri is strongly represented on this tour.  After some time to settle into the hotel we met on the lovely terrace for a meet and greet.  It did not take long to see that this group was going to get along just fine. 

We then drove into the pretty Provencal town of St-Remy-de-Provence for our welcome dinner.  St. Remy is just amazing!  There are pretty little shops everywhere.  Every building seems to have different colored shutters, some in soft pastels.  Our welcome dinner was held at L'Aile ou la Cuisse Bistrot.  We sat down and truly enjoyed our first meal together.  Our dinner was not only delicious, but served like a work of art.  We also had local wines that were superb.  Of course, the desserts at this restaurant are one of its highlights.  They sit in a large display cabinet in front of the restaurant, so that you can see them from outside on the street.  Before you enter, you already have an idea that you will be ordering dessert for sure.  Ours were amazing. By the time we said farewell to all the very helpful staff, everyone agreed that this meal would be hard to beat. 

On the way back to Fontvieille, I needed to find a gas station.  I had let my gas get a bit below what I like it to be.  We did find a station that was open 24 hours.  For some reason, the machines would not take any of my American credit cards.  A very nice man, who happened to be Italian, offered to let us use his card to get the gas we needed.  I then paid him in Euro the amount owed.  What a super nice man and in a country that sometimes gets a bad rapt for being unfriendly to Americans. 

Yesterday, we said farewell to the lovely setting of Le Val Majour in Fontvieille.  I know that many people in the US have a rather "sour" idea of a Best Western hotel, but in Europe Best Western is usually a very nice property.  Remember to keep an open mind about some things.

We headed to nearby Les-Baux-de-Provence, another very popular site in France.  This perched village sitting on top of a "spur" is truly amazing.  There was time to visit the old Castle ruins with views that certainly bring several "wow" moments.  Then there was time to wander the tiny streets of the once medieval village that today has many chic shops.  There are not many places like Les Baux in the US unless you are visiting a Disney property. 

After time to enjoy all we could of Provence we loaded up the vans and hit the Autoroute for a drive to another very famous area, the French Riviera.  We arrived in the town of Nice and settled into the Hotel Aston La Scala.  This lovely 4-star hotel is in the perfect location and even has a rooftop terrace bar that has views of the magical Mediterranean.  After some time to settle in, we met for a walking tour of Nice ending in the Old Town Nice for dinner.  We sat down to a delicious "al fresco" dinner and enjoyed some local dishes, along with local wine.  By the time we ended our evening on the roof of the hotel, all were pretty tired and ready to hit the sack.

Today, was a free day for all.  Several chose to visit nearby Monaco, while some just chilled out here in Nice.  It was truly a wonderful day for all and perhaps some can add a "check" to their bucket list of places they wished to visit.  We were blessed with perfect weather and I am pretty sure that everyone will leave with fond memories of their time on the French Riviera. 

So, I will return in a few days as we head to Italy tomorrow.  I am sure I am going to have some wonderful things to share as we enter my favorite country.  See you then.  Ciao, Suzan