L’Isle sur la Sorgue, Arles, Avignon and Mont Ventoux (nearly… again.)

L’Isle sur la Sorgue

We left Vence late morning and had a lovely drive to L’Isle sur la Sorgue.  It was cold but with plenty of  sunshine and a lovely autumnal sky.

L’Isle sur la Sorgue

We arrived in L’Isle sur la Sorgue shortly after 1pm.  It didn’t take us long to find the apartment owned by our friends Dellas and Simon, as the directions they provided were excellent.

The apartment is on the ground floor of an old building, opposite one of the famous water wheels that L’Isle sur la Sorgue is famous for.  As we had expected the apartment was fully equipped, stylish and comfortable.  You can see pictures of the apartment by visiting http://www.holidaylettings.co.uk/rentals/l-isle-sur-la-sorgue/535864.  If you are thinking of visiting Provence this is a great place to stay, it’s a lovely old town close to many of the attractions in the area including Mont Ventoux which Richard was keen to see (we tried to drive up last February but the road was close due to snow).

It did not take us long to settle in to the apartment so we had enough time for a quick walk around the old town, although with all the small alleyways can make it a challenge finding your way back!

We had an excellent pizza from one of the local takeaways and spent the evening in watching TV.

Market day in L’Isle sur la Sorgue

Sunday is market day in L’Isle sur la Sorgue and so after a very leisurely start we set out to see what delights the market had to offer.  The town is well known for antiques but this market was offering more typical fare, such as cheese, fruit and veg, olives, leather goods, clothing, linens and fish.

The markets in France are great places to see the locals buying their weekly groceries and tourists their trinkets to take home, although at this time of year the locals were more prevalent than the tourists.   We bought a selection of cheeses , salad vegetables and bread for our dinner.

There was a cold chill in the air and the famous Mistral was starting to blow so we decided that a long Sunday lunch in a cosy French restaurant was on the cards.  Dellas and Simon had recommended a place called Le Carre d’Herbes, http://www.lecarredherbes.eu/ and we were not disappointed.  After a short wait, due to the fact that many locals were already savouring the delights, we were given a table by the window.  The house wine was one of the best we had ever had, it was the red from a local vineyard, which complemented our choice of steak and wild boar perfectly. Emily and Oliver ordered the children’s meal, which consisted of a grilled piece of fish with a ‘Jenga pile’ of chips.  They declared this to be “the best children’s meal ever!”

We waddled back to the apartment and relaxed for a while before another stroll around the old town to build up an appetite for our supper  – the delicious bread and cheese we bought earlier in the day.

Arles and the Roman Empire

We awoke on Monday morning to rain hitting the windows and a leaden sky.  Today we decided to visit Arles to visit the Roman Amphitheatre and theatre, hoping that the rain would clear.

It was also very cold and, as we got closer to Arles, the rain started to fall heavily and the sky darkened with a few flashes of lightening adding to the drama!

We walked into the old town in search of somewhere to eat but many restaurants were closed and we were already soaking wet.  So we headed towards the outskirts of the city wall and found a restaurant that looked popular.  The service was good and the food was okay but not as good as Le Carre d’herbes.  But at least it gave us a chance to dry out.

After lunch it was still raining heavily but we soldiered on and walked to the Amphitheatre.  Not surprisingly we were the only visitors there.  It is now used for bull fighting and so the seating was set up for this which meant you needed to look past this to get a picture of how it would have looked in Roman times.  The most impressive part was the outer wall where we were able to climb up to the top of one of the towers to see the impressive view across to the river Rhone.

We then moved onto the Roman Theatre which was also good but the rain finally defeated us and we headed back to the car for the drive back to L’Isle sur la Sorgue.

Sur la Pont d’Avignon

Although it was not raining today it was still overcast and the wind was blowing from the north so the temperature had dropped.

Avignon is only a 40 minute drive so we arrived mid morning and headed straight for the Palace des Papes (The Pope’s Palace).

The palace is the biggest Gothic palace in the world. There are more than 20 rooms in the palace, including the Papal apartments with their priceless frescoes painted by the Italian artist Matteo Giovannetti.

After a couple of hours we were all hungry so headed into the centre of Avignon to grab a quick bite to eat.  We found a small Cafe/Boulangerie close to the Palace des Papes, it looked popular so decided to give it a try.

We were shown into the back of the cafe and Richard happened to hear the waitress say to a couple of locals, who were already eating, “sorry to bring the tourists in here”.  She clearly didn’t think we had any knowledge of French.  Needless to say, her comments did not go down too well, but we ignored them and sat down.

When she came back and asked us for our order, Richard said that we hadn’t decided yet.  At which point she made another snide comment to the locals about us being slow as well.  Well, that was enough for us, we’d only been in there for a couple of minutes!  So we grabbed our coats and marched out of the restaurant, much to the surprise of the Waitress and customers.  It felt great to actually make a point, and hopefully she will have learnt not to be so rude to ‘tourists’ who actually do understand French!

By this time we were all starving but we quickly found a Boulangerie and bought a couple of baguettes from a very friendly French woman.

The wind was blowing much harder after lunch but we were determined to go to the Pont d’Avignon. The bridge was built in the 12th century, but it was washed away many times when the Rhone flooded.   It was rebuilt each time but in the 17th century it was decided not to rebuild.  So all there is today is half a Bridge stretching out into the middle of the Rhone.

By the time we had walked to the end of the Pont d’Avignon the Mistral was blowing hard.  So, after a few photos, we were keen to get back to the car and to the warmth of the apartment.  We decided to go for dinner at the Le Carre d’Herbes (it really is very good!) and were not disappointed with another great meal.

L’Isle sur la Sorgue to St Paul de Vence (via Mont Ventoux)

Richard was very excited about seeing Mont Ventoux after missing out the last time we were here.  So we set off in the car with high hopes.  The problem was that it was absolutely freezing when we left L’Isle sur la Sorgue and, as we started to climb up towards the Mont, the temperature dropped below freezing.

By the time we reached Chalet Reynard (about half way up) it was minus 5 degrees Celsius, snowing, and the road to the summit was closed to cars… again.  So we wrapped up in our ski jackets and hats, and started to walk up the road, stopping occasionally to read the slogans written on the road along with names of riders who slogged up to the summit in the 2013 Tour de France.

But as we rounded a bend further up the road the full force of the north wind hit us.  It was absolutely freezing!  So, once again we have been defeated.  Note to self: Next time try it in the Summer!