Beaucaire (in Provence - by Carolyn

“Beaucaire prides itself on being at the crossroads, ‘entre le roseau and l'olivier’ - between the reeds of Camargue and the olives of Provence. Its location has made it an important settlement since Roman times and the site of many a bloody conflict. Dominated by the ruins of a magnificent castle high on a rock and bounded by the Rhône on one side and the Canal Du Rhône à Sete on another, the town used to be a magnet for traders from all over Europe, who came for its renowned annual fair. Today, it remains largely untouched by time and below the tourist radar, a chance to enjoy a genuine taste of French provincial life”. So, this is where we are for a week. For those familiar with Provence, we’re on the west side of the Rhone, only about 7 miles from Arles to the south on the east side of the Rhone. Avignon is to the north.
We’re in a three bedroom, 1.5 bath apartment in a massive stone building about 200 years old. There is a narrow street between us and the dike which is designed to keep Rhone flood waters out of this city of 14,000. We’re on the second floor which is really like the third because the ceilings are so high and we can see over the dike and glimpse the Rhone. The apartment owner’s mother-in-law is across the hall. It is Tuesday morning and we’re still without hot water and the hallways and “garage” are still without lights. It seems that the building owner hasn’t paid the electric bill…… : ). Ahhhh, France…..

Our apartment owner, Barney, has been here for a couple of days and invited us to an aperitif with his wife and mother-in-law on Monday evening. Madeline, the wife, told us about a time several years ago when the Rhone was at flood stage, the huge iron gates at the entrances to the town were closed, and they watched the water rise to within two feet from the top of the dike. Very scary!

The weather? Gorgeous! At times a bit hot, but not humid. Sunshine every day. A couple days were super windy, but not the last two. Cool nights, days in the 80’s.

Hill Villages of Provence (Carolyn)

While I’ve been to France a number of times, I’ve never really visited the “hill villages” of Provence. On Friday the 4th, we headed (late morning) for Biot, about 3 k from our B&B run by Frank and Isabel. We spotted the parking lot sign, but it was so far from the village itself that we went on up, not noticing the bus that takes tourists from parking to village. BIG MISTAKE….. Kudos to Steve for excellent driving on those steep streets, barely wide enough for one car and really challenging when you come face to face with a truck. He did get a little bit annoyed at the muffled gasps from his passengers, though. Got out of town without a scratch and didn’t turn back. It is noted for its glass artisans, but so is Tacoma, so until a future trip we won’t see them. One great memory from this trip will be the visit to the Leger Museum, located on the outskirts of Biot. The exterior of this stunning building is covered with gigantic Leger murals. Photos are there from earlier blogs.

We got our hill village fix at the next stop, Gourdon, and where, now experienced, we headed for the car park. Lots of galleries and artisans; great outdoor sculptures; a 14th century castle and a fine Nicoise salad for lunch. You’ve already seen some of the photos from Gourdon. And our third hill town, with a multi-story parking garage, was St. Paul de Vence, with 16th century town walls and now sadly described by the Blue Guide as having succumbed to exploitation.

This morning, Sunday, we visited the conveniently open market in the square in front of the Hotel de Ville (city hall). Conveniently because we had no food with us….. I’m able to ask a fair number of questions of the vendors; the problem lies in trying to understand the answer. We bought some excellent and pricey cheese, bread, cereal, tomatoes and fruit. It will get us thru the day. We’ve been invited for appetizers at the apartment of the mother-in-law of the owner of our apartment. I think they’re trying to soothe our concerns about no hot water. The owner, Barney, lives in Brooklyn, but is in Beaucaire for a couple of days. They’ve already given us the key to another apt. where we can go to shower until the repairman arrives tomorrow. Better than moving someplace else, although it is about a half mile walk. More later…..

Carolyn

Antibes (Riviera) to Beaucaire (Provence) - Cathy

What were the highlights for today?

Was it waking up after a veritable sleepless night (for all of us but one - Judy)? Was it when I tried to open the sliding door on the side of the van when Steve had the gas cap open? Could it have been the heart stopping, we-are-driving-on-the-edge-of-a-cliff-of-a-gorge-nick-named-the-Grand-Canyon-on-a-one-and-a-half-lane-road? Could it have been the Brie sandwiches we had for lunch whilst looking across the great divide of the gorge? Maybe it was watching the bungee jumper drop from the highest bridge in all of Europe, only to find out after he had dropped from the bridge that he is wheelchair bound and cannot walk on his own?

I must say I was partial to the view of the fresh water lake, a stunning azure blue. But then again, there was the long, long drive from the gorge to Beaucaire by the route chosen by Car Bitch One. (No, not any of us ladies, but the GPS unit that Steve brought along.) The others may have preferred the seemingly endless fields of sunflowers and lavendar (no accounting for taste seeing as how the sunflowers are all dried up and dead, standing like zombie flowers, all facing the same direction just waiting for Michael Jackson to give them a reason to lift their heads and dance once again, or the lavendarless lavendar bushes.)

Ah, but it was great fun when we decided to hear what Car Bitch Two had to say about our route. CB1 is from the US and CB2 is from the French car (kudos to Judy for learning to communicate with CB2). CB1 & CB2 did not agree on our route. One (1) was intent on the quickest route while Two was planning the most straight-forward. At times, they would simply talk over one another while at other times, they would purposely (it seemed) contradict one another. CB1, "At 450 meters, enter the roundabout, take the 2nd exit." CB2, "In 500 meters, enter the roundabout and turn right." 450 to 500 meters later, CB1, "Take the 2nd right" and CB2, "Turn right."

But who could deny the excitement we felt when the apartment manager told us that there is no hot water, but hopefully it would be fixed sometime on Monday (today is Saturday). And no lights in the cave (almost literally) of a car park, no lights in the dark stone hallways, no light in the bathroom... all in all a great first impression. (Everything looked much better in the morning.) Or was the best part the waiter that sighed loudly on two different occassions while we decided which restaurant looked best. More likely, it was the lovely waitress that did not sigh (at least not in our presence) and took great care of us. There is so much to choose from, I'm not sure where to start.

Off to the market now! Cath

Visits of Hill Towns and the Leger Museum 9-4-09

Leger Museum in Biot.

Antibes and The Mediterranean

Carolyn, Cathy and Tim arrived in Antibes on the third at around noon and hit the running! After a short stop at the B&B to drop of their luggage, we went out in search of lunch.

We found a place in in old Antibes and sat at a table on the sidewalk. After visiting with the restaurateur (he spoke some English) we learned that he has a daughter and son-in-law in Bellingham!

We then took a stroll at the "port", a very upscale marina FILLED with million dollar (or more) yachts. We heard that Bill Gates moors his boat here.

We explored Fort Carre (used from 1388-1888) for a little while and then walked down to the beach where we waded in the Mediterranean, skipped rocks, watched the children play and snuck peak at the topless sun bathers. ;) .

Then it's back to old town to find a place for dinner. We find that old town really comes alive at night! Plenty of places to choose from.

Judy and Steve arrive in Antibes (French Riviera)

Judy and Steve arrived last night. No problems with the flight, rental car, GPS, finding the B&B etc. Still hot at 8:00 pm!

Getting into the B&B was a bit of an adventure... it's behind a high wall and locked gate along a gravel road, just a few blocks from the beach and a huge tourist area - marineland, carnival, go-carts, mini-golf, etc, etc. But the GPS led us right to the gate and after ringing the huge bell on a chain, the gate was opened by Frank, the happy proprieter and chef.

After checking in we went back out in search of dinner. (We arrived during the dinner served by the B&B, but apparently it would not be appropriate to join once the meal had started.) By now we had been up for something like 34 hours with 27 hours traveling from home and just 2-3 hours dozing on the plane and in the CDG airport. And all the restaurants were closing! (I thought they eat late in France.)

Luckily we found the BK Beach Klubber, a pole-dancing, strip-tease bar along the shore. The skin show must happen at another time, because we and the other two couples present had only our own converstaion for entertainment, and had our choice of incredible tables just a few feet from the ocean. An awesome dinner and we were headed home for a shower and much-needed sleep.

Off to the airport to pick up Carolyn, Cathy and Tim soon. (For the uninitiated, Carolyn is Steve's mother, Cathy is his sister and Tim is Cathy's husband.)

Weather Link for France

http://www.timeanddate.com/weather/france