Provence, France

I took Spanish in junior high, high school, and at the Naval Academy because it seemed like the most practical foreign language to learn given the demographics of the Americas.  My Spanish has come in handy at various points in my naval career and was a big help in learning passable "tourist Italian" while we lived in Naples, Italy for two years.  I enjoy speaking Spanish (or at least attempting to speak it) and I like that you can pronounce any word almost by just looking at it and following a relatively small set of simple rules.  I was born with the gene for r-r-r-r-olling my r's and I am pretty bad at the nasal and back of throat noises needed for other European languages.

...but if I had a dollar for every time I wished I could speak French over the past 30 years, I could probably buy  a case of Dom Perignon.  Between my limited visits to French speaking Africa, my periodic interactions with the French Navy, and my casual encounters with both French and non-French francophones, I definitely have gained an appreciation for the language and for its widespread use around the world.  It also comes in quite handy when visiting France, but so does being there with an enthusiast for speaking the language to speak for the group.

When our Navy friends Tony and Alison told us they were planning to be in France for two weeks this Fall, we did not initially expect it would work out to meet up, but much like the timing to see my USNA roommate in Modena, our travel itineraries ended up working to rendezvous (that's a French word) in Provence for a four days.  It was a little hard to leave Italy after such a brief visit and with such a flood or re-kindled fondness for all things Italian.  Flying from Bologna (20 miles from Modena) to Marseille was relatively cheap and we didn't even need to decide that spending time with friends was more important than eating pizza and drinking cappuccino.  France is also in the direction of Spain from Italy, which has been our broad travel objective since leaving the U.S.

Tony and I served together on our first ship, the mighty USS RENTZ (FFG-46) in San Diego.  We deployed to the Middle East on that ship in the Summer-Fall of 1993, during which time Lyn and Alison became friends.  After RENTZ, we remained in touch for a few years but as kids and Navy moves happened, we fell out of touch and didn't cross paths again until 2017.  Since then, we have re-kindled our friendship and found we have a lot in common and can enjoy each other's company for extended periods of time.  We've never vacationed together though and you never know what strange habits and bizarre psychoses you might discover about each other when spending a week in the same Air BnB and exploring a foreign country together.  This happens to Lyn all the time when traveling with me.  As it turns out though, we are extremely compatible with Tony and Alison and had a thoroughly enjoyable week with them in France.  If anything, it went too quickly.

We RDVU'd on Monday and had three full days (Tu-Th) to explore Provence in the car they rented.  Our Air BnB was in a beautiful home in the hilly town of Bouc Bel Air about 10 miles south of Aix-en-Provence.  The proprietor of the Air BnB was a lovely 70-year old (or so) French lady who lived in the attached house.  She was warm and gracious as if we were visiting a beloved Aunt and treated us like family. She also gave us great advice on places to visit and specific restaurants to try in each place.

Our basic strategy for the three days was: one day to visit the "Luberon villages" to the north of Aix-en-Provence; one day to visit Aix-en-Provence itself; one day to visit the coastal town of Cassis just east of Marseille, and then a half day on Friday to see the old port district of Marseille before Tony and Alison had to catch a flight out to Brittany.  We had breakfast and supper in the Air BnB each day and treated ourselves to some good French dining for lunch in each of these wonderful places.

Here was my running journal for each day (kind of boring; scroll down for the photo chronology)

220926 – Travel from Modena to Marseille. Long walk to train station on opposite side of Modena centro from our Air BnB. Crazy crowded airport in Bologna and our flight was an hour late leaving.  Laid over in Lyon for two hours where we got Cava-like "build your own salad" in the airport.  Successful rendezvous with Tony and Alison.  Arrived at our lovely Air BnB in Bouc Bel Air around 2230.

220927 – Day trip from Bouc Bel Air to Luberon. Visited Gordes which was windy and had an outside market with a lot of visitors.  Next went to Menerbes for lunch at Café du Progres which had the kitchen at the top of the stairs.  Stopped by the Pont Julien bridge from Roman times on the drive home.  Ate Tortelloni from Modena for supper (moderately successful but fresh pasta does not travel terribly well in a backpack despite our best efforts).  The wine was awesome though.

220928 – Day trip to Aix-en-Provence.  Visited the studio (atelier) of Paul Cezanne where we watched a  free 23 minute video and I became an expert on Cezanne.  Walked through beautiful historic district then had lunch in Place des Tanneurs at an outdoor café called Le Bouddoir.  Walked Via Mirabeau and came across the Granet Museum which featured the art collected by a Jean Planque and placed on display in a converted church.  Then walked to the main site of the Granet Museum which had a broad range of works including a traveling exhibit on artwork and photography of Rome.   Had a late afternoon tea at the Hotel du Caumont where the biggest excitement was watching enormous chestnuts falling from the tree onto tables and umbrellas in the courtyard.  It got windy in the late afternoon but overall the weather was perfect and felt like being in San Diego.  

 220929 – Day trip to Cassis.  Took an 80 minute boat ride to explore the Calanques National Park.  A calanques is a French word for fjord and describes the multiple deep and steep limestone inlets along the rugged coast between Cassis and Marseille.  Had lunch on the harbor and Chef Brun cafe.  Walked the “Little Prince” trail to see the nearest Calanques from the shore side.  Visited a local winery called Paternel where we got an unofficial tour of the winemaking equipment thanks to Alison's knowledge of the winemaking process and her excellent French.  From there, we rode up to the Cap Canaille overlook (400m cliffs overlooking Cassis, Calanques, and the Mediterranean).

 220930 – Final day in France.  Drove into old port section of Marseille and parked near City Hall.  Walked to the port entrance and went inside Cathédrale La Major. Had lunch at an Italian restaurant by the harbor near City Hall.  Said farewell to Tony and Alison then walked to Holiday Inn Express near St. Charles train station.  Organized ourselves for a couple hours then took a walking tour of downtown Marseille and had dinner at an excellent Tunisian restaurant near the port.

Here's the more interesting photographic chronology

Day 1 - Villages of Luberon

Our first stop was to the town of Gordes, which is loaded with history, including Roman settlement, the French wars of Religion, and the Allied south coast landings to liberate France in August 1944.

Gordes looking from the outside and the inside.

Gordes has a number of winding streets filled with old world charm and some very old churches.  We saw Joan of Arc several times during the week. 

Beautiful overlooks and beautiful Navy wives.

The grape harvest (vendange in French) already happened but some of the vines still have grapes.  Maybe they left a few for the sake of tourists.

We visited Gordes on a Tuesday and its outdoor market was in full swing, selling everything from flowers to vegetables to desserts to honies to garlic and nuts.

War memorial to WWI and WWII solidiers as well as partisans who fought the Nazi occupation.  Gordes has a history of defying centralized power apparently. To add some historical context, the local resistance liberated Gordes from the German Brandenbourg Division on August 25, 1944.  This is the same day Paris was liberated by the Allies and the day my wonderful mother was born. A lot can happen in the span of a lifetime.

Our second stop was the town of Menerbes where we had lunch at a lovely cafe.  The outdoor seating to our left had a beautiful view overlooking the valley but it was a bit windy and chilly for how we were dressed, so we opted to eat indoors.

The kitchen was upstairs and they apparently get tired of tourists walking in looking for the bathroom so they put up these makeshift signs at the bottom of the stairs (the first photo) and halfway up the stairs at the second turn.  If you think the French have no sense of humor, you need to read these signs.  

At the end of the meal, Alison needed to use the restroom and I casually said "oh, it's at the top of the stairs" not expecting to be taken seriously.  Alison had been sitting with her back to the serving staff going up and down the stairs with the food all meal, so what was obvious to me was not obvious to her.  To my surprise and mild horror, up she bounded up the stairs with purpose and total confidence, right past both signs without pausing.  Thankfully she is fluent in French and was able to explain she had been set up as she apologized to the kitchen staff for the intrusion. I'm still working to re-build Alison's trust in me.

Walking the streets of Menerbes after lunch where we came across some lovely views and lovely gardens.

Tony and Alison at an overlook in Menerbes.

On the drive back toward Bouc Bel Air, we stopped at Pont Julien, a bridge dating back to Roman times that boasts 2,000 years of continuous use.  The bridge itself has been re-built but the stones at the base of the supports were placed by the Roman engineers trying to build lines of communication across Gaul.

You can see the eroded holes at the various joints in the bridge. It's almost like the bridge was begging for people to climb up and take a photo.  I was happy to oblige.  I believe the upper archway is not only for aesthetics but also alleviates pressure on the bridge if the river rises to a flood (he river was bone dry on the day of our visit so not sure if it ever runs hard in the modern age).

Day 2 - Aix-en-Provence 

It would take a long time to grow weary of roaming through the streets of Aix, especially on a beautiful late September afternoon.

Not Joan of Arc.  We liked the dog companion. This was above the street outside one of the many churches in Aix.

We walked up a hill to visit the studio (atelier) of Paul Cezanne and arrived to discover it required advanced booking for the limited guided tours of the place.  The garden in the back of the house was free and it offered a 23-minute video about Cezanne based on his journal writings.  We watched the entire loop of the video, making me a now expert on Cezanne's art and a little bit of his biography.  He was a deep thinker and definitely perceived the world differently than most other people.  One comment he made was about the importance of contrast.  He would see what is there and what is not there.  He also talked a lot about what color a shadow is, which I have to admit I never spent much time thinking about.  We did not take any photos at the atelier but on the way back down I saw this very old Renault and a very new and sporty Audi parked together.  Maybe this is what Cezanne meant about contrast?

 

A study in contrast

Time for lunch.  At in  lunch in Place des Tanneurs at an outdoor café called Le Bouddoir.

Other than the Paul Cezanne studio, we hadn't researched the art scene in Aix.  Quite by accident, we came across a museum that was converted from a church. After a quick consultation, we decided it was worth the 8 Euro per person to check it out.  To our pleasant surprise, the admission also included the larger parent Granet Museum a few blocks away.  This church housed a collection of art by a Swiss art broker named Jean Planque who acquired a bunch of artwork through his personal relationships with artists and other art collectors.  We were surprised to find numerous works by Picasso among others.  

Tripadvisor knew this place was a great find, but you just can't always trust websites when it comes to art museums.  Some of them are so boring. This one was not.

https://www.museegranet-aixenprovence.fr/en/collections/collections/granet-xxth-jean-planque-collection

Picassos.

Sculptures by a Kosta Alex (had never heard of him but I'm a big fan). You can see Lyn's reflection in the last one of the blue faced guy. 

Our next stop was the Granet Museum a few blocks away.  They had a terrific permanent exhibit of classical art and antiquities.  They also had a traveling exhibit from a German art museum featuring the work of German artists who visited Rome in the early 1800s.  The painting below was the signature work for this exhibit and shows the German artists in the picture painting the Romans.  This exhibit also featured photography of Rome from the 1800s which was a lot of fun to see and highlights why Rome is called the eternal city. Just doesn't change much.

https://www.museegranet-aixenprovence.fr/en/homepage

The woman on the left is painting the picture below this.  Kind of cool.

Paul Cezanne. What color is a shadow?

Wrapped up the day with tea in the garden at Hôtel de Caumon where the big excitement was the wind getting a bit gusty and a huge chestnut tree dropping big chestnuts on the idyllic umbrellas and tables. 

Passed on tea because I had to try the one French beer we found all week. 1664.  It tasted like beer.

The garden at the Hotel de Caumont.

Day 3 - Cassis 

Cassis is a beautiful town on the coast of the Mediterranean tucked in between the Calanques National Park to the west and the Cap Canaille cliffs to the east.  A calanques is basically like a fjord created from the soaring limestone cliffs that run at angles forming a succession of deep channels along the very rugged and beautiful coastline.  The easy way to see the calanques is by taking a 1-2 hour boat ride from Cassis (we did a 75 minute boat ride a made it to the fourth calanque).  After the boat ride, we had lunch on the harbor then took a walk out the nearest little peninsula where we got a landward view of the closest calanque and were impressed with what an excellent natural harbor it is for hundreds of sailboats.

Our arrival in Cassis coincided with what appeared to be a vintage Citroen car club gathering. This was one of 20 restored Citroens we saw drive past while waiting for our boat ride.  At the beach just across the way, bold beachgoers were swimming in the Mediterranean. Our Air BnB lady said that's not only common but they do it year round, especially at Christmas.

My last at sea adventure on active duty.  No one better to share it with than my best liberty buddy.

The mountain behind Cassis is nicknamed "Charlemagne's Crown" because of its shape.  Not hard to see why.

Calanque #2

RTHP

Cap Canaille in the background viewed from Cassis

After our visit to Cassis, we stopped at a local winery recommended by Kathy at the Air BnB.  They told us the wineries around Cassis produce 80% Rose, 15% White, and 5% Red (roughly).  We did a tasting and it confirmed for me that the soil and climate are optimal for Rose and White. Red not so much.  

A winery with a view.

Before...

...and after.

This is what happens in between.

We finished our visit to the coast with a drive up the nearby Cap Cannaille which rises 400m nearly straight up out of the Mediterranean.

Pondering the meaning of life.

Life finds a way.

Day 4 - Marseille

Alison kicked off our last day in France with an early morning run to the local bakery (boulangerie). Yum chocolate crossaints.

We loaded up the car (a very tight fit with four people and all our luggage), said au revoir to Kathy, and drove 30 minutes to downtown Marseille where Alison braved the city traffic madness so Lyn and I could drop our bags at the hotel we'd be staying in that night near Gare St. Charles (train station). Then we parked the car down in the old port quarter by City Hall.

When we came out of the underground parking lot, the first thing we found was a bull and a lion on stilts.  These animals are apparently on the Marseille coat of arms.  Why they are on stilts outside of City Hall is not clear. Maybe it's a suggestion of how to keep clean in the muddiness of politics?  Or maybe it's statement on global warming and they are preparing for the ice cap to melt?  Or maybe it's just good art to provoke the imagination?

We took a nice walk past the Mucem (museum of Mediterranean people's history) to see where the harbor opens to the Mediterranean and were draw toward the Cathedral of Sainte-Marie-Majeure which is one of two world class cathedrals in Marseille.  We saw, but did not visit, the other one which is Notre-Dame de la Garde up on the hill overlooking the city.  Both are spectacular and add to Marseille's sense of history and significance.  With more time, we would have walked up the hill to get a great view of the city...because I haven't climbed enough hills in the past month.

Marseille has a sizable population of North Africans owing to its proximity on the Mediterranean and its colonial history, particularly in Algeria.  This vendor was one of many persons of North African descent we saw during our visit.

Cathedral of Sainte-Marie-Majeure

Notre-Dame de la Garde

We had a nice lunch at an Italian trattoria then said farewell to Tony and Alison who had a plane to catch heading to Brittany where they planned to spend the weekend with French Navy friends.

Lyn read about the street art in Marseille which runs the full spectrum from beauty to vandalism.  Photos below are some of the better examples of what we found. Definitely and eye of the beholder kind of thing.  In some cases, I'm sure it makes the French septuagenarians want to scream or cry.

 

As sunset approached, we found ourselves back at the harbor area.  We found what appeared to be a giant shelter or bus stop with a mirrored overhead.  Great for camera work.

Many thanks to Tony and Alison for inviting us to join them on a portion of the French adventure.  Alison's superb fluency in French made a huge difference in our enjoyment of the trip and our appreciation of the many details and signs we would have otherwise not seen or been unable to process fully.  Alison's affability and language skills also contributed to nearly universal hospitality and good cheer from the French people we encountered (with the waiter in Menerbes being perhaps the only exception and even he had a certain charm in his bluster).  

We are three (of 16) weeks into our trip and the experiences have already been enough to satisfy my travel lust for a while.  We aren't getting tired of the adventure though and are excited to get to Spain.