Provence: Wallet Workout and Olfactory Exercises

Originally posted October 9, 2003

 It’s been a cold rainy weekend in Grenoble.  But I only read about the bad weather because it was all sun in Provence.  I’ve never been so taken with a place in my life!  We headed out of Grenoble on the bus on a stormy Friday morning.  There was thunder and lightning, heavy rain and lots of wind.  I was thinking to myself, turn the bus around, I want to spend the weekend holed up in my apartment with books and tea if this is what the weather’s going to be like.  Fortunately, as soon as we got out of the valley, the weather cleared and it was sunny with beautiful cumulus clouds traversing the sky. 

The first stop on our weekend excursion was Chateauneuf du Pape ("Pape" in French rhymes with "tap" in english).  Now when you read this next sentence, read it in your hoitiest, toitiest voice, and push your imaginary or real glasses up on your nose: You've probably heard of it.  It is so well known in fact, it's even featured in Beastie Boys record– “like a bottle of Chateauneuf du Pape, I’m fine like wine when I start to rap”.  We learned about the government regulated A.O.C. label for wines and the differences between the Loire and Rhone Valley wines.  I was very amused that the French devote an entire sector of their government for the regulation and quality control of their wine.  Chateau Neuf is better known for its robust reds.  We tasted one white and two reds.  I liked all three a lot.  There was a noticeable difference in character from the vineyards in Burgundy, or so the knowledegable viticulturalist told me.  I can never tell in a wine tasting if I taste things because they are telling me I taste them, or if I'm actually tasting them for real.*  We got back on the bus and headed to Avignon to see the Palais des Papes.  Avignon was for a short time the capital of the Roman Catholic Church in the medieval era.  This huge castle is where they all lived and worked.  I enjoyed walking through their cloisters and studies and meditation gardens, retracing the steps of these celebrated religious leaders.

Look at the blue of that sky!! -- Palais des Papes, Avignon.  

After the visit of the palace, I walked around the town exploring the touristy shops that sold Provençal specialties: Olive oil, beautiful pottery, oil paintings, locust shaped soap in a plethora of scents (which I spent a solid hour testing in the street- I must have sniffed at least 60 different bars), table cloths and napkins in beautiful vivid blue (see above photo for inspiration), rich red and calm green colors, and chocolate covered almonds.  I became completely enamored of the color schemes and beautiful plates and dishes and have resolved to go back and buy them when I have a house of my own, if ever that time comes.  Shortly thereafter, we went to the hotel.  We had an hour and a half before dinner so I did my homework of translating from English to French an article from Time Magazine about the generation gap.  We then walked about 15 minutes to a small, out of the way restaurant.  We started with a salad of fish terrine, Aioli, vinaigrette, hard-boiled eggs, greens, tomatoes and green beans.  We then moved to a course of chicken and rice with a pleasant mustard cream sauce.  We waited an hour for a dessert of Charlotte aux Poires.  It was not worth the wait in my opinion.

Pont du Gard

The seemingly interminable period of time between main course and dessert was made a little bit more enjoyable by the piano player/singer/town drunk who came on stage at 10pm.   He immediately pointed out les Americains in the corner and sang “Yesterday” by the Beatles for us.  Everyone in the restaurant knew the words.  Then he sang a couple of French classics.   He was really funny and downed about 3 glasses of wine during the first half of his set.  I feel like he was a regular and one night just sat at the piano and started playing and no one’s ever stopped him.  He was amusing but not especially talented.  He made us all say which state we were from and progressively made fun of all of them.  (Thanks largely to the media’s representations of George W. Bush, and John Wayne movies, people in France think that all people from Texas carry guns, wear ten gallon hats, and lasso livestock in their spare time.  There are two girls from Texas in my group and they have been asked, in all seriousness, if they fear for their lives with all those guns around and also, if they brought their guns with them.)  When I told him I lived near Washington, D.C. he saluted me and sang part of the star spangled banner. 

Coliseum at Arles

Three hours after our entrance, we exited the restaurant and walked back to the hotel.  Bonnie and I talked in the room for a while then went to sleep.  My morning run took me around the old walls of Avignon.  I saw the Pont d’Avignon (actually called Pont Saint-Bénezet) which is not of much use since it doesn’t go all the way across the river, but it’s pretty.  Again, aesthetics triumph over practicality.  And there's a catchy tune to go along with the image, a classic french ditty inspired by the 16th century dances they used to have on Villeneuve, the small island the bridge leads to.  We checked out of the hotel around 9am and drove a short way to Tarascon where there is a huge castle.  Unfortunately, our coordinator did not know that it didn’t open until 10am.  We took some pictures then headed to Arles.

The terracotta rooftops of Arles. 

            Arles was made famous by Van Gogh and Gauguin among others. It is known for its beautiful light and color so artists have always flocked there. We had three hours of free time which I spent in the Van Gogh museum, exploring his old haunts, and finding the café which appears in the painting “Café du Soir”. I also broke down and bought a gorgeous and way too expensive European scarf. Admittedly, it was deliciously fun to give in like that (pretty things are so seductive!) and I’m proud of my purchase.** Then we visited the old roman theater that’s in the middle of town. They still have bullfights and concerts there. Unfortunately, we missed the big September bullfight festival. It still has its original stone structure but bleachers have been added on the inside. It holds about 10,000 people.

Café from Café du Soir by Van Gogh

 After Arles we left for Les Baux de Provence.  It is a small city on a rock formation which still boasts a large collection of medieval weapons of war.  It was once a place that housed exclusively the educated and beautiful (you couldn’t be one or the other, you had to be both) daughters of nobility.  Their existence at Les Beaux consisted of being courted for their virtues.  They received the most gallant and poetic of medieval men whose prize for a well received poem or appeal for affection was a simple kiss.  What a sweet life.

            Before we actually got to Les Baux, we made a surprise stop at what looked at first to be a large rock formation.  I wasn’t too keen on the idea of getting out and walking around in some rock formation when we had a whole other city to explore.  It turned out to be the highlight of the trip for me.  The rock formation was actually an old granite quarry that the French have turned into a museum.  They flattened out the walls on the inside of the quarry and made it one gigantic chamber with lots of walls and elevated anti-chambers.  In this cavernous room they play classical music that is perfectly orchestrated with a montage of medieval art and images from tapestries that are projected onto the colossal slabs of granite.  It was one of the cooler places I’ve ever been in my life.  I love the whole idea that when the French were done with the quarry, they didn’t just leave it or make it into a road or a landfill, they turned it into something ingenious, visually and musically uplifting.

            After the Carrières des Lumières, we went to Les Baux de Provence.  We had a fantastic view from the top towers and we could actually see the Mediterranean.  They had this incredible candy store at the entrance that sold candy mimicking perfectly the shapes of fruits and vegetables.  They also sold an abundance of these cookies which were more like very dense, sweet biscuits.  I bought a little square of coffee flavored caramel.  Mmmm….

View from Les Baux de Provence

            After Les Baux, we drove to Aix-en-Provence where we had a free evening.  None of us did much with it except eat and watch Star Academy.  The next morning I went on a run during the course of which I got a little lost, took some interesting detours, and hurdled a drunk guy passed out in the middle of the sidewalk in a puddle of his own urine.  We spent the morning taking a short tour of the city and shopping in the outdoor market full of artisans, crafts, and gourmet food and goods.  There was a guy making fresh almond pralines.  There’s nothing like eating one of them warm, just out of the roaster, on a cold day.  But the sun was shining brightly and the clouds again were beautiful.  I also shopped for lunch in an outdoor fresh market with vendors for artisan cheeses, meats, fresh fruits and vegetables, and bread.  I tasted marzipan for the first time.  Did not enjoy it AT ALL. But the whole scene was so classically French.***

Aix-en-Provence Saturday Market

 We visited Paul Cézanne's studio and a vantage point from which he painted 87 canvases.  Again, I found myself marveling at walking in the same places and seeing the same things (relatively) as the great artist himself did years ago.

Oft-painted view near Cezanne's studio

            We headed back to cold, rainy Grenoble.  I walked back from the train station loaded with art, alcohol, perfume, soap, a glorified neck warmer, and memories of the most charming place I’ve ever seen.  Everything about Provence is pleasing: the colors, the countryside, the cuisine, the houses, the lifestyle… everything.  I hope to go back and buy tablecloths and plates and dishes and paintings until  I’m flat broke.   As I remember this weekend, I will hold on to and savor the simple beauty of Southern France.

*This remains true today.  I've been told during wine tastings in Virginia that I should be tasting toasted marshmallow, overripe kiwi, and pine nuts.  I kid you not. Also, I don't think I fully appreciated how delicious the wines I were tasting at this place actually were.  Can I have a do-over?

** I still have this scarf and wear it kind of a lot.  It's still one of the most beautiful things I own.

***When I think back on that fall morning and the street market in Aix, mostly what I remember is the light.  Streaming through the trees, filling the air with a golden sheen at this slanted angle.  It's that morning, that light.  No wonder artists flocked there.  That light is poetry.  That light they were obsessed with capturing, made a career of pursuing, you could spend a lifetime trying to describe it, paint it, harness it.  But it is a mystery.  It is unattainable.  It is something not of this earth.