Before leaving Aix, there was one more thing on my list of Must Do’s, an early morning last stroll down the Cours Mirabeau by myself to enjoy the morning market. The vendors set up by 8am, stalls full of linens and soaps, jewelry and shoes, and of course, scarves and linen clothes galore. But like everywhere in the world today, most of it is inexpensive imports from cheap labor countries, although many tags say Made in Italy. I am guessing somewhere there is a city with the name ‘Italy’ in China or India or Vietnam. But it is not hard to tell the difference and so I found the one vendor whose scarves were from France, the linen man whose Provencal dishtowels were woven not printed, and I fell for one ‘Made in Italy’ blue linen dress that I will enjoy wearing on the portal on a warm summer day.
Thanks to the Axios news feed that Steve and I subscribe to, we had read about an experience called Carrieres de Luminares, just outside of Le Baux, a short drive NE of Arles and not too out of our way heading to The Carmargue.
Le Baux is a big stop for tourists from their charming town to the steep uphill climb to the Castle and as typically has a severe parking shortage.
So on the way to Carrieres, rather than trying to see Les Baux, on a random pick, we stopped in a much smaller town to stroll and have lunch...Maussane.
All we could tell was that it did have a number of restaurants and once there, easy parking.
Though we had never heard of this place, never looked at hotels there or considered it on our itinerary, it was the perfect village if you were looking to settle down in a beautiful little house for a few weeks in Provence. Tidy ancient lanes with stone houses, gardens, a town square with outdoor cafes, a few blocks of shopping and an adorable little pizza place, Pizza Brun, with counter service and colorful outdoor bistro tables where we enjoyed a super thin pie with emmenthal, tomato sauce, olives, anchovies and herbs de provence. There were a few four star hotels allowing just enough tourists not to upset the balance of daily life.
A place we could come back to and stay a while.
Ten minutes away and at the foot of the climb to the Les Baux Castle sits an abandoned quarry, home of Carrieres de Luminares.
Described as a walk through the quarry with themed projections and music, it draws hundreds, maybe thousands, of people a day. Each year the show is about one famous artist.
This year it was Van Gogh, who Steve and both really like.
We had seen photos of the quarry with the paintings projected on the walls and we both thought we would be walking outside through large stone walls with projections of Van Gogh’s sunflowers or postman. But once you walk through the entrance, you are inside the old quarry and immersed in a total visual sensory experience. The stone walls and columns that remain, the ceiling, & the floor are awash with moving projections of Van Gogh’s paintings.
Each of the ten parts of the show represent a phase in his all too short, all too tormented life. You feel like you are walking through his villages, sailing on the seas he painted and for the finale, like you are swept through his haystacks and wheatfields as the music wells up through your feet and fills your being. It was mesmerizing and emotional. It made me cry.
We opted out of the killer climb to the Castle, saving our legs from extra aching, and headed to The Carmargue. There is only one town of note in this large wetland area full of black bulls, white horses, pink flamingos and salt marshes. It is a typical seaside town, Saintes Maries de la Mer.
I didn’t find any particularly interesting accomodations there so I booked us into Manade de Baumelles, a working bull farm, which means raising bulls for French bullfighting, where the bull is not killed. But, as I read yesterday, the bull is killed, not in the arena but, later in the slaughterhouse for food!
We arrived with no problem other than it appeared deserted. I found a woman cleaning the restaurant who spoke no English and somehow with my reservation paper and gestures conveyed we were supposed to sleep here for deux nuits. I had booked a simple king room but instead was shown to a huge, beautiful, one bedroom apartment that looked brand new, a total upgrade except for the flight of stairs Steve had to carry our suitcases up.
I am sorry to say that we now ARE at the age where we ask for the ground floor room if there is no lift or no bellman!
But we had a fridge and ice, we had our bottle of rose from the Chateau la Coste, our olives from the Maussane market and our own little happy hour to end our afternoon. After a stroll around the farm to see the horses, we headed into Saintes Maries de la Mer for dinner at Chante Clair, for two delicious and beautiful plates of food. On our walk back to the car along the sea, we checked out the boats and the boat rides available for tomorrow.
Bon Niue!
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