A Taste of Provence

Marseille, France

We spent eight days in Provence, the southwest region of France, and quickly learned the local daily routine. First, everyone gathers in the morning, with their dogs, at an outdoor café for coffee and pastries (in our case, Pepsi Light and chocolate croissants, no dog). Noon until about 2 pm is spent in a pretty little square by a pretty little church, or at a table by the sea, enjoying a leisurely lunch, with dessert, sampling a local rose. By 7 pm, the restaurants are full of sharply dressed, civilized people having a relaxing dinner of local fish or bouillabaisse, followed by dessert. In between all the culinary activities, there are beautiful ruins and quaint villages to visit, lovely walks to take, wine and olive oil to taste. It is a simplistic view of such a large, sophisticated area, but this is exactly what we did during our visit. And our short time there has only wetted our appetites for more of Provence.

While it was difficult to leave Berkeley East’s beautiful view of Marseille, we rented a car and drove north to explore other parts of Provence. Our first stop was a nice little café with coffee and croissants where we met Francois, from Avignon Wine Tours, our guide to Chateauneuf-du-Pape, one of France’s most acclaimed wine regions. The area is unique, as it seems to have pebbles rather than soil. They say that the more the vines suffer, the better the yield. We spent the day learning about the history, visiting the museum, sampling the wines, with a leisurely lunch at a castle including one of the most interesting versions of apple pie that we have ever had.

On day two of our land trip, we toured ruins, Provence has lots of them. Le Baux is a picturesque village positioned atop a rocky outcrop in the Alpilles Mountains and crowned with a medieval castle. We never knew ruins could be so beautiful.

We ate crepes for lunch at a café facing the Roman Arena in Arles. The afternoon was spent at Pont du Gard, the tallest of all Roman aqueducts, and the focal point of a park where locals spend weekends swimming and picnicking.

We finished the evening with Carol, our friend and neighbor from North Carolina who has a lovely house in Provence that was built more than five hundred years ago. He made us a wonderful dinner, with homemade ice cream, and agreed to show us some of his favorite places the next day.

Day three, with Carol, we took walks in the countryside, tasted wine and olive oil, and ate lunch in a pretty little square next to a pretty little church.

Then we headed north to the Cotes de Rhone villages that surround the Dentelles de Montmirail mountains. We toured Gigonda, Seguet, Vaison la Romaine and Suzette, stopping occasionally to taste a few of their outstanding wines and spending the night at a winery near Seguret.

Back in Marseille, Carol joined us for a couple of days on the boat, where we started each day in cafés, saw the sites, ate lunch by the sea in Cassis, and had great dinners in the city. We asked Carol how the French can eat so much yet not get fat. He said it was the walking, and we agree. We ate more than we ever do and didn’t gain weight, but our feet were very, very sore.