Sadly not a year in Provence, like Peter Mayle!
We spent 3 nights in Arles and did a day trip to Avignon.
Typical provencal street
Arles is small (25,000) but picturesque. It has some fantastic Roman ruins, is known for its bullfights (although the season hasn’t started yet) and it’s where Van Gogh painted some of his best pieces, including one of my personal favourites, Starry Night over the Rhone.
Not quite Van Gogh...
We had to go to the farmer’s markets on Wednesday morning, which are apparently some of the biggest in the region. Although the produce looked excellent, they weren’t the best markets we’ve seen – they would be better if we were locals or were able to cook whilst here.
Tomatoes at the farmer's market
Avignon was a small and unimportant town until the French Pope moved the papal seat here. For nearly 30 years there were 2 separate Popes – on at the Vatican and one in Avignon. For nearly a century after the papacy was restored to Rome, Avignonians spoke Italian.
St Benezet Bridge, Avignon
