Making It Stick: Fabulous France !

In April, we decided to head down to the Provence area. It was a long 8 hour drive, but we finally made it to our bright orange vacation house. It was a nice three bedroom with a ladder up to the loft, which the girls were thrilled to sleep in! After a soak in the hot tub and a good night's sleep, we were ready to explore! We headed out for a picnic and peek at the Pont du Gard. This was theRoman aqueduct bridge that is wonderfully preserved that delivered the water across the Gard River with canyon on both sides. It is a remarkable surviving Roman ruin. This aqueduct supplied water to the ancient Roman city of Nimes. We hiked around a bit and ate a big picnic luncheon the cliffs, enjoying the views. We walked across the ancient bridge and watched the canoes go down the river passing under our feet. We hiked up to walk across the very top, but sadly it was closed that day. Then, we explored the museum for awhile. They have a GREAT children's museum, with nice benches outside where Mike and I had a nice rest while the kids played. They had the run of the place, as they were the only children in there!

The next day we headed to Nimes. First stop was the Roman Arena, which is a very large Amphitheatre built in about 100 AD, it was used for gladiator fights and bull fights. The floor is covered in sand to absorb the blood of the games, and is still the same way today. Today, it can seat 7.000 people for concerts, operas, bull fights, and ice skating. We walked through the Old City to the Maisonon Carree, stopping for a baguette of ham and cheese and pizza for the kids. The Maison Carree is an old Roman Temple with lots of steps and columns around the outside, really neat looking and incredibly, well-preserved inside. Out here they definitely keep all these old places useful, so we stepped inside for a 3D movie about the heroes of Nimes, which the kids loved. Kind of funny watching a 3-D movie inside an ancient Roman temple built in 16BC!! Next, we walked along the river enjoying the scenery, to the Fountain Gardens (Jardin de la Fontaine). It is a beautiful public park the Romans built as a shrine to Augustus. It had canals running through it with statues and lavish staircases. In the corner, was the ruins of the Temple Diana. The kids ran around the ruins snapping a million pictures with their own cameras. We hiked up the steep hill to the top of the tower to enjoy the view. A carousel ride ended our day on the way to the car. Lovely!

We will never forget our day to Arles! We made a made a wrong turn and ended up with a great parking spot right by the Roman Arena. The market was going on around the outside of the city wall, making many of the tight city streets one-way and dead ends. Luckily, when we thought we were stuck, someone pulled out of the best parking spot in all of France! It was heaven sent, as the street at that point was so narrow, one-way, and a dead end! I had serious doubts as to whether our van could've squeezed through, and it being one way, we were literally stuck! We got out and enjoyed walking around the market that runs along the entire outside of the city wall. It was a really festive atmosphere, and the kids were happily soaking it up, so we did some shopping. The girls and I each got these pretty magnetic beaded bracelets, and I got a very nice scarf. Ethan got a stuffed bull that played loud music like a bullfight. He happily annoyed us and everyone else in the vicinity by playing it repeatedly throughout the ENTIRE day! Weighing his options, Josh decided to save his money, as nothing was looking as good as the nintendo game he had been eyeing back home. Mike went with the exciting purchases of a belt and 3-pair combo pack of socks. A wildly successful shopping spree for all! We ate paella and rotisserie chicken from the market on the steps of the Arena. Since plastic spoons were nonexistent in the market, we were told to eat the paella with the shells from the mussels and clams in the dish. Ethan asked over and over, "Why are we eating this rice with an ocean shell?" We walked around looking for the signs indicating that this place or that was painted by Van Gogh. It was fun to compare his painting while looking at the actual site. We toured the Arena and the really neat Roman Theater. The kids got on the stage of the theater and Irish danced. They even got some applause from an older couple resting on the theater steps! We also walked through the medieval looking St. Trophime Church and took a stroll through the cloisters. By the time we left, the market was long over, and the street was reopened but still one-way. This meant we had to drive right smack through the middle of the city to the other side. The streets were so narrow and they all ended in tight T shapes that gave us no room to maneuver the turns, not to mention all the tourists walking around and none to quick to move out of the way! At one point, we were seriously stuck, wedged in between the alley way and a wall, trying to make a 90 degree left turn. Mike had to move forward and back up repeatedly with a nice French man telling us when to go forward or reverse, to the amusement of the 20 or so onlookers who were watching the spectacle. After what had to be about 10 minutes of this, we managed to squeeze through to maneuver a turn. We ended up scraping the side of our "new" van and barely made it out. We were so happy and relieved not to be stuck in the alley, that we didn't even mind the scrape, and promptly named the gash "Arles." After Mike's blood pressure returned to normal and my nerves settled, we took a quick look in the Roman antiquity museum (located way outside the city walls) and hit McDonalds for an ice cream.

On our visit to St. Remy, we saw the Roman Arch and Tower, and headed to Glanum, which is ruins of an old Roman market city. It was pretty cool to walk around and picture the city how it was in ancient times. Next, we walked through the twisted olive trees that Van Gogh once painted. We headed to the Le Monastere St. Paul de Mausde (St. Pauls Monastery) where Van Gogh was committed by the people of Arles (who called him "the red headed madman") and treated from 1889-1890 for mental illness. While here his techniques peaked and he painted over 200 paintings, including The Starry Night. We went in his old room and studio. It was strange to see the sparse room with a tiny bed and desk and think of how poor and destitute he was here, while now his paintings go for millions. We walked the peaceful cloisters where he convalesced. It was surreal to walk those same trails and examine the copies of his paintings located where he actually painted them, and try to see what he saw.

On Friday, we headed to Avignon. It was Joshua's 7th birthday! We promised him a trip to the toyshop, around the corner, from our rental later that day! Back in Avignon, we headed for the Palace of the Popes. Several popes had stayed here making it their own Vatican till they moved it back to Rome. Not happy about the move, the people of Avignon decided to have their own pope. So from 1378-1417, there was actually 2 popes. When put to a vote in Rome, the people of Avignon reluctantly had to give up their claim to the Pope, which ended what was referred to as "The Great Schism." The palace is the biggest surviving gothic palace in all of Europe, and I mean this thing is colossal!! After touring the palace, we grabbed a crepe and some baguettes from a stand and let the kids ride the double decker carousel in the middle of the square. We caught a ride on the tourist train to the top of the Parc des Rochers des doms to see the grotto and enjoy the views. We had a great view of the Rhone River and the broken St. Benezet Bridge with St. Phillips Tower on the far end. The St. Benezet Bridge was made famous by a French nursery rhyme that all the children know. In the middle ages, the huge bridge spanned the Rhone with 22 arches. But today, it stops in the middle of the river with only 4 arches remaining. The rest of the bridge was wiped out in a flood and never rebuilt. We walked over and out onto the bridge to end our time in Avignon.

We headed back to the outlet mall by our house to the toy shop. Josh picked a castle playset as his gift. At home that night, the Landlord's band was practicing in their garage and invited us to listen awhile. They loved American music and played mostly US classic rock. Only the singer could speak English, but that didn't stop all of them from knowing all the songs! Was quite funny to hear Nirvana sung with a French accent! I think they were very excited to play for us. They even played Happy Birthday and all sang for Joshua. Really a fun night!

Our last day, we woke up and headed to the old medieval village of Le Beux. The village is atop the Alpilles Mountains and all carved into the stone. It was a very unique place. We hiked around checking out the huge stone castle at the very top. We watched some of the medieval shows they have on horses and falconry and watched them fire the giant catapult! Previously 6,000 people lived in the stone-cut dwellings around the castle! We walked through the cobbled street village below the castle and stopped for crepes or ice cream and did a bit of shopping. We drove about an hour over to the red village of Roussillion. This entire village is made from the red rocks from their local quarry in the Ocres Mountains. The hiking path through the quarry was closed by the time we got there, but we hiked up to the hilltop cemetery to watch the sunset.

The next morning we packed up and cleaned the house. It was time to drive the 8 hours home. The kids were quiet and entertained watching the Cosby Show and the Brady Bunch the whole ride home. X-box privileges were revoked due to a fighting and a massive tantrum. Other than that, it was a pleasant drive. Provence was a wonderful trip and we have some great memories!