...l'on y danse, l'on y danse...Several years ago I did indeed stand on
this bridge, le pont Saint-Bénézet sur le Rhône, at Avignon, and danced with my
little grandniece. That was during the hot hot summer of 2003, when everyone was out and about in shirt sleeves and tank tops. This time, we were there because Matthew was invited to be on the jury of a three-day festival of short films, "Fenêtre sur Courts", but the weather was anything but hot!
We arrived at the Gare de Lyon in Paris under heavy skies and snow flurries. By the time our TGV train left (two+ hours late), the flurries had become serious snow.
In fact, the whole of Northern France was pretty much paralysed for the next two days.
Luckily for us, we were headed south, and by the time we reached St-Rémy-de-Provence -- where we planned to spend a couple of days before the festival -- the skies were blue, the temperatures mild and we could almost be in shirt sleeves. This part of the country boasts 300 days of sunshine a year! One of the oldest towns in France, St.-Rémy sits at the northern end of the Alpilles mountains, about 20 km from Avignon. This is where Van Gogh painted
Starry Nights, and where Nostradamus was born.
And where there are amazing Roman ruins, most of which were not discovered until the early 1920s. The original inhabitants, the Salluvians, lived here in the 6th and 7th centuries B.C., followed by the Greeks and then the Romans. The site is now called Glanum: a city rediscovered after 17 centuries.
With its temples, forum, thermal baths, sacred springs and a shrine to Hercules, the city was a thriving center until around 260 A.D., when it was abandoned following the onslaught of the Alamannic invasions.
Just next to the Glanum site, stands the Old St-Paul-de-Mausole Monastery, with foundations dating back to the Middle Ages.
Its delightful small cloister has circular arches in groups of three, divided by slender paired columns. Today, the monastery is a convalescent hospital. In one of the rooms overlooking the cloister, Van Gogh spent the last year of his life.
His statue greets you as you walk toward the buildings, a sad look in his eyes, holding a few stalks of sunflowers in his hand. To this day, the surrounding olive groves make you feel you are standing in one of his paintings.
On Wednesdays in St-Rémy, the narrow winding streets and squares are full of market stalls selling meats, fish, vegetables and fruits. Here, in front of the town hall, are mouthwatering displays of local produce: honey, sausage, tapenades, olives...
...and, of course, many varieties of locally produced olive oil. Yum!
Not to be outdone by all the edibles, there were as many stalls offering soaps and lotions of every fragrance!
Heading out after the market, we drove to Bonnieux in the Vaucluse along one of those classic French country roads -- dead straight and bordered by rows of plane trees. And, at this time of the year, utterly empty!
Bonnieux is one of several beautiful and historic "hill towns" in the area, sitting on top of the Luberon hills, keeping a watchful eye on the valley below and other hill towns across the valley below Mt. Ventoux. Matthew and I were last here 26 years ago when Sonya and Alex were pretty young. It has not changed much since then, thank goodness!
After a delicious lunch with friends, overlooking the entire valley, we took a short drive...
...and found ourselves in a cedar forest topped by craggy cliffs. The cedar trees are not native to the area. They were imported from North Africa during the Napoleonic era. The result is a truly magnificent landscape!
We had one more stop before heading back up to Avignon for the festival, and that was to visit the ancient fortress town of Les Baux-de-Provence, which rises from a bare rock spur, 656 feet wide, half a mile long, with vertical ravines on every side. By this time, the mild weather that had greeted us in Provence had shifted. Although the skies were blue and the sun was shining, the famous "mistral" winds had blown in. Literally! Between 60 and 70 mph howling and unbelievably cold winds!
The flags were stretched taut, and when we climbed up to the top, we could barely stand, so (prudently) did not venture too far along the edges! Instead, we ducked into every little shop to escape the wind and the cold.
As we marvelled at all these soaps, we also marvelled at the fact that we had both been to Les Baux before, and in the same year (1963!!), but a few years before we met in Los Angeles in 1967. This was turning out to be quite the nostalgia trip!
Giving up on further outdoor activities, we followed the signs to the Carrières de Lumières, just next door to Les Baux. These ancient quarries have been transformed into the most spectacular multimedia shows. When in repose, the quarry looks like this, with walls rising up into the void. Once the show starts, though...
...you find yourself surrounded by paintings by Monet, Renoir, Chagall, projected onto the walls, constantly shifting and moving.
The scale of it all was just incredible, stretching to infinity almost!
I'm not too sure what Matisse would have thought as his dancers came to life before our eyes!
Thursday afternoon, it was time to return to Avignon for the film festival. We had learned just a week earlier, that Matthew had been made President of the Jury, and that the Honorary President was the distinguished French actor, Jean Louis Trintignant, who was so memorable in the recent film "Amour". Heady company, indeed.
Our very elegant room at the very elegant Hôtel Mirande awaited us. We were certainly glad to get out of the continuing freezing "mistral" winds!
When we drew back the curtains, we were amazed to see that we were looking at the back of Le Palais des Papes, just steps from the centre of town. It's all about location!
The massive stone palace dominates the town and has done so ever since it was built in medieval times as a symbol of the power of the Church. It was Pope Clement V who first took up residence here in 1309, having tired of all the local wars in Italy. Six more Popes reigned here until the papacy was returned to Rome, although there was a brief return to Avignon during the Great Schism of the West. All of this history was made more interesting given the current non-stop television coverage of the new Pope Francis.
Before Matthew had to take up his responsibilities with the festival we managed to squeeze in a visit to the Musée de Petit Palais, where room after room had stunning displays of medieval and renaissance paintings.
My favorite was this breathtaking Botticelli. I could barely tear myself away from it.
I managed to do a few side tours, including a visit to the Sunday indoor market, where I spotted my first glimpse of rhubarb. Hope it will soon appear in the markets here in Paris!
As well as all the usual meats, fish, fruits and vegetable stalls, I was quite impressed by this display of "oursins" (sea urchins)...
...and these "pieds de cochons" (pig's trotters!).
But what I loved most of all was the way the market men passed their time during the market hours, playing cards, drinking huge quantities of wine, eating oysters. Traditions that go back generations.
Meanwhile, back at the film festival, after three days of viewing over 60 short films -- from one minute to twenty minutes in length -- the jury carefully deliberated before coming on stage, where the winners were announced, the trophies handed out, and the festival officially declared "terminé" by Monsieur le Président!
But not before some sweet moments talking with M. Trintignant. Looking like two "éminence grises" they could be brothers here, sharing stories, and reminiscing about cinema.
As you can tell from this long post, it was a very full and lovely six days!
À bientôt!
