Provence -- Les Baux

Looking toward Les Baux from a viewpoint

Our adventure in France continued when we next visited a perched village called Les Baux.  The village is small and built right into the mountainside.  It has the remains of a castle at the top and examples of siege engines on display.  The winds were extreme the day we visited almost strong enough to blow an adult over hence I could easily imagine a child getting blown off the edge.  There is a protective wire fence today.  In olden times tossing offenders off the cliff was one way the local noblemen got rid of them. 

The view of the countryside below from atop Les Baux

 

 

 

There are Catapults, Trebuchet, Bricole and Couillard all able to hurl stones, boulders and flaming objects at the castle walls and a battering ram to break down the main gate.  Demonstrations showing how these were used and placards in both French and English explaining their use are part of the display.  One of the times these types of siege engines would have been used at Les Baux was following an unsuccessful Protestant revolt that led Cardinal Richelieu to order the castle and its walls demolished in 1632. 

Our tour guide, Angelique, had a sad romantic tale to tell us about Les Baux.  A very long time ago, during the Middles Ages, a rich, young and handsome nobleman wooed a beautiful young maiden.  She was very desirable and had many suitors but this particular man won her hand and the approval of her father (a most important factor in those days).   After they married he took her to his lovely castle atop a windy steep mountain where they were supposed to live happily ever after.  However, they had not been married very long before he was called on a crusade and being a true gallant noble knight off he went leaving her behind.  After a period of time a young poet arrived at the village and when he saw the lady of the castle he fell in love with her beauty and began composing poems about her.  It is unknown how long this went on but eventually the nobleman returned home and found out what had been happening in his absence.  He was furious and either banished the poet or flung him off the cliff.  His lady wife was so distraught that she ran from the scene and accidentally fell off the cliff to her death.  The nobleman was grief stricken and lost his mind.  Apparently everything went from bad to worse from that time forward.   

Today the population of the village is quite small, dependent on tourist trade, so it was hard to imagine the time during the Middle Ages when it was the seat of a powerful feudal lordship controlling 79 towns and villages.  People have been living at Les Baux for almost 8000 years and lords of Baux claimed their ancestry from Balthazar one of the three oriental kings mentioned in the Bible.  Included on the coat of arms is the star of Bethlehem.  The last princess of Les Baux, Alice of Baux, died in the 15th century.  At the height of its power and influence the court at Les Baux was renown for its culture and chivalry.  The mineral bauxite was discovered here in 1822 and takes its name from the village.  

 

 Perched village suggests steepness and some climbing to get to the top.  Angelique thought I should park myself in a café at the bottom of the mountain and wait while the rest of the group climbed up to the remains of the citadel but as Bopa used to say you can tell a Norwegian (American) something but you can’t tell her much.  What fun would that be to sit in a café and not get to see anything?  I politely nodded and then just kept climbing up (a bit slower than the others) eventually making it to the top not too far behind the rest of the group. 

There are a couple of interesting pieces of public art on the top.  One is this monument to the poet Charloun Rieu who lived from 1846 to 1924.  Another is what looks like a large Roman helmet.

 

 

Les Baux was charming and filled with small shops, cafés, cobblestoned streets that were barely wide enough for the small delivery vans—all other cars and vans had to park at the bottom and people walked up the narrow streets.

 

We felt like Bopa was with us what with the cliffs (he loved to look out from high places) and these fossils that we found all over the ground at the top. 

 

We found an old church and a cemetery up there too.  What could be more interesting to a family historian?  A raised tomb was open and empty so one of the more curious teenage boys peeked in.  “There’s room for six people in here!”  He announced surprised.  Many of the graves not only had plants or flowers on them but also photographs and other memorabilia.

 

By this point I had my windbreaker hood tied on tight (above left) and was convinced that I needed a scarf (Mrs. G with a scarf, right) so in Les Baux I found one in a little shop.  With a bit of faltering French (my part) and a little English (the shopkeeper’s part) the purchase was accomplished and I had a lovely new scarf!  Flush with success and bravery from that episode I next approached a gentleman in another shop and bought a tiny Santon.  This area is known for Santons little figurines that are often used in nativity scenes.  I found a little lady kneeling and holding a bunch of lavender.  She is only about 1½ inches tall.  Neither purchase was expensive and small enough to stuff inside my purse. 

For additional information see:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Baux-de-Provence

Provence -- Nîmes

 Roman Arena

Once in Nîmes we visited two more Roman buildings, the arena or amphitheater shown above and a Roman temple.  Originally built about 70 AD this arena was remodeled in 1863 so that it could be used as a bullring.   In 1989 a movable cover and a heating system were added.  

In the time of the Romans there were games and gladiators in this arena today it is still used for various public events, rock concerts and French bullfights.  There had been a bullfight the day before and a crew of workers with a forklift was cleaning up.  Unfortunately for us as tourists it meant that some areas under and behind the arena were off limits while the clean up was in progress so we didn’t get to see the places where the gladiators would have been suited up and waited for their turns in the ring. 

Arena ring

The arena is quite large the central space is not a perfect circle, more an oval shape 336 feet by 331 feet.  There are 34 rows of seats with a capacity of 16,300 spectators.  The original stone seats now have protective wooden boards on which to sit and walk to get to the other levels.  Narrow and not terribly comfortable seats to sit on but out of the wind and each seat seemed to have a good view.  Some of us were happy to learn that in French bullfighting the bull survives.  A ribbon or flower is attached to the bull’s horns and the object is to get the ribbon not to poke, prod, and stab the poor bull to death.  There is still considerable excitement and danger to the bullfighter, however, since these black bulls are very big and agitated. 

Arena corridor

Roman Temple

Our guide, Angelique, called this the “Square House” in English and then said it was neither square nor a house.  The French title is Maison Carrée, which I think means long (oblong) house.  It is a very well preserved Roman temple built around 16 BC.  One of the reasons it has survived the years in such good condition is that in the 4th century when many of these old temples were being destroyed it was rededicated and used as a Christian church.  It has been used as a meeting hall, a canon’s house, a stable for horses during the French Revolution, city archives storehouse, and after 1823 a museum.  Currently the small windowless interior is used to show tourist oriented 3-D films of Nîmes’ heroes and history.  If horses actually went up there it must have had a ramp for them to climb when it was being used as a stable because those steps are narrow and very steep.  I cannot visualize a horse climbing up or down them at all. 

Closer view of the Corinthian columns

Portico ceiling with rosettes and acanthus leaves relief carvings

Trivia:  The Virginia State capitol building is modeled after the Maison Carée.  Thomas Jefferson, who had been minister to France in 1785, had a stucco model of Maison Carée and he used that when he designed the Virginia capitol building.

Seal or logo of Nîmes

Every so often the sidewalks and streets would have these little seals either imbedded on the pavement or on the top of posts showing the symbol for Nîmes--the palm tree and the crocodile.  Mrs. Gimlet says that is because Nîmes was originally a Roman settlement populated by soldiers who had served in Egypt. 

See:
Http://gimletblog.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arena_of_N%C3%AEmes
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maison_Carée

Provence -- Avignon

Papal palace, Avignon, Provence, France

 

We left Paris for Provence traveling on the TGV (“bullet train”) going approximately 180 to 200 miles per hour.  Our ears popped from the speed but looking out the train window the scenery passed by more or less as it does in a car so it really didn’t seem like it was going that fast.  The train was wonderful, very comfortable.  Our guide, Angelique, said the train was the most stressful day for her because she had to make sure all 44 of  “you Americans and your big suitcases” got safely off the train in 3 minutes.  There was a slight hitch because one local passenger did not want to let the group get off first (as it turned out groups are supposed to have priority) and made rude remarks to Angelique who remained polite and calm and let the woman get off and take her 3 minute smoke break while the rest of us tried to keep focused on just getting off before the train started up for the next station.  Angelique confessed after we did get off that she had made friends with the conductor and he gave us a couple extra minutes—minutes we really did need as it turned out.

One of the first stops once we got to Avignon was to visit the Papal Palace pictured above.  Avignon is where the popes relocated temporarily from 1309 to 1377 when Italy was involved in wars.  It is where seven French popes ruled.  Built of stone it is really more like a fortress than a palace and took 18 years to build (1334-1352).  It is one of the major tourist attractions in Avignon and contrary to the way it appears in this picture there was a long line to get in.  My only complaint, and it is a minor one, about the trip as a whole, was that we had such little time to stroll through these interesting places.  Waiting in line to get in would mean less time inside so four of us opted for a second choice.  If one is willing to make the climb there is a smaller chapel above the palace that had far fewer tourists, admission was free, and it was truly lovely inside. 
 

The altar in the small papal chapel

Above the altar area is a dome where the sun shines in lighting the artwork

 

Some of the areas inside the chapel had signs asking visitors not to take pictures but this section looked like it was on display with special lights to make picture taking easier.  

Tower and statue

The view from the top of the hill near the chapel was beautiful.  As we looked up toward the palace we could see this gold statue.  Looking down we could see the pope’s vineyard, the red tile roofs and there was a small park up there too with a fountain, trees, shade and a place to get out of the ever-present strong Mistral winds.  

The pope’s vineyard

 

 

Fountain in the small park near the chapel

Avignon

The city is walled; part of the old wall with crenelated mini towers can be seen in this photo, which also shows the crowded red tiled roofs on the buildings.

Near the Papal Palace walking toward the town

Theater

There were several interesting buildings in Avignon like this Theater.  In the shopping area the buildings had stores on the street level and what appeared to be apartments on the upper floors.  Almost all the buildings had balconies with ironwork that looked like lace or filigree.

Stores below, apartments above

It is hard to describe the wind.  It was constant, very strong, blowing over chairs and other objects, stirring up dust from the walkways and streets making our eyes tear up, turn red and sore.  The sun was shining but it was April and therefore cold.  The winds are usually not that cold but they don’t let up and people have been known to go crazy from it.  Our guide compared the winds in Provence to the Santa Ana winds in California. 

Mrs. Gimlet and I were not the only ones who slipped into stores and did a little shopping to get out of the wind--not as expensive as Paris and lots of beautiful things including elegant table linens for very reasonable prices.