Friday Night in Avignon

Friday night, our last in Provence, we drove into Avignon to have dinner at Hiely-Luculus, Alice Waters' favorite restaurant in Avignon according to her biography. Our meal was delicious, seasonal, and huge. The boys were especially impressed with the "chariot of cheese," some 15-20 varieties from which to choose three. Alex declared "this is impossible. Impossible!" We walked it off, taking in the Palais des Papes, which looks just like Cinderella's castle and Pont d'Avignon, made famous in the children's song.

Day Thirteen: A Wine Miracle

No, we didn't figure out how to turn water into wine, which would have saved us a pretty penny let me tell you, but we did have a small miracle. Brad and I have always loved the wines from the Chateauneuf du Pape region and were very excited to visit the town and taste the wines. We made it up there through twisty and gorgeous vineyard roads. The town is filled with small tasting rooms. After trying one, we were sitting at a cafe lamenting the fact that our favorite, and one of the most renowned, Vieux Telegraph, didn't seem to be represented in the town. Our understanding was that most wineries didn't receive visitors in the wineries themselves, but we had seen Vieux Telegraph on our way in. Anyway, we were feeling aimless so Carole suggested we move to a restaurant across the street that had a sweeping view of the valley. They were closed, but the proprietor invited us in to look around. Brad started chatting with him and mentioned our affection for Vieux Telegraph. He said, "Oh, do you want to visit? I'll call for you." He did and moments later we were on our way for a private tasting of our favorite Chateauneuf du Pape wine. Anything you have heard about French people being rude (even in Paris) has not at all been our experience. People have been amazingly nice and thoughtful.






The boys are contemplating the miracle:

Day Twelve: Provence in Ruins

First of all: the luggage has arrived. My dad managed to communicate directions to the taxi driver in French (go Dad) and the bag was delivered. So yay.

Meanwhile, we visited two sites of ancient ruins, the first of which was Glanum, right down the street from our villa. This is the site of a Gaul settlement from around 700 B.C. that was taken over by the Greeks around the time of Christ, then finally by the Romans around the year 100. This is a fascinating place to visit. Even more so since it was discovered and excavated in 1921. Before that people were just looking at an olive orchard. Check it out now:




The Hellenic influence was significant here. They believed their spring held special powers and worshiped Hercules, among other gods, as a healer:





The Romans worshiped the Imperial family. Here is what is left of their shrine (the sky makes it look like Zeus is about to go ballistic):




The detail on these ruins was amazing:






Here is proof for Marlena that her husband can, in fact, smile for a picture:



Later that day we visited a small town called Lamanon where we hiked up to the Grottes des Cales where people lived in caves about 7000 years ago.

These cliffs were made for carvin'

A small mountain range called Chaîne des Alpilles separates St. Remy de Provence from Les Baux and extends east, presumably to the Alps. These mountains appear in several Van Gogh paintings that were done while he was convalescing in town.

Turns out that they make for good perspiration as well as inspiration as they have been extensively quarried for centuries. The Boys (as we are known) struck out one hot afternoon to explore local ruins and stumbled, unknowningly, into one of these quarries (La Pierre de Glanum).
At first we thought we could come across some ancient dwellings.



But as we explored further, it became clear that it was a huge quarry, dug into mountain.



As we descended into the quarry, it got considerably cooler, to the point where we could see our breath! This must have provided considerable relief to the stone cutters from the "chaude" of southern France.

I began to wonder why these folks had dug caves rather than striping away the mountain, until I saw this, which I can only assume is a lone pillar, left after digging stone from all around it. For scale, those are large olive trees at its base, so it is a good 100 feet tall.

Oh, by the way, the quarry shut down on Christmas, 1726!

Spectacle Taurin

Across the street from our villa is the Arenes Municipales Chomel-Coinon. Last night, the Club Taurin "Lou Glanum" had an event. This event had the same vibe as a community softball game, only it involved young people playing various games with bulls. Zach called this "the best 5 euros we have spent so far on the vacation." Photos and two videos for your enjoyment:

This Woman Hates United Airlines

Carole was originally scheduled on a United flight, however, it was delayed, making it impossible to make her connection to Marseille. She was moved to a Lufthansa flight connecting through Munich. Where her luggage ended up is anybody's guess. Brad was on the phone with various airline personnel from noon to 2 a.m. yesterday trying to figure it out. We believe that it will arrive in Marseille Thursday morning. Here is what we've been told:

It is United's problem.
It is Lufthansa's problem.
It is Marseille's problem.
We can't send a bag across international lines without a passenger.
The bag was left in San Francisco.
The bag is in Frankfort.
The bag is in the air on a flight that hasn't taken off yet.
(All three of the above conditions were stated as occurring simultaneously.)
Do you really need the bag?

It's 11:00 a.m. on Thursday. Still no bag.

Ooh La La!