Market

Ahhhhh, Provence.

The warmth. The light. The laid-back-to-the-point-of-horizontal pace of life. The inexplicable (but very welcome) surge in sightings of des beaux hommes…

I arrived in Avignon as the early evening sun mellowed the quaint cobbled streets of the old walled city. That’s quaint in the sense of exceedingly narrow in places, as the pained squeaking of tyres against both kerbs attested during my attempt to navigate some of the back streets. But hurrah for Sundays and public holidays – free parking for my entire stay after the trials, tribulations and expense of Lyon!

Avignon is famous for two things… the Pont St-Bénézet – which isn’t actually a bridge anymore, so you’re essentially paying to walk halfway across the river and back again, failing to achieve even the most basic of bridge-based objectives (in fact, pretty much bridge 101 really); and the Palais des Papes – an enormous gothic palace dating from the 14th century when Avignon was the site of the Papal seat. Six generations of pontiffs splashed an eye-popping chunk of change on the best architects and craftsmen of the day to build, amend and extend it – you know, to really make the place their own. I bet it looked impressive on the cover of Medieval Home & Garden.

I discovered a third attraction not listed in the guidebooks however, which totally blew my mind: a double-decker merry-go-round. I KNOW, right?! A.Mazeballs. It’s bad enough I was born before ball-pools were a thing, but a merry-go-round on two levels? With actual stairs? Kids these days have it SO good.

Aix-en-Provence continued the beautiful old city vibe, this time with a bit of mini-Champs-Élysées glamour in the form of the Cours Mirabeau, a wide and rather splendid tree-lined avenue leading climactically to a huge fountain – tainted only by the overpriced stalls touting tat to tourists.

The ‘proper’ markets here were the best so far though – mouth-watering produce and vivid colour-bursts of flowers set against a backdrop of magnificent buildings in the old city’s squares. I could have wandered them for hours. In fact, I did.

I’m a sucker for a bit of old-school art, so I was in my element heading out to the Bibémus quarries where Cézanne painted so prolifically; to Arles where Van Gogh did some of his best work (visited on a total whim, and all the more stunning because of it); and popping into Antibes for a whistle-stop tour of the Picasso museum in the former Château Grimaldi where he lived and painted for a short time.

The vibrancy and clarity of colour in that special Southern light I’d read about is almost tangible, and I could totally see why it captured the imagination of so many artists. Arles was by far my favourite of the three – quainter than a teeny tiny teaset on a hand-crocheted doily in the chintz-lined window of an antique shop in the picturesque village of qu’aint-s’ville. Plus it had a really cute cat.

And so my road trip approached its end as I set off along the coastal route from Antibes, bound for my home for the coming few weeks (and hopefully months) in Nice…

Window detail, Palais des Papes (Avignon) © Alison Jordan

View across a courtyard, Palais des Papes (Avignon) © Alison Jordan

Window seat, Palais des Papes (Avignon) © Alison Jordan

Original floor tiles, Palais des Papes (Avignon) © Alison Jordan

Door, Palais des Papes (Avignon) © Alison Jordan

DOUBLE-DECKER MERRY-GO-ROUND! (Avignon) © Alison Jordan

Merry-go-round detail (Avignon) © Alison Jordan

Pont St-Bénézet (Avignon) © Alison Jordan

Accordionist outside the Palais des Papes (Avignon) © Alison Jordan

Notice (Avignon) © Alison Jordan

Wall art / shrine (Avignon) © Alison Jordan

Window detail (Avignon) © Alison Jordan

Graffiti (Avignon) © Alison Jordan

Avignon © Alison Jordan

Sculpture (Avignon) © Alison Jordan

Pipe and shutter detail (Avignon) © Alison Jordan

Place des Corps Saints (Avignon) © Alison Jordan

My local café, Place des Corps Saints (Avignon) © Alison Jordan

View from Fort St-André (Villeneuve-lès-Avignon) © Alison Jordan

Ramparts, Fort St-André (Villeneuve-lès-Avignon) © Alison Jordan

Fort St-André (Villeneuve-lès-Avignon) © Alison Jordan

Flora, Fort St-André (Villeneuve-lès-Avignon) © Alison Jordan

Vine-covered building (Villeneuve-lès-Avignon) © Alison Jordan

Cherries, market, Place des Prêcheurs (Aix-en-Provence) © Alison Jordan

DU FROMAGE! Market, Place des Prêcheurs (Aix-en-Provence) © Alison Jordan

Blending in… Market, Place des Prêcheurs (Aix-en-Provence) © Alison Jordan

Market, Place des Prêcheurs (Aix-en-Provence) © Alison Jordan

Tomatoes, market, Place des Prêcheurs (Aix-en-Provence) © Alison Jordan

Carrots, market, Place des Prêcheurs (Aix-en-Provence) © Alison Jordan

Soap, market, Place des Prêcheurs (Aix-en-Provence) © Alison Jordan

Market, Place des Prêcheurs (Aix-en-Provence) © Alison Jordan

Crates, market, Place des Prêcheurs (Aix-en-Provence) © Alison Jordan

Café (Aix-en-Provence) © Alison Jordan

Market, Place Richelme (Aix-en-Provence) © Alison Jordan

Garlic, market, Place Richelme (Aix-en-Provence) © Alison Jordan

Market stall, Place Richelme (Aix-en-Provence) © Alison Jordan

Sunflowers, market, Place Richelme (Aix-en-Provence) © Alison Jordan

Market, Place Richelme (Aix-en-Provence) © Alison Jordan

Flower market, Place de l’Hôtel de Ville (Aix-en-Provence) © Alison Jordan

Hôtel de Ville (Aix-en-Provence) © Alison Jordan

Cherries (Aix-en-Provence) © Alison Jordan

Fanny’s (Aix-en-Provence) © Alison Jordan

La non-maison (Aix-en-Provence) © Alison Jordan

Fontaine de la Rotonde (Aix-en-Provence) © Alison Jordan

Cours Mirabeau (Aix-en-Provence) © Alison Jordan

Hôtel d’Espargnet, Cours Mirabeau (Aix-en-Provence) © Alison Jordan

Cours Mirabeau (Aix-en-Provence) © Alison Jordan

Aix-en-Provence © Alison Jordan

Peeping flowers (Aix-en-Provence) © Alison Jordan

Les Carrières de Bibémus (Aix-en-Provence) © Alison Jordan

View of Montagne Sainte-Victoire, Les Carrières de Bibémus (Aix-en-Provence) © Alison Jordan

Fontaine de la Rotonde by night (Aix-en-Provence) © Alison Jordan

Cours Mirabeau by night (Aix-en-Provence) © Alison Jordan

Le Café La Nuit, the café from Van Gogh's 'Café Terrace at Night' (Arles) © Alison Jordan

Picasso museum (Antibes) © Alison Jordan

Ali Claire en France

A sabbatical year of cultural enrichment (/mid-life crisis)

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Road trip part 3: Provence