Jas de Bouffan

The next morning I set my clock. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, 6.50am! I did feel a bit sick and woozy, as often do if I attempt to surface before seven in the morning, but it was all to be worth it. We were going to Jas de Bouffan, to see the maison where Paul Cezanne lived and worked, woohooo!

We had to get the 8.30 bus, so Alex insisted that we leave at 8.15 to get there, as the bus stop was a whole 200m away from the campsite;)!

Something nice about the buses in Aix is they have the radio on. Cool eh? Although at the moment there are only about three English songs that the French play on the radio,

1, Adele - 'Someone like you'
2. Adele - 'Rolling in the deep'
3. Sounds like James Blunt - 'You will never know'(?)(maybe I will never know)
Oh, and, I said 'about' 3
4. Cobra Starship - 'You make me feel' (I do like this one)
And, just remembered another one
5. Rihanna - 'We found love'

But that is it, honestly! My finger is positively numb from trying to find English music on the motorway in the camper van. Talk back radio just doesn't have the same appeal.

Anyway, I digress. We had to get two buses to Jas de Bouffan.

We get to town, and realise that there is a big bus strike on, and all the buses are doing different routes, doing half a route, running from different stops, to different stops, or not running at all! It was chaos - I think they will their pay rise.

Also, and we don't know if this was part of it or not, on every junction, there were about 9 white vans parked up, in the middle of the junction, so that nobody could get through. This seemed to be some kind of protest, the police were standing around doing nothing, and the traffic (and buses, if there were any) were in gridlock.





But, I really wanted to go to the house!!!

We spoke some 'Franglais' with some ladies at the bus stop, as you do when there is an exciting drama of this sort (there were a LOT of people at the bus stop) and told them at we had to be at the Jas de Bouffan by 10am. 'Non', they all said in stereo, 'you will not get there by 10am, too far!', shaking their heads and frowning in unison.

We got talking to a lady waiting for the número six with us (who spoke absolutely no English whatsoever) and she somehow told us to start following her, so we followed her.

I said to Alex, 'don't lose track of that lady', and she marched off quickly down the road, 'she is our only hope!'.

After a lot of marching and occasional stops for conversations with the Gendarmerie (her, not us, we stood around like lemons, awaiting our next instructions), we finally got to a bus stop. She said, 'go, don't wait for me, I am too weak and my legs will not make the journey....save yourselves' (or something like that). We said 'merci beaucoup' and walked around the corner, and there it was!

It was 9.50am and we had made it!!




Well, the rest of this story is exciting too, but I have to admit it that getting there had more thrills and spills than we expected.

The tour was lovely. Apart from the fact that the house is being renovated, so we couldn't go around it. Believe me, from the look of the two rooms we went into, it was a renovators dream, if you know what I mean. I would have loved to see inside the whole house though, even in a mess and with no furniture. It was beautiful. But, the tour was about Cezanne and his work, not the house, as the tour guide reminded us.

So, here is the story. Paul Cezanne's father was a felt hat maker turned banker. When one of his debtors couldn't pay up, he repossessed 'Jas de Bouffan' and used it as the Cezanne family country estate (it is actually very close to town - walkable, as we had discovered) as they already had their town house on Cours Mirabeau (where the market and the nice bearded magician were yesterday).

The house is huge, so Paul's father gave Paul the 'Grand Salon' to use for himself, and to have friend's over and hang out. It was here, at the age of 20, that Paul started to paint. Literally, here. He covered the walls!!











Unfortunately, the walls are now bare. One year after Cezanne's death, the new owner of the house sold the paintings. They had to take the plaster off the walls and gently, scrape all of the wall away until the were left with the layers of paint which they stretched over canvas. Amazing eh?

It was wonderul to see the house and the gardens Cezanne used as inspiration for so much of his work. He spent a lot of time here and came back to his mother's and father's home often over the 40 years in which he painted. He also used the local peasants as models for the famous 'Card Players'.

















Just gorgeous!

Love
Est xxx

Aix-en-Provence

I was looking forward to Aix-en-Provence, I had been told it was a cool place, and it certainly was. There were lots of interesting streets to wander and get lost in, with fountains and pretty squares everywhere you turned (I think that's why I got lost!) and three interlinking squares with fruit, flower and 'bits and bobs' markets. We had lunch in the square and did what the French people do at lunchtimes, we sat down, faced the street, enjoyed our lunch (I had a 'vin chaud', very indulgent) and watched the world go by.





We walked down the main street, Cours Mirabeau, there was a lovely Christmas market on and we met a friendly magician!





Aix en Provence is famous for being the birthplace of artist Paul Cezanne. Here is the man himself in the main square.



And there are reminders of him around town, leading you to the various sites.



We spent some time in the Musee Granet, to check out a small collection of Cezanne's painting which are housed there. So many are scattered around the world, a lot of his work is in America. Here is 'Les Baigneuses', (The Bathers) Circa 1895, which was saw at the Museum.



But not before Ben and Naomi had had some quality bumper car time. See, it is not all one way;)







Keep to that 30mph speed limit Benny!!!

What a perfect day in Aix (that's what us locals call it). It it a beautiful place and very livable indeed. In fact, here is my Aix-en-Provence house!



Actually, I think it may be a collection of houses. Oh well, one can dream!

Love
Est xxx

Smells good!

We were now in Provence




so I thought it best that we see some lavender whilst we are here. Unfortunately, it turns out that the lavender is all picked in August so we were a bit late to see these kinds of sights...







...so, we headed for the Musee de la Lavande (it would seem that the French have a museum for everything!).




Fine Lavender (which is different to the Hybrid Lavender which you may have in your garden at home) only grows on the dry mountains of Provence above 800 metres altitude. It is a small plant with only one flower on each stem. It reproduces itself by seeding (like a weed).

It has been used since the beginning of time for it's medicinal properties (it is pretty much the one stop shop for any ailment, you can use it for massage oil, for the bath, you can inhale it with steam to help with colds, and we all know it helps to give you a good nights sleep - the name lavender actually comes from the Latin 'to wash', as the Romans used to use it for bathing). It takes approximately, an incredible 130 kg of flowers to obtain (by distillation) 1 litre of essential oil!!!

So, I hope you have learned something about lavender when reading this, I know I learned a lot!

We bought a few things from the boutique (Naomi got some hand cream, I am sure that five year old girls don't really need hand cream but she was very excited about it) and our camper van now smells like a heavenly lavender field!

Love
Est xxx

Avignon

We arrived in Avignon after dark on Saturday evening and found our campsite opposite the city. I quickly snapped this photo on the way in. Nice eh?



The next morning we went over the bridge for a tootle around. I didn't even click that it was Sunday until I realised all the shops were shut (Alex was very happy - window shopping, his favourite kind;). All the shops close on a Sunday in France, this has caught us out on a couple of occasions, especially when we have been starving and the supermarkets have been closed. I think it is a good thing though. It is good to have a day of rest (I do get tired of shopping sometimes;) and as was have realised by the very long lunchtimes (it is very usual for shops and business in France to close for anywhere up to three hours in the middle of the day) the French people are a nation who enjoy their rest.

So we enjoyed a day in Avignon, sans shopping (sorry Anna, I know you will be disappointed for me).

The first place we visited was Le Pont d'Avignon, which is basically, half a bridge!







The bridge was built in the 12th century. It was damaged in wars and by the raging flood waters of the Rhone (there are now 22 dams along the Rhone keeping it under control) and rebuilt and rebuilt but was eventually abandoned in the 17th century.

It houses not just one church (which is a little surprising for a bridge anyway) but two! There is also another little church next to the bridge which was built when the priests refused to takes masses on the bridge as they feared the churches and the whole bridge may collapse! Ironically, the bridge on the land is now in ruins.




Avignon is also a city of Popes. You may think of Popes and think of Italy, the Vatican and Rome, but no, Avignon has also been their home. In the 14th century, whilst a civil war waged in Italy, the Pope and his entourage relocated to Avignon. Here they built Le Palais des Papes. The Palais took 10 years to construct and was built by two Popes (but Alex reckons they may have had help from builders and such like aswell). It was home to nine Popes who succeeded one another there.













As we strolled around the 24 vast rooms, sacristries, vestries, churches and chapels within the Palace, I couldn't help thinking that it was interesting, but could be much improved with a few curtains (Roman blinds perhaps?) furniture, soft furnishings and lamps. Because, let's face it, I don't think
Popes have much of an eye for decorating really.

I did like this room though, much more homely.




And it was open;)

Love
Est xxx

Sweet Equilibrium

On the way out of Nimes and heading towards our next stop of Avignon, we stopped at two places. The first one was a museum that Benjamin and Naomi were really keen to go to (?), so we couldn't deny them that pleasure. What cultured children we have;)






















Look at the anticipation as they waited for their sweets from the machine. We got 16 little packets free (that was just the sweetener) and then when we were significantly buzzing from the e-numbers, we went on to purchase another 8 large bags from the boutique. Everyone was going mad, buying tons of sweets, it was like a sweet armageddon, teeth and smurfs flying all over the place, and we too got a little carried away with the excitement. Now we have to eat them all in the next three weeks or carry them all back to England on the plane!

We got back in the van and everyone was a little exhausted and needed a rest. It was then that I broke the news that I wanted to stop off at a Roman site of cultural interest a few kms down the road - you can imagine how that went down.

I was allowed to stop, get out, and take a photo, those were the rules and I was under strict instructions. After all, Alex had taken a huge detour of 200m off the main road for my treat, I was forever in his debt and he was the best husband in the world ever. Thanks Alex;)

We got there and you had to pay €15 to park.

You can imagine the conversation.

We paid the money (I played the 'Alex, we are never going to be able to see this again' card) and myself and a grumbling and complaining family set off for a walk to see Pont Du Gard, just as the weather was threatening to turn.

Pont du Gard is the highest of all Roman aqueduct bridges, and was constructed in the 1st century AD!!! It used to carry an estimated 200 million litres of water a day to the fountains, baths and homes of the citizens of the lovely clean city of Nîmes. The aqueduct descends in height by 17 m over its entire length, while the bridge itself descends by only 2.5 cm, pretty clever stuff eh?










Ok, I stole the last photo, to show you what it looks like on a sunny day - when you fly over it.

It did rain, and we all got wet, but we walked all the way across and back, up to the top, to see where the water ran through, and even through a muddy tunnel through the hill at the top. Had to get our €15 worth;)

Love
Est xxx

Nimes

On Friday we had the day in Nimes. Nimes has a rich history dating back to the Roman Empire and what a contrast to Montpellier! Nimes is extremely clean, so clean in fact that Alex remarked that his trainers were squeaking on the footpath, they were so shiny and polished. I loved it!

There are three main sights in Nimes, so of course we did the lot. The first was a ruined roman tower, 'Tour Magne', 400 steps at the top of a big hill in the gardens (there is definitely a theme going on here). Nice view but I preferred the gardens, the 'Jardins de la Fontaine' are full of roman statues and were built around ruined roman thermal baths, beautiful.





Then onto Maison Carree, which is one of the best preserved Roman temples anywhere!





And then, last but not least, the elliptical Roman amphitheater, of the 1st or 2nd century AD, is the best-preserved Roman arena in France. It is still used today, they have bull fighting twice a year - so I am glad I wasn't around to see that!





And I like this photo, of all the Frenchmen hanging out in the park, playing Pentanque.



And this is the house I would like to buy in Nimes. Said to Naomi I would like to buy this house and she said with a sigh, 'Mum....we've got a camper van!'



And this is a chair that I would have liked to buy and have shipped home. Alex wouldn't let me go into the shop so I took the photo through the window:(



Love
Est xxx