CHAPTER 17. SOUTH EAST FRANCE CONT.

We go on to St. Remy and get a ground floor room, with glass doors looking across to the swimming pool, at Hotel de Van Gogh. We find the laundry and leave our clothes to be washed and dried.

After breakfast in the room we find a Herald Tribune in town before driving scenic back roads to Avignon. We drive around outside the very large fortified city with its ramparts in good condition. We stop in a shaded parking area near Pont Saint-Bénézet where Betty waits while Glenn walks into the city and climbs to the top of the gardens. There is a good view over the Rhone and also to the Pope’s Palace. The Rhone is wide and fairly swift flowing, with several scullers on it. There is no automobile traffic allowed near the Pope’s Palace, so Betty will have to wait for the next time to see it.

We drive south along the Rhone and across it to Barbentane where we have a lunch menu at St. Jean Hotel with tasty food and good service. We go on south on a scenic road over hills and thru forest areas with many camping or picnic spaces, by the Abbey St. Michel, and back to St. Remy where we look at the Roman arch and monument, then return to the Hotel Van Gogh.

The next morning we pick up our laundry and a Herald Tribune in St. Remy before leaving via a Michelin tour of Les Alpilles, going south to Les Baux, seeing extensive stone quarries. On to Salon via Eyguieres and Lamanon, seeing many cyclists on these back roads; there are some large groups with colorful uniform shirts. The traffic in Salon is heavy, with a market underway in the city center. We continue via St. Cannat to Equilles where we find the Aubergue de Belvedere and have a good lunch on the terrace. The sun is hot, even under two umbrellas. We go on to Aix and drive down the Cours Mirabeau and thru some of the city center, decide to stop early, and find a nice room in the Residence Rotonde a couple of blocks from Plaza General De Gaule. We walk a little on the Cours Mirabeau; it is wide and tree lined, much nicer to walk than to drive!

We leave Aix going north east following a Michelin scenic tour, then south east thru rocky forested mountains, go east to St. Maxim, then south east to Pierrefeu where we have lunch at a small hotel restaurant. On to Le Lavandou, with a stop at a roadside stand to buy cherries, and to the Plage Hotel in La Faviere. Before going to our room we drive around seeing harbors, boats, and beaches. There are many apartments or condos six or eight stories high. The Mediterranean shore is very built up and developed here.

There are many people out in shorts and swim suits as we leave La Faviere and drive north east along the coast, seeing many small beaches, some with bare breasted women and nude men. We park at the St. Tropez harbor; there are many boats and one large one, the Orion from London. Artists are painting and selling at the edge of the quay. We go on to Ste. Maxime at the other end of the St. Tropez Gulf and have lunch at the Hotel Muzel Montfleuri, a very nice looking hotel, and the food is tasty. We go by the big beach and harbor at St. Raphael and take the Corniche de l’Esterel to Miramar, where we stop at the Hotel de la Corniche d’Or. We have a large room on the ground floor with a window giving a beautiful view of the sea and the rugged coast. There is a full moon reflecting in the Mediterranean most of the night!

After breakfast in the room we leave our lovely view and drive north east thru Cannes, around Cap de la Croisette, and back into Cannes. We buy the Herald Tribune and some cheese, then Glenn walks along the beach front a little. We go on via the sea shore thru Golfe Juan and around Cap d’Antibes. We stop for lunch near Cros-de-Cagnes at La Bourride Restaurant where we had slow service and not so good food, a very rare experience in France.

We go thru Nice on the beach drive with heavy, but moving, traffic and around Mt. Boran to Villefranche where we stop at the Hotel Provençal. Here again we have a beautiful view of the sea from our third floor balcony, with a large cruise ship anchored between Villefranche and St. Jean-Cap Ferrat. Glenn takes a very picturesque and steep walk down to the Quay while Betty, with her knee still in a cast, stays in the room.