Four Days in Provence
– Part Deux
We did so much during our four days in Provence, I just couldn’t fit it into one blog post. To read about the first two days of our itinerary, check out Four Days in Provence – Part One, describing our visit to Avignon, the Pont du Gard, and Les Baux-de-Provence. For the last two days of our trip, we drove east to visit two of the famous hill towns of the Luberon before heading south to Aix-en-Provence and the cote d’Azur.
Day 3 – Gordes, Abbaye Notre Dame de Senanque, and Roussillon
Gordes
Day three of our trip was a day of driving and sightseeing. We left our hotel in lovely Les Baux-de-Provence after breakfast and drove about an hour to Gordes, considered by many to be one of the most beautiful villages in France. The stone buildings of Gordes are set into the hillside over the Plateau du Vacluse, and the view of the village as you drive into town along route D15 is the stuff of tour books and travel magazines. If you’ve ever spent time looking at photos of Provence, you’ve undoubtedly seen a picture of Gordes.
The village is small, but you can lose yourself for an hour or more wandering its narrow cobblestone streets and alleys, called calades. And if you plan your trip to Gordes for a Tuesday, you can spend time at the farmer’s market, held year-round.
You’ll likely hear about the summer crowds in Gordes and many of the other hill towns, but on our visit, the village was surprisingly tranquil, probably thanks to our morning arrival and the drizzling rain. Gordes usually enjoys about 300 sunny days a year, but the rain didn’t stop us from ambling along the streets, going up and down the cobblestone steps, and peeking our heads into various shops. The kids were fascinated by the enormous snails dotting the stone walks and walls.
Walking the calcades 
An enormous snail 
Calcade with flowers
Abbaye Notre Dame de Senanque
Just four kilometers outside of Gordes is the beautiful Abbaye Notre Dame de Senanque, another well-known Provenҫal sight. The abbey was founded in 1148 and is still home to Cistercian monks today. When not in prayer and religious study, the monks are involved in farming activities, including cultivating lavender, honey, and olive oil, which is sold in the abbey’s shop.
Guided tours of the abbey are provided in French, or you can take a self-guided tour using brochures in nine different languages. On the tour, you can view the abbey church, the cloister, and the monks’ former dormitory. It doesn’t take long to tour the buildings, but the real treat is seeing the lavender field in front on the ancient church. What you can’t tell from my pictures of the field is that I was instructing the kids to smile and pretend we weren’t standing in the rain. But even with the rain, it was a sight not to be missed!
Roussillon
After our short visit to the Senanque Abbaye, we headed to Roussillon, about 25 minutes away. Roussillon is situated on one of the biggest ochre deposits in the world and has a completely different look than Gordes, as most of the buildings are made of red ochre, topped with red-tiled roofs. The town overlooks picturesque cliffs with stripes of red, gold, and brown, reminiscent of the red-rock canyons of Arizona.
We spent time in Roussillon simply wandering, viewing the buildings, parks, and landscape, before having a late meal at a small café. Our day of sightseeing ended with a drive to our next stop, Aix-en-Provence, approximately an hour and a half away. Sadly, we didn’t get a chance that night to experience much of Aix-en-Provence because the rain, which had been misty all day, began to pour as soon as we reached the city. Instead, we dashed out for some takeout sushi, which we ate in pajamas, snuggled in our connecting rooms at the Hotel Cezanne, a boutique hotel on Rue Victor Hugo.
Day 4 – Aix-en-Provence, Cassis, and Les Calanques
Thankfully, we awoke the next day to gorgeous blue skies and gentle breezes. We started our day with a stroll along the Cours Mirabeau in the city center. The street is lined with restaurants and shops and ends at the Fontaine de la Rotunde, one of many fountains of Aix-en-Provence. We stopped at one of the sidewalk cafés for a breakfast of crepes and café au lait.
Cassis
We then drove south, about 50 minutes, to the seaside town of Cassis. Cassis is a quaint Mediterranean fishing village on the southern edge of France. Pastel buildings with colorful awnings circle the port, which is filled with boats, large and small. Cassis is known for its white wine and its calanques, coves carved into the limestone cliffs along a 20-kilometer stretch between Cassis and Marseille.
Les Calanques
You can hike the Calanques on your own or take a boat ride from the port, which is what we opted to do. Our tour, which took about an hour and half, gave us a great view of the harbor and all nine inlets, but didn’t give us a chance to explore the cove beaches on our own. Given more time in Cassis, I would hike and take a picnic to the Calanque d’en Vau, where a white sandy beach sits at the end of the crystalline waters between two enormous cliffs.
Although we didn’t swim in the Calanques, we couldn’t leave Cassis without enjoying at least one beach. When we returned from our boat tour, we headed for the Plage de la Grande Mer, immediately adjacent to the harbor. The beach is made up of sand and smooth grey pebbles and offers a view of the imposing Cap Canaille, the highest maritime cliff in Europe. It also has convenient access to a parking lot, changing rooms, and restrooms.
Our visit to Cassis ended with a meal at one of the harborside cafés. I had the perfect lunch of moules et frites (mussels and fries), and my oldest son still talks about the massive gambas (prawns) sautéed in olive oil that he ate there.
Aix-en-Provence
When we returned to Aix-en-Provence in the late afternoon, we had a chance to walk around the section of the city known as the old town. The city, which was the former capital of Provence and the home of Paul Cezanne, is a pedestrian’s dream, with quaint tree-lined streets, vibrant squares, Baroque architecture, and numerous boutiques. Because our sightseeing was hampered the previous night because of the rain, I didn’t get to see as much of Aix-en-Provence as I would have liked. As we passed people dining in the middle of a square known as the Place Forum des Carduers, I wished I had at least one more night to experience what the city had to offer.
Our short trip to the south of France ended the following morning when we left for Paris via train from the Aix-en-Provence station. I’d love to return someday to spend more time at the sights we visited and to explore the many places we didn’t get a chance to see. But I’m thankful we were able to get such a great introduction to this beautiful region during our four days in Provence.
