In the morning, we left with the Aix-en-Provence CEA Director, Vivienne, to go travel out into the true French countryside. The countryside is an absolutely gorgeous part of France that many tourists and visitors overlook it simply because, obviously, the locals are not going to speak English, it is not particularly tourist friendly, and is simply France's hidden treasure. The countryside has rolling hills of olive trees usually and then fields and fields of lavender, spices, and herbs. The rocks, which are pure white and very jagged, really remind me of pictures of the Mediterranean coastline from Greece or southern Italy. It seems like a totally different, magically world straight out of a fairy tale book.
We first traveled to les Baux de Provence (Boh-deh-Provahnce). It is known as one of the most beautiful villages in France for good reason. It is actually a very small group of villages in the Provence region that was controlled by the Baux family in the Middle Ages. The true Baux-de-Provence is the main village built on a hill mainly as a fortress. Thus, presently, one can visit the village where shops, restaurants, and houses line the bottom of the hill and the top of the hill is a preserved area of ancient dwellings. Vivienne, on the way there, claimed that the ancient dwellings were like "Disney land without all the people." As we soon found out, we truly felt like we were in a private amusement park where we could tour around these massive ruins full of tunnels, caves, stairs, and towers. The shops were absolutely exquisite as well. Many of the girls bought herbes de provence, jelly preserves, and other items, but I stuck with simply buying my usual patch!
For lunch, we enjoyed the great privilege of meeting a Frenchman named Lulu who serves people in his house which was carved out and built by Roman soldiers. His house is carved out of rock on the side of a hill, and in his backyard, is a giant 20 to 30 foot stone "pyramid" which the Roman soldiers dug out. The ground was around 20+ feet higher in ancient times, so the Roman soldiers essentially dug out this man's entire living area which included a full house, a large patio, a large backyard, and a huge garage (which Lulu likes to fill with his favorite collectible, old cars). His ancient house has been in his family for over two hundreds years, so when he passes away (he does not have a huge amount of time left) his house and property will most likely be turned into a museum. We really felt very lucky to experience the type of life he has lived and look at his house, collectibles, and such. He has such a beautiful place that is just full of French collectibles, old wooden ships, books, wooden dolls, and crafts. Iron pots and pans line the entire house, there is a fireplace in almost every room, and the whole place feels very old, preserved and part of a much different time. (Vivienne, who has gotten to know Lulu a bit more, told us that he has one tech indulgence in his house: a massive flat-screen TV in his bedroom, hilarious!). His life really just seems very beautiful, very relaxed, very pure just living off the land, staying in Provence and trying to preserve his very simply way of life.
For lunch, Lulu made the most amazing meal. We started with a few aperitifs, which usually involve some sort of very strong wine or a sweet liquor. Lulu had made his own, very strong red wine for us to enjoy. We started the meal with traditional French bread baked in the region which was absolutely to die for by itself (We think Ana could have eaten her weight in that bread). Then, we were served a rosé wine. We next started working on an omelet which was made with crushed olives, pure pepper, and some sweet veggies. It was delicious! We also had some pasta salad with tomatoes and mushrooms, a delicious green salad with a very creamy cheese dressing, some sort of foie gras, and a great chicken dish with red peppers, onions, and lots of spices. Dessert was simply a course of cheese and some fruit. The whole thing was just great. Every dish was simply perfect, and we all could have eaten a whole thing of each individual dish. I think my personal favorites were the chicken dish and the olive omelet.
After lunch, we were to the last "hospital" where Van Gogh stayed. Vincent Van Gogh, after going insane and cutting off his ear, committed himself to the hospital at Saint-Paul-de Mausole which was a former monastery in Saint-Rémy. This was a short five minute walk from Lulu's house, so we just strolled over through the olive tree fields and cobblestone roads. Van Gogh painted the most while here, mostly of the fields, the hospital itself, the flowers, and the rocks. He even painted the famous Starry Night here in Saint-Rémy. It was really nice because the preservationists would post signs and small pictures of his paintings in the approximate place where he painted them. So, one could walk around the grounds to see the signs and know that Van Gogh had sat right there painting such and such painting. Very neat.
It was a great day, but we were glad to be back in Grenoble that night. Bisous, plus bientôt!
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