Attraction Reviews from Provence

The town of Uzès is located just northwest of Avignon, about a 40-minute drive. If you haven't made plans to visit this town, change them right now and go.

On a sunny Tuesday morning in April I found myself getting quite lost in the maze of narrow streets and lanes in the stunning, and slightly quirky, hilltop town of Biot.

Mons is a tiny, yet lovely hilltop village on the edge of the northen Var and the Alpes Maritime regions of Provence. We had read that Mons had a turbulent past with plagues, besiegements, destruction and reconstruction. From the fifteenth century onwards it had been repopulated by families from the Genoa region.

After a busy visit to Arles, you would do well to leave the city for the expanse of the Alpilles, an impressive limestone range to the north-east. With an eerie luminosity the mountain chain is at once inviting and distant. But there's also familiarity: the barren, almost white rocks remind you of the Roman theatre and the Arena you left behind in Arles. And the crowds near and in Les Baux-de-Provence will rival and surpass those you encountered in the city.

Fort Saint André is more than just your average medieval fortress. As you walk through the two towers at the main entrance, it might seem like you're about to experience the typical cobblestone alleys and towering rock walls.

Let’s descend into the small crypt of the Basilica in St. Maximin. To your left and to your right you see four marble sarcophagi, dating from the 4th century. They are believed to contain the remains of Mary Magdalene and four other saints, including St. Maximin.

After a stern winter, spring in Provence comes alive with a spontaneous display of colors. Along the roads, yellow broom and mauve valerian spring up to signal that the dark months of winter are over. Red poppies add a vivid accent.

Come September, the forest fires have been extinguished, the heat waves have abated and the first rains have fallen - for many areas in Provence the first drops since the end of May. The air is cooler, though still warm in the middle of the day, and the sea has lost quite a few degrees of temperature, after an amazing high of 28 degrees Celsius.

The Musée Réattu emanates an air of secrecy, long forgotten tales and unsettled uprising within its courtyards and high ceilinged rooms.

St. Paul’s Mausoleum in Saint-Remy-de-Provence is considered an important part of art-history because of their most famous patient, Vincent van Gogh, who committed himself to the institution in 1889 and stayed for one year, signifying one of the most creative and difficult periods in his life.

We arrived on a Saturday afternoon in late October, when skies were overcast and visitors were few. Just as in many of the larger Provencal towns, we were led on a circular road around the centre, barred from entering the inner city by car, as it should be.

Be welcomed as a guest into the studio in which Paul Cézanne created some of his most famous paintings; and immerse yourself in the life of the Aix-en-Provence artist.

To many fans of Peter Mayle's writing (A Year in Provence, Toujours Provence and others) the Luberon is the heart of Provence. To us, Provence is more than just the Luberon. Nevertheless, the region offers much of what defines Provence: hilltop villages, stone houses, vineyards, olive trees, the scent of herbs and a fierce Mistral.

In 1994 a limestone cave in the Ardeche was discovered that excited the archaeology world. Three caving enthusiasts discovered a cave richly decorated with charcoal drawings, hand prints and engravings that had been closed off by a rock fall for around 20,000 years keeping its contents in incredible condition. Named after one of the cavers, Chauvet Cave quickly became regarded as one of the greatest archaeological finds of our time. 

I decided to pay a visit to the amphitheatre during my stay in Arles and it turned out to be a pretty phenomenal experience.