Sights in Saint-Remy-de-Provence — 9 of Our Favourites

An architectural specimen of great quality, the building boasts a remarkable interior courtyard. Its collections are divided into four sections: archaeology, natural sciences, ethnology, graphic arts and photography.

The exhibition offers a journey through time and space and was conceived with the intention of fostering an understanding and respect of today's natural and human landscapes in this portion of Provence that lies between the Rhone, the Durance, and the southern limit of the Alpilles mountains.

Part of the museum is dedicated to the work of Vincent van Gogh, as he spent time in the area from 1889 to 1890.

Other artists such as Joseph Alessandri, Vincent Bioulès, Bernard Buffet, Jean-Jacques Ceccarelli, Jacques Doucet, Lucio Fanti, Thomas Fougeirol, Albert Gleizes, Lucien Lautrec, Eugène Leroy, Henri Manguin, André Marchand, Edouard Pignon, Paul Rebeyrolle, Pierre Tal-Coat, Ossip Zadkine ou Léon Zack,are just a few of the most well known that are represented here.

On site there is a bookshop where you can buy reproductions, stationery, posters and postcards relating to some of the artists on display.

Various temporary exhibits are on show here during the year.

Massive restoration work carried out from 1991 to 1997, restoring one of the most beautiful Baux de Provence buildings to its original late XVIth century splendour.

The original façade, irregularly made of million windows, matches up ideally with the "Lantern of the Dead" of the nearby Saint Vincent Church. In the vaulted ground floor room, interesting XVIIth century frescos represent the Four Cardinal Virtues and the Four Seasons.

A wing of the building is open to the public.

Van Gogh occupied a room in the men's pavillion for 53 weeks, and it has been reconstructed at the top of the Romanesque staircase.

The door to a room stands open: a spartan bed, a simple chair, drab curtains, bare walls. He was also given use of a second equally bare room to use as his studio, and a third room was used to store his paintings.

The field he could see from his window fascinated him, he painted it 14 times, and is has now been transformed into a pleasure garden open to the public. The tree-lined path that leads to the chapel has reproductions of the main paintings Van Gogh produced during his stay which includes the famous "Irises", "Starry Night", "Oliveraie", "Champ de wheat with cypresses", "The first steps", "Wheat field with lawnmower", "Garden of the Saint-Paul hospice", "Self-portrait" and more.

Downstairs you will find an austere cloister with a surprisingly gentle courtyard.

To this day, you can try out the full size siege machines and witness the firing of catapults (summer only).

The castle spreads out over the whole plateau, most of it is in ruins, but these are made very accessible with roped paths and ladders for access (although the nervous may find the battlements one step too far).

During the summer, there are plenty of activities for the whole family, with falconry, archery, re-enactments, a horse and dog show, and dancing bears (I kid you not). The château shelters the small village of Les Baux with its craftsmen, chapels and lordly residences. It's open every day, all year round and audio-guides and guided tours are available, or you can simply explore the castle yourself.

The Carrieres de Lumieres are open every day.

The quarry is quite cool on the inside so an extra layer is advised, there is a café on site for refreshments.

Until 1921 the ancient settlement was lost, buried under earth and rocks. The major road in les Alpilles went right over it. Only the well-preserved Mausoleum of the Julii and the Triumphal Arch of Glanum were the reminders of this old settlement. These two impressive monuments (known as les Antiques) were an indication of the importance of Glanum.

The mausoleum (of c. 30 BC) is believed to have been a memorial, not a tomb, to an important Roman family, once believed that of Caesar. Today, historians are not so certain. The arch was most likely constructed in the days of Emperor Augustus. It was and is the triumphal entrance to the old town of Glanum.

When you cross the street from the arch, you'll see a vast plain of ruins, walls, a lopped-off tower, the pillars of a temple, with the majestic mountains of les Alpilles in the background. This is Glanum, the town that was sacked by Germanic tribes in 270 and then abandoned by its people. Only in 1921 did the first excavations begin, and they continue to this day. The road to St. Rémy that covered the ruins had to be diverted.

Before you enter the ancient town, it's best to spend a little time at the small visitor centre, where you also buy your ticket. There, with the help of models, you can get a sense of what the town must have looked like during its three phases of occupation. The museum also offers insightful guides and displays a number of objects, or casts of them, that have been found on the site. The majority of the precious ones can be seen in the museum Hotel de Sade in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence.

With plan in hand, you then wander over the vast site of old Glanum. For the most part, you're free to wander about, enter what's left of the temple of Valetudo, goddess of health, discover the bath in a citizen's home, hunt for treasures, such as the inscription on this base.

The site of Glanum is open throughout the year except for public holidays.

The white limestone rocks in the park stand out against the brilliant blue of the sky and vineyards and olive groves take advantage of the best-oriented hillsides. It is a living area of exceptional beauty. Home to author Alphonse Daudet, distances are short here and there is always a delightful destination for a walk, a cycle ride or even a trek on horseback.

The Park has been successful in focusing on the relations between Man and his environment, whether the term is taken in the sense of nature or heritage, or refers to economic and social environment.

Despite the current popularity of the Alpilles and the influx of tourists, history buffs and nature lovers, this part of Provence has not changed its everyday way of life and it has retained the strong values that give it its identity. Traditional festivals take place in the villages of Alpilles all through the year, often still linked to the agricultural calendar - celebrating the seasons and crops.

With its varied environments, flora and fauna and rare species, the Park is certainly of scientific interest. However, nature in the Alpilles is much more than that. Fashioned by its people over hundreds of years, it boasts an inherited culture that gives the mountain range much of its uniqueness.

The park has been designated a protected area since 2007 when it became the 5th regional parc in the PACA zone.

The nave, which has ribbed barrel vaulting, was extended eastwards in 1609 without breaking the Romanesque harmony of the building as a whole.

There is also the funeral chapel of the Manville family with Flamboyant Gothic vaulting and, in the chapel dug into the rock, the ceremonial cart used for the "pastrage" ceremony during Midnight Mass when the cart carries the newborn lamb offered to the Baby Jesus by the shepherds.

Outside, the West Front underwent extensive alteration during the 19th-century restoration work which, in particular, changed the flight of steps that used to run along the wall (there are traces of its removal).

Above the doorway and a rounded window, there is a superb sculpture of a lion. On the South side, the Lantern of the Deceased is an elegant circular turret topped by a cupola decorated with gargoyles. Tradition has it that a fire was lit in the turret whenever somebody from Les Baux passed away.