A bit of the Bouches du Rhône

[Deleted]

When you say the name of the département Bouches du Rhône to a French person, their very first thought is "Marseille," which is the principal city of the district and which gets most of the press. After all, the total population of the département is 2 million and the population of the greater Marseille metropolitan area is 1.7 million. But the area is full of other charming towns like Saint Rémy-de-Provence, Arles, Les Baux de Provence as well as the greatest part of the Camargue. After all Bouches du Rhône means "mouths of the Rhône" in reference to the delta which is one of the most important ecosystems in the country. So anyway, I have already devoted a quite lengthy report to Marseille, and it is time to show a bit of the rest of the region.

The first stop after leaving the Vaucluse was Saint Rémy-de-Provence.









Saint Rémy is the birthplace of Nostradamus (1503-1566).



In modern times, visitors engage in more mundane activities than trying to map the future.





It is still a delightful village with plenty of shade under which to have a glass of chilled rosé.







Even in such a place, there are always people who feel that plastic flowers require much less upkeep than the real thing.

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Next was on to Les Baux through the Alpilles. Bixa has already made an excellent report showing the same landscapes, but it is just too hard to resist adding a little more.







Parking is a huge problem in the summer at Les Baux, but with a little persistance one can finally succeed to find a place. The upper streets are devoted entirely to the tourist trade.



It is important to push past that and to get to the huge grounds of the ruins of the fortress and the magnificent views from there.







One thing that the photos do not convey is the gale force winds of the Mistral blowing us off our feet.



We are in olive country...





... and wine country.



Would a storm strike as we clambered up these paths? No, false alarm.

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I had been up to the Château des Baux before, but I had never covered as much territory up there as this time. In fact, I was surprised that there was so much.









I wonder if soldiers back then really scanned the horizon constantly or if they just took a glance outside once an hour or so.





There was a family oriented medieval tourist show to entertain the tourists.





There are always some people who don't dress for comfort in searing heat.









When we decided to leave, parking was down at the bottom and believe me, it was much nicer to go down to leave than to climb up.

It should also be mentioned that we visited the quarry tourist trap attraction the Carrières de Lumières, which I'm sure you have already seen in Bixa's excellent report. I had discovered the place quite a few years ago without knowing what to expect. Back then it was called the Cathédrale d'Images. It had all started back in 1976 and slowly became more and more popular. With its Picasso programme in 2009, it became one of the most popular private cultural sites in Europe with more than 250,000 visitors. That's when greed came into play. The village of Baux -- which owns the site -- decided to break the lease and turn management over to another company, which already runs the château of Baux, as well as the Roman arena of Nimes and the Roman theatre of Orange. A trial took place, and the original company was evicted in 2011. The place was closed until the new company took over. This was the first time I have visited under the new management. The entrance has been moved around, creating a little more space than before, and the entrance fee has pretty much doubled (it is still worth it).

However, the Cathédrale d'Images company appealed its eviction, and the court ruled in its favour in December 2015, and the new company was further convicted of plagiarizing the original concept by putting on exactly the same sort of show. This went on to the Supreme Court, and the decision was confirmed in February 2016 with an obligation for the new company to compensate the other one for moral and commercial prejudice for having been despoiled of its legitimate commerce. I don't know what happens next, but I am kind of pleased at this decision, although I would say that it is pretty sure that the entrance fee will not return to what it was before.

Here is the entrance to the quarry again. (Quarry activity stopped in 1935.)

And here is my own little video to complement the one that Bixa made. I should point out that I included some images from the "Alice in Wonderland" interlude that is being shown in addition to the excellent Chagall show which lasts about 20 minutes. After all, you need a few things to charm the children when you are engaged in family travel.

[bixaorellana]

*standing ovation!!!* That is VERY cool. You really captured so much of how the Carrières show feels. Love that video & the music is a perfect choice.

Very fun seeing your pictures, as you know I adored both the quarry and Les Baux. It's an odd thing to see that someone elses eye was caught by the same things mine was, and their pictures came out sometimes nearly the same and often completely different.

[Deleted]

Thanks, Bixa. I will move on to Arles, but I know already that I did not look at that church with the same intensity that you did!

the inevitable city hall

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Back outside, the contrast between sun and shadow was becoming more intense.





I very much enjoy seeing how each person took pictures of some of the same things, but differently. A case in point: the arena of Arles.













The morning glories demanded the attention of all of us.

[bjd]

Of course, the great advantage of visiting churches in hot places is that they are cool inside. Not to mention freezing in winter.

[Deleted]

The sun was really starting to beat down on the streets of Arles. Luckily it was possible to keep to the shade in most places.

[Deleted]

I should mention somewhere along here that we often say that Arles is the largest city in France in size -- 759 square kilometres, most of it marshlands. However, it is not really #1 but actually only #17 -- 16 towns in French Guiana are much bigger, all more than 1000 km². However, it is by far the largest municipality in continental France.

continuing through the shadier streets...







The Rhône is so wide here that it almost looks like a seafront.



The missing "Lion Bridge" was a rail bridge that was destroyed by bombs on 6 August 1944. It dated from 1868.





One wonders what sort of commerce was in this building 50 years ago... 100 years ago... 200 years ago...

















Meanwhile, new tourists are rapidly replacing the traditional ones.

[htmb]

Your photos are another reminder of the charm of Arles. There seems to be so much of interest in the city, including fascinating architecture, history galore, and a large body of water, that I could see spending several days of exploration and relaxation there.

[mossie]

It was in this area that I fell in love with the French way of life. Flying back to England we stopped at Istres to refuel and I was taken to lunch in the sergeants mess. Imagine, long refectory tables on which, placed at intervals, were opened bottles of wine. Pity we had to fly again, so only room for two or three glasses.

[bixaorellana]

Mossie, that's a great memory, beautifully described.

Kerouac, I am really enjoying this thread, especially as you're including more city views of Arles than I took. Your church interior shots are lovely.

[Deleted]

That's why I think it is good for different people to post reports of the same places -- they become different through different eyes.







~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A couple of hours later, we suddenly found ourselves at Les Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, which happens to be the second largest city in continental France after Arles. Somebody had to administer all of that swamp land.



Bjd is correct -- churches are a refuge from the blazing sun at this time of year.





I would not accuse Saint Sarah of being in bad taste. She simply knows that it would be unwise to refuse any gift made by a gypsy.













Beach fashions everywhere are a unique experience for city dwellers.



And the sun was without mercy.

[htmb]

It's good to see both your photos of those churches. I haven't looked recently, but I bet I hardly took any interior photos of either church.

[Deleted]

For a modest fee, one can ascend to the roof of the church and admire the surrounding area.



This building was the old city hall. There is a newer one now.























After the roof, we went foraging for sandwiches and drinks and found the appropriate items quickly.





On the beach, there were only mad dogs and Englishmen.



Then it was time to drive again through the wetlands in the direction of Marseille. There was a vantage point to observe wildlife, but it was too hot to see anything.





To get to Marseille, we had to take a ferry across the Rhône and on through the refinery areas. This is not my photo.

Then we were in Marseille. I continued my report about Marseille at reply #39 of this report from 2013, but if you did not see that report in the past, I think it is worth going back to the beginning to read it.