ALL THE TOWNS & VILLAGES IN PROVENCE

12 to 16 October
St Remy, Arles, Les Baux, Mullane L’Occitane, Aix En Provence,Cannes Monte Carlo & Nice:
We said no more markets, so we planned for St Remy, guess what markets, but these were big and they were great, different, in many ways. St Remy is a lovely town, just different, quaint, and peaceful, even with the bustle of the Markets. We then went to Arles, very old, very Roman (more arenas), it was not as pretty but full of history and old places.
The next day went to one of the “Plus Beaux” villages (these are the beautiful villages in France), very old, and beautiful. Les Baux de Provence was where we went, and the vistas from the position of this high in the hills is beautiful, and it has got to have the best Cross I have seen in France (see pic). It was howling a cold wind that day, but well worth the trip, unfortunately these are highly geared to tourists, so that is a minus. We as lunch in a little village about 10 minutes from there, Mullane, grabbed some absolutely fab food and sat in the square with all the locals and watched time tick by slowly. Then off to drop the girls off to horse ride, so Sharon and I did a tiki tour around the area. On the way home we found this Chateau that produces its own wines, and obviously does weddings, and is part of the Chateau’s and Villas Accommodation in France (see pics).
Today, our last day in Provence, it was off to L’Occitane factory in Manosque, girls were over the moon, I wasn’t strangely enough…. They bought up big, then we headed off to Aix En Provence, for lunch. One of the girls at L’Occitane gave us the name of a place to have coffee / hot chocolate. This place has the best hot chocolate in the world the girls said, way better than Max Brenner, and their desserts, well, I’m not that fussed on them usually, but the strawberry one I had was absolutely the best dessert I have ever had (see pic) sorry about the little bit missing, but I couldn’t wait to try it… And Aix En Provence, as a city, wow, full of life clean, the old city s beautiful, and the shopping was endless and very different, a big tick from the girls all round, a great find…..
On our way into Nice, we stopped into Cannes, and then Monte Carlo, for the girl’s sake, as Sharon and I had already done these, but it’s always great to look at the filthy rich and drool and dream. When we pulled into Monte Carlo, Princess Cruises had the Star Princess in port, or should I say took over the port, what a monster vessel, awesome!