The GPS road tracklog
from Villa Thébaïde to Arles
from 2020/06/23 to 2020/06/23
After three-months lockdown to eradicate (!) the Covid-19 I went
on a journey to the Center of France for a counterclockwise convolution.
The first stop was Arles,
here, to visit the Romain ancient city.
Unfortunately very few tourists and several attractions were still
closed, including the ancient theater, the amphitheater (arenas). The
Town Hall welcomed me under its sumptuous vault, then the Saint-Trophime
church, the cloister of which was under construction. After three hours
of walking I returned to my truck parked on the banks of the Rhône. The
temperature was 30° C with a humidity of 32%.
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Place de la République avec un bel obélisque |
The GPS road tracklog
from Arles aux Baux de Probvence
from 2020/06/24 au 2020/06/24
The landscapes of the Alpilles with olive trees are sumptuous,
Vincent Van Gogh has sublimated them; the poets, A. Daudet,
F. Mistral sang them. I will not add anything that such talents have
magnified so well. The Romans were not mistaken there by building on
the Antiques plateau the city of Glanum which was abandoned after
the ransacking of the barbarians in the 3rd century. The few
surviving structures bear witness, if need be, to the town planning
and architectural engineering of the Romans. While wandering on the
departmental roads at the foot of Alpilles I discovered the
Saint-Sixte chapel. When I got back to Saint-Rémy, I drove to Les
Baux de Provence to bivouac nearby to visit the site tomorrow
morning.
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Mausolée et Arc municipal |
On Thursday, June 26, I attacked the Baux de Provence hill,
here. In his
sketch the visit of the castle, Jacques Dufilho pronounces this
final sentence: "From the time fully restored!" This is the village
of Les Baux de Provence, touristy, very ... even too touristy.
Fortunately at 8:30 am tourists are seldom at the end of June post
Covid-19. In the end there is nothing to do except merchandising ...
from 10:00 am.
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The GPS road tracklog
from Baux de Provence to St Rémy de Provence
from 2020/06/25 to 2020/06/26
Friday June 26 was another day at the foot of the Alpilles to visit
the mill of A. Daudet which he acquired in 1935 without ever living
there. Indeed during his travels in the region he stayed at the
castle of Montauban and "Les Lettres de mon moulin" were written in
Paris. Ah, these novelists! Then it was a quick look at the Roman
aqueducts of Barbegal before strolling through the very touristy
town of St Rémy de Provence. I found a bivouac in the south along
the D5.
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The GPS road tracklog
from St Rémy de Provence to Avignon, Île Piot
from 2020/06/27 to 2020/06/28
On Saturday June 27 en route to Avignon I made a detour to visit the
Saint-Michel-de-Frigolet abbey founded in 1121. It was transformed
into a boarding school and housed F. Mistral as a college student.
Since 1858 a community of premonstrates has ensured the tradition.
At the entrance, the Saint-Michel church welcomes visitors in its
great simplicity. Further N.-D. Du-bon-Remède in Romanesque style,
the interior is full of polychrome woodwork. The cloister can only
be visited on a guided tour on Sunday afternoon.
On arriving
in Avignon I parked the truck on Piot Island in front of the Palais
des Papes with a view to the St-Bénezet bridge, known as the Avignon
bridge. The Palace of the Popes,
here, was in its time, 1334, the largest
ecclesiastical palace in Europe, more than 15,000 m². Alas it was
ransacked during the French Revolution then transformed into
military barracks by the third republic and finally restored from
1915 of course at the expense of taxpayers! The visit lasts around
1.3 hours to walk through huge rooms empty of furniture, sometimes
with splendid frescoes, No Photo. Since the beginning of my trip,
all the official buildings can be visited with the compulsory mask
and the alcoholic gel at the entrance. On my way out I was going to
stroll on the Avignon bridge before returning to my truck.
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Abbaye St-Michel de Frigolet |
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Palais des Papes |
The GPS road tracklog
from Avignon to St-Turquoit
from 2020/06/28 to 2020/06/28
Sunday morning I left the parking lot of the island of Piot without
regret because the night was noisy by the back and forth of cars and
the palaver of hookah smokers exhaling a captivating smell, maybe
hashish! A few minutes later I ran aground in Villeneuve-lez-Avignon
to visit the Fort Saint-André unfortunately closed because the
Provencal is a late riser and early riser with the lunch break
(10.00-12.00, 14.00-18.00). And yes. I continued my cahincaha road
on the departmental roads of deep France, Quelle est belle, up to
Grignan,
here, for the visit of the castle which is not of the time
because devastated by the monopolists of the French Revolution
leaving hardly stone on stone as well as the furniture sold at
auction. Well, the populace has not changed since 1789. The castle
was patiently rebuilt by a rich widow Marie Fontaine. Adjoining the
castle, the collegiate church of St-Sauveur received the tomb of Mme
de Sévigné in 1696. I set off again to find a bivouac on a picnic
area at the entrance to the village of Saint-Turquois or Turquoit
according to the IGN map.
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Villeneuve-lez-Avignon, Fort St-André |
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Château de Grignan |