Hilltop Villages of Provence

Wednesday, Apr. 12, 2017--Around Provence

Last night's concert was good.  It was a group called Quatuor Alberta.  They played three pieces--by Antonin Dvorak, Joaquin Turina, and Franz Schubert.  Then they played a long encore piece that sounded to me as if it were written by Arturo Marquez.   The Opera House has an orchestra level and three levels above it and was probably 2/3 full.

Before the concert started, however, I had an interesting experience.  My seat was on the aisle on the 4th row of the right side of the orchestra section.  An Asian man was sitting in it when the lady escorted me there.  He was with an elderly French lady.  The usher looked at the man's ticket and said they had to move down a seat.  The French lady made a big fuss.  She wasn't about to move.  So the young man with her went to the side, climbed over a wall to a narrow area to approach our aisle and sat on the other side of her.  I sat down, and her "gear" was pushing against me--leather jacket, purse with food and water, and I don't know what else.  She lifted her coat and felt of the pockets, then she looked through her bag.  Suddenly, she stood up making a big fuss that about not being able to find her ticket.  People, including me, were looking around in the seats, on the floor, etc.  Then the old lady opened her purse again and there the ticket was tucked away where it probably should have been.  A lady came with a seat in our aisle.  I stood up, and the old French woman huffed and puffed and grunted and groaned and fussed under her breath, but stood up after putting her things in my seat and let the lady in.  A few moments later, two more ladies arrived with seats in our aisle.  One stepped over the old lady when she refused to stand.  The other went over the same wall the man had climbed over before.  Then a final lady came.  I stood up and to the side as usual.  The woman refused to get up again.  But there was another problem this time.  The lady had a ticket for the seat the young man was occupying.  It seems that he and the old lady had seats in different areas of the theater.  The old lady insisted that he should stay there.  The lady standing insisted that she wanted her seat.  I asked the usher, "Do you speak English?"  She replied positively.  I said I would be happy to sit elsewhere--anywhere but beside this lady.  Then I turned to the lady in the aisle about to sit in my seat and told her she was going to be sorry that she insisted on staying there.  Whether she understood, I don't know.  I was escorted back to the 14th row and given the seat the Asian man was supposed to have.  The concert was so much better away from that horrible old woman!!!
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As I wrote earlier in the week, I had planned to take a bus today to Gordes and Roussillon, but the bus line has been canceled and the new bus line will not start for two weeks.  While in Provence, I really wanted to see some of the hilltop villages.  I considered renting a car, but it would be difficult without a human navigator to tell me ahead of time when to turn and what direction.  Instead, I found a tour.  I was hesitant, because I generally hate tours because they stop at stores for you to shop, people don't show up on time, people take too long getting into and out of the vehicles, and seldom is there freedom to go where you want to go.  I still decided to take a tour that included not only the two towns I wanted to see, but one more and a famous Roman bridge/aqueduct.  

I tried to book it last night, but the tourist office was closing and asked me to return this morning.  I went back about 10:00 and booked it.  I returned to the apartment to do some reading.  Then I went out and found a great sandwich--about 12 inches long in a French baguette drizzled with olive oil with slices of white chicken meat about 1/8 of an inch (3 mm) thick, halves of cherry tomatoes, and greens.  I ate about 1/3 of it for lunch and bought a praline brioche to eat for dessert. 

The tour left at 13:00 from the Tourist Office.  It was in a mini-van with only five of us with the driver.  Two were graduate students from Spain--a Russian lady now living in London and a Japanese man from Tokyo.  One was a young lady from Montreal who, like me, usually travels independently, but booked this trip after learning the bus to where we were going is not running.   The other two were an older couple from Los Angeles--a woman who works for Toyota and her husband who is a teacher.  Emmanuel, the driver, was a young Frenchman with a major in geography.  He made a great effort to learn about us, to talk to us about everything we were passing, and to tell us the best places to go at each stop.  Fortunately, it was not a guided tour.  We were free to go where we wanted on each stop while he waited at the van for us. 

Our four stops were:

1.  The Pont du Gard--a combination bridge/aqueduct near Nimes that was built by the Romans.  It's one of the most complete and impressive Roman structures in France, since the aqueduct runs for a long distance over hilly terraine meaning that the Romans had to plan very well for it to keep the same gradual decline until it reached Nimes.

2.  Les Baux-de-Provence--Our first hilltop village.  This is where bauxite, an important ingredient in the production of alluminum, was first mined.

3.  Roussillon--Known for its ocher-colored buildings that range from yellowish to deep rust colored.  This is the area where ocher was mined to produce paints.

4.  Gordes--A very steep hilltop village.  This is one of the most impressive ones with very quaint atmosphere, very narrow lanes for streets, etc. 

The tour returned to town at 19:30, and I came back to the apartment to eat the rest of my sandwich.  I bought another bottle of Cotes du Rhone--a different brand--and had a glass of it with the sandwich before starting this blog entry.

I could stay here in Avignon several more days.  It is such a wonderful town.  Now I could slow down and just go out to do occasional things rather than rushing here and there.  I could enjoy this wonderful apartment by staying inside and reading more.  I'm going to miss it, because tomorrow afternoon, I have to head to the next stop--Arles.