Exotic France

Marseille in the south of France is the country’s second largest city after Paris. Right on the Mediterranean coast it is one of France’s great historic cities.
An ancient city in the Bouches-du-Rhone ‘departement’ of Provence, Marseille is the largest French seaport and one of France’s great historic cities. It was functioning as a port even before Julius Casar conquered the Gauls.
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While Saint-Paul-de-Vence is a pretty hill town perched above the Côte d’Azur, it is filled with daytrippers. Its lesser-known neighbour, Vence, is a real town where you can happily spend a week dipping into the superb collection of patisseries and restaurants and the exquisite Matisse chapel, the artist’s self-proclaimed greatest work. The stained-glass windows in this perfect white, modernist chapel on the hill opposite Vence’s Roman walls flood the interior with coloured light, and wall-height line drawings cover the white ceramic tiles.
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As one of France’s most famously picturesque regions, Provence is packed full of worthy destinations. I chose to make Avignon my base camp. It is a lovely, mid-sized city with plenty of restaurants, shops, history, and day-trip opportunities to make for a great lavender scented vacation escape.

When we arrived in Avignon on June 21st, to my surprise we were greeted by thick traffic and large crowds; not exactly what I expected. But there was actually a rather fortunate reason for all the hustle and bustle. It turns out that on this particular day in France, the national Fête de la Musique (Festival of Music) is held. People pour into the cities to enjoy free concerts held simultaneously throughout the streets. Read the rest of this entry »