After spending a few days away from Paris in the beautiful and exotic south, I just want to say that France is more diverse than people give it credit for. It's a fraction of the size of Texas, but I saw more kinds of vegetation and more regional diversity than I thought was possible in such a small region. And I barely saw anything!
For those of you who are unfamiliar with the region known as "Provence," I should say that Provence in France refers to the Southern region, notably the parts that are not Paris and have nothing to do with Paris. In fact, everything outside of Paris is provincial living. If I had it my way, I'd probably spend more of my time in the provincial towns and less of it taking the metro back and forth everywhere! But anyway, I went to the South with my program, beginning in Avignon and Arles and ending in Nice, Cote d'Azur.
Our trip began with a wonderful train ride, in which we witness the change of terrain from scattered metropolis to mountains and water and wide spaces. What we weren't expecting when we ended the trek in Avignon was the gusting Southern wind. The locals were much more prepared than we tourists, who thought of 60 degrees as t-shirt weather. In this region, it can be 60 degrees and you won't feel it under the icy wind. But despite the wind, we managed to enjoy our visit to the Palais des Papes, the medieval seat of popes before their decision to station themselves in Rome. This museum is at least two hours' worth of information on a guided tour, so by the end you feel like you know less than when you started your head is spinning so fast.
From Avignon, we headed to Arles. This town is a combination of quiet country living and a major tourist attraction for all the Roman remains. We only had time to visit the Roman amphitheater, but I think it was worth the time we spent just staying the night there. It was a quiet town, but full of the charm one expects when travelling to the South. The buildings were colorful, the town completely still at night. In other words, it was a shock to arrive in Nice where everything is bustling with energy at all times. Even the buildings that date back to the Middle Ages seem to pop out of their corners.
I particularly enjoyed a picnic on the beach along the Promenade des Anglais. The walkway got its name because of the British nobility that made the Cote d'Azur such a luxury get-away. They would come to Nice and walk along the beach to see and be seen, then return to their mansions that didn't face the beach. Back then you didn't want a beach view, because the ocean was somewhat of an eye-sore.
The South of France is not only rich in medieval history and luxury (with wine and perfume of the highest quality making their birth there all the time). It is also the place of a lot of artistic history. One of the highlights of our trip was at the very end of the tour, a small chapel run by two nuns but with a giant claim-to-fame: artwork designed by Matisse. I blogged several weeks ago about discovering a latent interest in modern art, but here I found that Matisse is one of my artistic heroes. He not only taught himself how to draw, but he meticulously stripped away everything that he taught himself about mastering art so that he could achieve a new level of purity in his work. This was all coming about when the Impressionists were still the height of art. The chapel was very modern even today because of Matisse's signature. I think that the most impacting vision is just how childlike his art is.
To close, I would like to add the following to my list of favorite things: St Paul, the fortified city, Camembert cheese, and gelato at sunset.
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