Housed in a former 17th-century convent styled like a Roman palace, the elegant Hôtel Jules César is known for its restaurant, one of the best in Arles, as well as its proximity to the popular Saturday market held just outside its doors. Capturing the energy of modern-day Arles is the creative restaurant L’Atelier, overseen by chef Jean-Luc Rabanel, who found fame at La Chassagnette, 8 miles outside Arles, in the Camargue (see next page).
After his tumultuous year in Arles, Van Gogh voluntarily committed himself to the sanatorium in nearby St-Rémy-de-Provence, today open to visitors. St-Rémy is a pretty market town in the foothills of the Alpilles (“little Alps”)—jagged mounds and cliffs surrounded by hills and valleys and green with pine, cypress, and olive trees. Nestled on a craggy bluff of the Alpilles is the medieval city Les Baux (named for the mineral bauxite found here), offering spectacular views and home to the legendary restaurant and hotel L’Oustau de Baumanière, which serves exceptional cuisine in a converted 14th-century farmhouse. Nearby is the charming La Riboto de Taven, an 1835 country manor with several hotel rooms built right into the cliffs. Chef Jean-Pierre Novi creates near-perfect home-style Provençal meals in a welcoming, antiques-filled dining room.
WHERE: 20 miles/32 km south of Avignon. GRAND HÔTEL NORD PINUS: Tel 33/4-90-934444; www.nord-pinus.com. Cost: from $215. HÔTEL JULES CÉSAR: Tel 33/4-90-525252; www.hotel-julescesar.fr. Cost: from $230, dinner $70. L’ATELIER: Tel 33/4-90-910769; www.rabanel.com. Cost: dinner $75. L’OUSTAU DE BAUMANIÈRE: 33/4-90-543307; in the U.S., 800-735-2478; www.oustaude baumaniere.com. Cost: from $270 (off-peak), from $400 (peak); dinner $130. LA RIBOTO DE TAVEN: Tel 33/4-90-543423; www.riboto-de-taven.fr. Cost: from $250; prix-fixe dinner $80. When: closed Nov–Mar. BEST TIMES: Apr–Sep for bullfighting season; Jun–Aug for Photography Festival; mid-Jul for World Music festival; late Aug for Roman Festival.
Jewel of the Vaucluse
AVIGNON
Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, France
Avignon was thrust into the international spotlight as the capital of the Christian world in the 14th century when it became home to seven consecutive popes at odds with the courts in Rome. The small town swelled as fortified ramparts, bridges, the huge Palais des Papes (Papal Palace), and cardinals’ residences were built. The palace has been stripped of finery, but a vibrant cultural city flourishes today, thanks to university life and the famous summer international theater and dance festival.
You’ll need imagination to grasp the former splendor in the Palais des Papes, but its rich collection of medieval Christian art and sculpture is on display in the nearby Petit Palais museum. Experience great opulence at the sumptuous La Mirande hotel across from the palace. Built for a cardinal in the 1300s and decorated with 2 centuries of art, it’s considered one of the finest hotels in the region and boasts one of Avignon’s best restaurants. Another grand option is the Hôtel d’Europe, occupying a 16th-century residence with emperor-size rooms, which overlook the palace. Food fit for a king is served at Christian Étienne’s restaurant, graced with 700-year-old frescoes; the special menus showcase a single ingredient, such as lobster or tomatoes.
Only four of 22 arches of the Pont St-Bénézet still stand, a bridge immortalized by the children’s song “Sur le pont d’Avignon.” In the Middle Ages, it led across the river to Villeneuve les Avignon, where more than a dozen beautiful 14th-century cardinals’ residences with views over Avignon and the Rhône Valley still stand. The Prieuré hotel, originally an archbishop’s palace, has 33 lovely guest rooms, some with terraces.
Equidistant from Avignon are two favorite day trips. To the west is the stunning Roman aqueduct Pont du Gard, a three-tiered feat of engineering built 2,000 years ago to deliver water to Nîmes. To the east is the pretty town of L’Isle sur la Sorgue, with its picturesque canals and waterways. Its sprawling Sunday antiques market is France’s largest outside Paris.
For a quiet getaway within striking distance of Avignon, the elegant Hôtel Crillon-le-Brave is a quintessential Provençal country inn that was once the home of dukes, with views of vineyards, olive groves, and Mont Ventoux. Rows of lavender carpet the fields at the base of the mountain. Some of the prettiest fields are an hour’s drive south near Sault, considered Provence’s lavender capital.
Constructed in 45 B.C. and used until the 4th century, Pont du Gard carried water more than 30 miles from the Eure River to Nîmes.
WHERE: 463 miles/742 km south of Paris; 65 miles/105 km northwest of Marseilles. LA MIRANDE: Tel 33/4-90-142020; www.la-mirande.fr. Cost: from $470 (off-peak), from $570 (peak); dinner $95. HÔTEL D’EUROPE: Tel 33/4-90-147676; www.heurope.com. Cost: from $295. CHRISTIAN ÉTIENNE: Tel 33/4-90-861650; www.christian-etienne.fr. Cost: dinner $100. LE PRIEURÉ: Tel 33/4-90-159015; in the U.S., 800-735-2478; www.leprieure.com. Cost: from $275. When: closed Nov–Mar. HÔTEL CRILLON-LE-BRAVE: Tel 33/4-90-656161; in the U.S., 800-735-2478; www.crillonlebrave.com. Cost: from $355. BEST TIMES: Jul for Avignon theater festival; Jun–mid-Aug for lavender in bloom.
Wild Horses, Bulls, and Pink Flamingos
THE CAMARGUE
Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, France
One of France’s—and Europe’s—most intriguing wildlife regions is the untamed Camargue, a government-protected habitat on France’s southern coast where the Rhône River runs into the Mediterranean. In this 360-square-mile delta of pastures, wetlands, and salt flats, more than 640 species of plants and at least 500 types of birds flourish (including as many as 40,000 pink flamingos). The most dramatic sights are of the chalky-white Camargue horses and small black bulls running free, overseen by some of the last cowboys in Europe, known as les gardians. Ride one of these horses or watch a roundup of bulls at Le Mas de Peint, in Le Sambuc, 20 miles southeast of Arles (see p. 124), a 1,300-acre working ranch with an elegant 17th-century stone guest farmhouse. The spacious interiors are tastefully decorated; guests enjoy sophisticated dishes made from meat and produce raised on the ranch, sitting on the canopied terrace with pastoral views. Down the road, enjoy a gourmet meal or take a cooking class at La Chassagnette, a former sheepfold, where young top chef Armand Arnal conjures up gastronomic feasts with ingredients from his organic garden and the nearby Mediterranean.
Arrange your trip to Les Stes-Maries-de-la-Mer for May’s Gypsy Pilgrimage, when the fishing village vibrates with the rhythms and colors of more than 20,000 Roma (gitans in French), who come from as far away as Hungary and Romania to sing and dance in homage to their patron saint, Sara.
As the legend goes, Sara accompanied Mary Magdalene, Martha, Marie-Jacobé, and Marie-Salomé, all followers of Jesus, in A.D. 40 after they were exiled from Judea. Their boat, without sails or oars, miraculously arrived on the shores of the town that now bears their names, and their remains are said to lie in the town’s 12th-century Romanesque church. Throughout the year, the historic arena in Les Stes-Maries-de-la-Mer holds horse shows and bloodless bullfights known as courses camarguaises, in which toreadors try to scoop a red ribbon from the horns of a bull.
WHERE: 18 miles/24 km south of Arles. LE MAS DE PEINT: Tel 33/4-90-972062; www.masdepeint.com. Cost: from $335; dinner $100. LA CHASSAGNETTE: Tel 33/4-90-972696; www.lachassagnette.fr. Cost: dinner $75. BEST TIMES: Apr–May or Sep–Oct to avoid mosquito season; May for bird-watching; May 24–26 for the Gypsy Pilgrimage.
Queen of the Côte d’Azur
CANNES
Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, France
The Riviera city of Cannes, host of the world’s most glamorous film festival, has more to offer than just star-gazing for 12 days every May: The charming old quarter, lively food market, and beautiful beaches make this one of the nicest stops on France’s Mediterranean coast.
The Hotel InterContinental Carlton Cannes, the glittering neo-Classical command post for the Cannes Film Festival, dominates La Croisette, Cannes’s famous palace- and palm-studded seafront boulevard. Unless you’re with Brad or Penelope, settle for a cocktail at the terrace bar or for tea during the festival frenzy,
your best shot at mingling with the Riviera’s beautiful set.
All along the Croisette, hotels such as Le Grand, the Martinez, and the Majestic Barrière bustle with film festival events. But venture a block behind the Majestic and you’ll find the Hôtel America, a modest but reliable alternative address.
Daily life in Cannes revolves around the city’s old port to the west of La Croisette and, behind it, in the old quarter, Le Suquet. Stop in at portside La Pizza, a Cannes institution, and indulge in one of 20 varieties of pizza from their wood-burning oven. Climb picturesque rue St-Antoine, lined with attractive restaurants such as Le Maschou, a tiny haven for fresh regional and seafood dishes. Also in the old quarter is Marché Forville, the vibrant Cannes food and flower market.
Nearby Mougins, 10 minutes north of Cannes on the road to the perfume capital of Grasse, offers a quiet alternative. One of southern France’s lovely medieval villages perchés—“perched villages,” or hill towns—Mougins is a peaceful enclave of cobblestone lanes and open-air markets, where Picasso lived and worked for the final 12 years of his life. Gastronomes have flocked for decades to Le Moulin de Mougins, the culinary kingdom of chef Alain Llorca housed in a 16th-century olive-oil mill.
The Promenade de la Croisette is flanked by the Mediterranean and luxury hotels.
WHERE: 16 miles/26 km southwest of Nice. VISITOR INFO: www.cannesfrance.ca. HÔTEL INTERCONTINENTAL CARLTON CANNES: Tel 33/4-93-064006; in the U.S., 800-496-7621; www.intercontinental.com. Cost: from $200 (off-peak), from $900 (peak). HÔTEL AMERICA: Tel 33/4-93-067575; www.hotel-america.com. Cost: from $135. LA PIZZA: Tel 33/4-93-392256; www.crescere.fr. Cost: dinner $25. LE MASCHOU: Tel 33/4-93-396221. Cost: dinner $45. LE MOULIN DE MOUGINS: Tel 33/4-93-757824; www.moulindemougins.com. Cost: dinner $120. BEST TIMES: Jun–Aug for beach weather; mid–late May for Cannes Film Festival.
Glamour and Beauty Along the Mediterranean
THE FRENCH RIVIERA
Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, France
Stretching from Marseilles to Menton at the Italian border, the French Riviera is among the world’s most coveted parcels of real estate. Enticing attributes include a temperate climate, unending ocean views, beautiful seaside marinas, rustic hilltop towns, and opulent villas. Its biggest cities are some of the Mediterranean’s most glamorous—Cannes, Monte Carlo (see p. 226), and Nice (see p. 133). Despite coastal overdevelopment and the crush of summer visitors, the Côte d’Azur has a magic that’s made it a magnet for tourists of all social strata for centuries.
The very essence of the Riviera’s allure lies in St-Tropez, the port town that’s attracted the rich and famous since Brigitte Bardot starred in Roger Vadim’s And God Created Woman here in 1956. Claim a spot of sand on the Pampelonne beach, or head to the portside Café Sénéquier, on the Quai Jean Jaurès, for nonpareil people-watching. The Pastis Hotel, a chic oasis of calm centered around a courtyard pool and just a 10-minute walk from the port, is run by British expats who bring a touch of London sophistication. The Hôtel La Ponche, a longtime favorite with well-known writers and actors, oozes a casual charm and serves top-notch Provençal dishes in a restaurant with a view of the port.
Antibes, on the Baie des Anges (Bay of Angels) facing Nice, has a quieter charm. From the 1920s to the ’50s, artists such as Picasso, Matisse, and Chagall were drawn here for the light and lifestyle, and Antibes’s Picasso Museum houses some of the prolific artist’s most joyous works. A short distance away is Cap d’Antibes, one of the coast’s most beautiful and exclusive hideaways. Bypass the pine-cloaked estates and head to the small, friendly Hôtel La Jabotte. For sheer old-world glamour, go just a few miles farther along the coast to the legendary Grand Hôtel du Cap-Ferrat at St-Jean-Cap-Ferrat—the belle of the French Riviera since it opened in 1908 on 17 acres with gorgeous Mediterranean panoramas.
More sensational views abound at the legendary gardens of the Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild, a grand mansion built in the early 1900s and modeled after Versailles. In nearby Beaulieu, the ne plus ultra Réserve de Beaulieu & Spa has hosted guests from Winston Churchill to Pablo Picasso over the years.
WHERE: St-Tropez is 69 miles/112 km west of Nice; Antibes is 19 miles/30 km west of Nice. CAFÉ SÉNÉQUIER: Tel 33/4-94-970090. Cost: dinner $50. PASTIS HOTEL: Tel 33/4-98-125650; www.pastis-st-tropez.com. Cost: from $250 (off-peak), from $640 (peak). HôTEL LA PONCHE: Tel 33/4-94-970253; www.laponche.com. Cost: from $265 (off-peak), from $450 (peak); dinner $80. MUSÉE PICASSO: Tel 33/4-92-905420; www.antibes-juanlespins.com. HôTEL LA JABOTTE: Tel 33/4-93-614589; www.jabotte.com. Cost: from $135 (off-peak), from $175 (peak). GRAND HôTEL DU CAP-FERRAT: Tel 33/4-93-765050; www.grand-hotel-cap-ferrat.com. Cost: from $375 (off-peak), from $825 (peak). VILLA EPHRUSSI DE ROTHSCHILD: Tel 33/4-93-013309; www.villa-ephrussi.com. RÉSERVE DE BEAULIEU: Tel 33/4-93-010001; www.reservebeaulieu.com. Cost: from $340 (off-peak), from $870 (peak). BEST TIME: Jun or Sep to avoid summer crowds.
Picturesque Hilltop Villages
THE LUBERON
Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, France
East of Avignon, the Luberon region in Provence offers a quintessentially French experience: touring sleepy villages perched atop rugged hills overlooking vineyards and fields of lavender. The experience has become an industry, thanks to Peter Mayle’s books about Provence, set in the author’s picturesque and wildly popular town of Ménerbes, with its narrow streets and dramatic views. Despite the tourist crush, Ménerbes remains one of the country’s prettiest hilltop villages and a perfect base for exploring others.
Among the vineyards just outside Ménerbes is a near-perfect Provençal lodging: the relaxed and refined Bastide de Marie, an 18th-century farmhouse with country-casual décor and cuisine. Nearby Oppède-le-Vieux is a “ghost village,” with ruins of a medieval fortress, workshops, and houses (dampness and darkness led residents to relocate to the valley in the 19th century).
The beautiful town of Gordes, its gray-and-white stone houses rising around a hill, is topped by a stunning Renaissance castle. In the Luberon Valley below, surrounded by rows of lavender, monks still live in the dramatic 12th-century Abbaye de Sénanque. The ancient, deserted Village de Bories is named after the 20 or so mysterious beehive huts of piled stones, lived in or used as shepherd’s housing from the Bronze Age until the 18th century. For 21st-century luxury, head to the Hôtel Les Bories & Spa, just outside the center of Gordes, for an overnight stay or a massage using local herbs. Or sample those herbs in the regional dishes served in the garden of the rustic Le Clos de Gustave.
Bonnieux is one of Provence’s most impressive hilltop towns, with views of three neighboring villages. Artists have long been drawn to the pretty “red village” of Roussillon, known for its blazing red cliffs and buildings of red stone mined from nearby quarries. For one of the best markets in the Luberon, head to Apt on a Saturday morning and stock up on Provençal ceramics, lavender, olives, and wine.
WHERE: Ménerbes is 24 miles/39 km east of Avignon. LA BASTIDE DE MARIE: Tel 33/4-90-723020; www.labastidedemarie.com. Cost: from $370; dinner $80. HÔTEL LES BORIES: Tel 33/4-90-720051; www.hotellesbories.com. Cost: from $285. LE CLOS DE GUSTAVE: Tel 33/4-90-720425; www.leclosdegustave.com. Cost: dinner $55. When: closed Dec–Feb. BEST TIMES: May–Jun and Sep–Oct for fewer tourists; mid-Jul–early Aug for the Festival de Lacoste; Sat morning for market in Apt.
Forts, Ports, Bouillabaisse, and Dramatic Cliffs
OLD MARSEILLES AND CASSIS
Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, France
Colorful, energetic, and slightly rough-and-tumble, Marseilles is undergoing an urban revival, helping this oldest and second largest city in France shake its seedy reputation. The home to the national anthem, “The Marseillaise,” has new waterfront development and growing civic pride. One quarter of the diverse population is from North Africa, and an abundance of spice markets, hammams (bath houses), and hookah cafés recall Tunisia, Morocco, or Algeria. The Old Port, dominated by two 17th-century forts, includes dozens of cafés that serve fresh s
eafood and local specialties such as pastis, a 90-proof anise-flavored cousin of absinthe.
The lively fish market on the Quai des Belges sells the daily catch to restaurants serving bouillabaisse, Marseilles’ signature seafood stew. Purists agree that it needs rascasse (scorpion fish) and at least two other types of Mediterranean fish. The 1950s-style Miramar restaurant, a city landmark overlooking the Old Port, prepares the most traditional version, while high-end L’Épuisette, on a tiny cove outside the city center, serves a more modern interpretation. The hip Café des Épices, near the Old Port, and the Bistrot d’Édouard, with its updated Mediterranean menu, cater to a growing professional class, helping to turn Marseilles into an emerging gastronomic destination.
For centuries, artists have been drawn to the light in this part of France, particularly to the unspoiled beauty of nearby Cassis, one of the prettiest coastal towns in Provence and perhaps on the Riviera (see p. 128). Surrounding vineyards produce a respected straw-white blanc de blanc; neighboring Bandol makes a rare orange rosé, its hue obtained from 8 months of aging. (Oddly, the black currant liqueur called cassis comes from Burgundy.)
Cassis is most famous for Les Calanques: dramatic white limestone cliffs with finger-shaped fjords and tableaux of sailboats, pristine beaches, and aquamarine waters. Hike the cliffs or take one of the twice-daily boat tours from the Cassis marina to visit several calanques, including the prettiest, the Calanque en Vau. The hotel Les Roches Blanches, a former private home built in 1887, with a panoramic dining room and an infinity pool, boasts a dramatic view of the port and Cap Canaille, the highest sea cliff in France.
1,000 Places to See Before You Die Page 22
