| Arriving in Avignon in the heart of Provence, we embarked on the best portion of our trip. We stayed in 3 inns that our members of the famous "Relais and Chateaux". We first stayed in the Hostellerie Crillon le brave. We had the ultimate "room with a view" of the vineyards and Mont Ventoux, famous for its Tour de France time trials and the Mistral winds blowing at the top. This was North of Avignon near Carpentras. From here, we toured much of the Luberon region that Peter Mayle wrote about. |
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Hostellerie de Crillon le Brave |
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3 days later we traversed to Fontvielle to Auberge de Regalido. Now spoiled, this beautiful old olive oil mill paled by comparison. It was near Arles and we navigated Arles, St Remy and les Baux de Provence from this stop. Enroute, we had the typical wine, cheese and olive picnic at roadside after visiting vineyards at Chateauneuf-de-Pape. |
view of Mont Ventoux from our Hostellerie room |
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van Gogh couldn't do better |
fields of lavender |
| The last day we went to
Salon
and Abbaye de Sainte Croix , a 12th century monastery, staying in a refurbished monk's
cell. Having seen almost everything at this point, we hung out by the pool, drank some
wine and had the great, albeit expensive ($25 a piece for a light lunch salad) food. The following morning, we drove the 2 hours to Nice, dropped the car and headed back to Zurich. Picked up our other 5 bags, exchanged gifts with our Swiss friends and took the train into downtown Zurich, helping some Brazilian tourists with the language barrier along the way. Now home, with our lost luggage finally arriving, we can breathe easy, relax, and look back on the adventure of our lives (so far). |
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