Ten years ago we completed our first riverboat cruise that ended in Arles. After we got off we actually had to go back to Avignon to pick up our car (rental place was closed on Sunday in Arles) and cruised to Saint Remy to stay at L’Hotel Sous les Figuiers – The hotel under the fig trees. This nice little place has only 14 rooms and it seemed like a good place to return while we were in the area.
Saint Remy has a population of about 10,000 and a lovely city center. After we arrived, and before we checked in to our Hotel, we stopped at the Tourist Office to check out the Van Gogh Walk.
This is about a 1KM walk that starts in the City Center and ends at the psychiatric institution. Over the course of the walk there are some 20 stops to learn about various paintings
that he did while in Saint Remy and to view a representation of the actual locations. It was a pleasant walk and we learned quite a lot about Vincent’s time in Saint Remy.
When we got to the hospital (still in use) we couldn’t figure out how to visit his actual room so we headed back to the city center for some lunch.
After lunch, we headed to our Hotel and were greeted warmly by new Owners. Seems writing something on the reservation about coming back 10 years after our first visit to celebrate our 50th anniversary pays off! When we got into the room (the same one we had 10 years ago) there was a chilled half bottle of champagne! Very nice.
The following day, after a Petit déjeuner breakfast, we headed out to the markets of Isle-sur la-Sorgue.
This village is famous for its market with LOTs of vendors selling just about anything you could want. We wandered around for a couple of hours but were restricted from buying anything (Where would we stow it?)
Do we carry it around for the next 2 months in Europe?) So we bought only some olives, and other consumables. At one part of the walk we were clearly in more of the ‘flea market’ area with tables covered with all kinds of stuff – dishes, door hardware, old post cards, clocks, furniture and LOTs of things.
Our stay in Saint Remy and the visit to Isle-sur la-Sorgue were both very pleasant.
Happy Belated 50th anniversary? You two are too young to be celebrating 50 years together.
Loved the pictures of the markets in Saint Remy, even made me want to shop.