3-17-19 Saint Remy and Isle-sur la-Sorgue

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.

Front of our room – room #5.

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.

Metal disks in the pavement marked the path to follow.

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

One of the signs along the Van Gogh walk.

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.

Olive grove and Van Gogh painting of the olive grove.

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.

Main square and fountain in Saint Remy
Old stone buildings and narrow streets

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.

Bubbles!

The following day, after a Petit déjeuner breakfast, we headed out to the markets of Isle-sur la-Sorgue.

One of many of the canals in Isle-sur la-Sorgue
Market and restaurant across the canal

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?)

Jewelry all over the place.
Bowls, trays lots of pottery
Always wine of course
Oils, soaps all with a Provence theme.

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.

Need an old world globe?
Trench art – shell casing carved.
We were tempted to get a train that spelled out our granddaughter’s name but it would have been way too long!
Dried fruits, garlic, onions
Antiques and other knick knacks abound.
I decided not to pick these up for Jason.

 

Our stay in Saint Remy and the visit to Isle-sur la-Sorgue were both very pleasant.

Starbucks – self serve station at a car stop along the road to Carcassonne.

 

 

One Reply to “3-17-19 Saint Remy and Isle-sur la-Sorgue”

  1. 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.

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