This man is not Buffalo Bill Cody !

He is Frederic Mistral, the father of the "felibre" movement of writers, publishers and poets, based in Avignon and which revived the provencal language in the second half of the nineteen century .
One of his most notable followers, the Marquess Folco de Baroncelli-Javon, took a lasting fancy for the american hero and it's Wild West Show.
In a fascinating book : " Cock and Bull Stories: Folco de Baroncelli and the Invention of the Camargue", (univ of Nebraska) Robert Zaretsky links the most respected poet of Provence with Buffalo Bill, Sioux Indians, and the horse-mounted gardians, the cowboys of Camargue. The Cock is the Gallic symbol of France, and the Bull stands for southern France with its deeply different history and culture. Langage and economic issues of the domination by the northern " francimans" of the southern " povre merjonaux" are dealt with in this ingenious book which adopts a thesis little in vogue with french researchers, whose careers depends of the reveration of a French Republic united around ideals professed by the Paris media.
Folco de Baroncelli, a local aristocrat who married into wine, failed to be the follower of Mistral. A relatively mediocre writer, he was deeply moved by the fate of the Oglala Sioux, a Native American people, reinvented the history of Camargue, the Rhone delta region, rich in wild horses, bulls, pink flamingoes and mosquitoes. Galvanized by the example set by Buffalo Bill Cody, Baroncelli did recast the Camargue as 'le far-ouest' of France. The fun, and little know part of the story is that he himself created from scratch the 'immemorial' traditions he battled to protect. The costume, ceremonial, mythic origins, in fact the whole concept of " nacioun guardiano", developped in a few years and later endorsed by politicians and tour-operators alike, is entirely his doing. Creating one of the last myth of his country didn't bring him much money, though : Having sold his palace in the heart of Avignon, his wife's wine estates, he retired in Camargue and died in 1942 in Avignon when the civilan population delta was evacuated by the Germans in the preparation of the american landing in Provence.

Winter in the hills of Provence

Avignon is surrounded by hills. Tiny mountains, like les Alpilles, which tend to keep snow longer than the plains. Here are a few photographs of les Baux de Provence, a somewhat overtouristed place in the summer, but which seems to have reverted to its pre-war state of quiet abandon.
The sky is often incredibly blue, road conditions are back to normal, the temperature is at least five degrees warmer than in Paris, and in my opinion it's altogether a great time of the year to come to Provence, ans see light again. " Post Tenebrae Lux" as man wrote on the old lintel of this ruined renaissance window of les Baux.

From Venasque to Gordes

Both these cities, some 25 kilometers from Avignon, are " villages perchés", fortress-like heaps of house cluttered on a hill top and down its rapid slopes ; Gordes is world famous, of course, one of the prettiest villages in Luberon ; but Venasque, facing Mount Ventoux, and adorned with a very ancient church is quite interesting.
The road between them passes by the cistercian Abbey of Senanque, and some wonderful scenery, ( through wich it was not incommon to be attacked by brigands until late in the nineteen century). Read french author Jean Giono for the details.
The beehive-shaped houses are called bories, a whole village of these can be visited near Gordes. Guess what ? they even have a real estate value.

Record-breaking snow in Avignon

Friday night was unusually cold and quiet. Yesterday, Avignon woke up under a thick, frozen blanket of snow. A rare event in the city of the Popes, noted for its dry climate. Kids were playing - some of them even skiing- on the sloped Place du palais des Papes. The snow was so heavy that it broke some tree branches. The inner-city streets are still covered with it after 24 hours ; no municipal service can effectively enter this maze of frozen lanes. But shops are still open : those are the first days of " les soldes de janvier", boxing day sales, and customers are not deterred by the snow. Certainly not my wife...

A five-star Marriot hotel in Avignon

See that austere looking XIX century building in top of the map, just north of the Popes Palace and Rocher des Doms garden ? It was the infamous Saint Anne jail, and the neighbourhood was resounding of the shouts of prisonners over the wall chatting with their visiting families in the streets. Nowadays the jail has been moved to Le Pontet a suburb in the north of Avignon ; and after years of hesitation, the jail site has been awarded by the municipality tho the Marriot Group of hotels. It will probably be a five star hotel - a new notion in France, for the to hotels this country noted for its palaces had, until now, only four star ratings. This obvious understatement will soon be a thing of the past. And Avignon will be an option for the tourists of upper middle classes of Missouri or Karnataka , which find our four ot three stars a bit risqué.

A Reasonable Amount of Reading Matter

Do you remember the icon-illustrated list that used to figure on the back of every plane ticket in the last century ? It went more or less thus:
‘Items that can be carried free of charge by passengers : an umbrella or walking-stick, a small camera and pair of binoculars, a hat, an attache case, a fully collapsible wheelchair, infant's food for consumption en route, and a reasonable amont of reading matter for the flight.’
I confess that I never managed to grasp what ‘a reasonable amount’ amounted to. The slightly outdated silhouette of the iconic man in the picture had his hat on, a folded umbrella , a book and a newspaper tucked under an arm. The wheelchair was apparenly not his own, for despite his reasonable load he was standing erect.
I never take enough reading aboard planes, which is why I have had much time to learn by heart the litterature printed on back of airlines tickets. But this is about to change.
I just bought online and received in Avignon an e-book - a contraption with a decent quality black and white screen, a slot for an SD memory card, and a battery. Wouln't it be useful if a .pdf version of a travel guide in Provence was available in .pdf format? A companion. Of course, there is the problem of rights. Nobody wants to pay anything for content the internet, especially if it is a small amount . Maybe I should scan an old Baedeker? the picture in this post is from the 1914 edition, in the library of the university of texas.
Baedeker's 1914 map of Avignon. You can navigate on it by clicking. So little has changed...You can navigate on it by clicking. So little has changed inside the city walls , it's weird... Still many gardens but the university in the eastern par of town.

Local worries make the headlines

To my surprise, our Saint Didier parish ( photo) was in the local news the other day ( in the daily La Provence, 26 nov. 2009 edition), because of a petition circulating among the residents in order to police some of the street dwellers. Avignon benefits from a climate so hospitable that a number of people live in the street. Those SDF or street dwellers sometimes have their own place to sleep, and spend only the day idling on the pavement ; sometimes, notably during the summer, they just sleep in the open in a quiet corner. Some of these permanent street residents are locals, born in the city or in the nearby villages, who just stay around and enjoy an undisturbed pace of life, with the help of a pension or RMI ( minimum income allowance). Alcohol of course plays a major role in their life, or so I gathered after talking to a few of them. They do not beg ; they are reluctant, even for a fee, to help one with carrying a sofa from a car... but on the other hand remain always composed and polite. Should you meet some at one of the local cafés ( the nice buvette in the Halles market, a favorite haunt), you will notice that if they are prone to denigrate all changes and municipal activities, they throroughly enjoy the tranquil, bohemian and ever changing atmosphere of Avignon street life. Their presence is acknowledged by everyone here a staple of city life : they are greeted by regulars in the cafes with the same friendly respect as the butcher or the postman. What residents don't like of course is the influx of SDF who 'do not even stem from the neighbourhood', as a New Yorker once famously said about Bin Laden. Those (younger)foreigners sport a viking look , they drink beer, not wine, speak too loud and they have dogs. Some of them even look from the other side of the Channel, I dare say. They are nowhere to be seen, the local probably sent them grudgingly drinking elsewhere. Anyway, we don't feel guilty : wedidn't sign the petition : the place where they used to sit happened to be on the other side of the the parish steeple. But I will tell more on local neighbourhood societies soon.

The Town's Very Best Butcher

A fixture of any french town : " le meilleur boucher de la ville". Usually, the distinction varies according to taste. The best meat in Avignon is said unanumously to be la Boucherie Saint Didier, an efficient shop rue des trois faucons, 80 meters from home, apparently run by a family of redheads from... Italy. They have excellent beef from the Massif Central mountains, lovely lamb from Sisteron in Provence, and geese from the south-west of France. Add to this great pork, and all sorts of delicatessen, calleloni, pates, paupiettes... .They were named by several guides as the best in town, their customers approve of this distinction, and what's nice is that their prices remain affordable.
PS : I don't get any rebate for writing this, and I am too shy to take photos of people... so for illustrative purposes, I'm afraid you'll have to manage with a scan of the wrapping paper.

Châteauneuf du Pape : when a castle means wine, and more.

Serious wine. Heavy, heady, colorful. Ancient as the Popes, keeps for ages, yet mature and drinkable only a few months after the harvest. The Côte du Rhône are arguably the epitome of french wines, (Some say life in Paris is hardly bearable without the influx of Côte du Rhone poured at the counter of every corner café) and Chateauneuf du Pape is the epitome of Côte du Rhone. Ideal terrain, perfect climate, dry, chilled by Mistral wind...
Robert Parker, the celeberated wine critic recently included no less than seven different Chateauneuf's wines in the wine tasting exhibition organised in wine future in the Spanish Rioja. The local wineyard-owners and wine-makers ( propriétaires-récoltants) were the first to set rules to their production and to defend it's territory, and their self-discipline inspired the french AOC certificate of origin for vintage wines.

Halfway between Avignon and Orange, the village by itself is lovely, built in golden colored stone on a slope with great views.
We went for a little shopping in Chateauneuf - finding it not terribly changed since it was build by the Popes to defend the northern approaches of Avignon - and wanted to came back with liters of the stuff. Alas, it is not as unexpensive as it once was... bottles start at 13 euros.
So we bought chocolate instead. There is a famed chocolate house in Chateauneuf du Pape, Chocolats Bernard Castelain. Free tasting, mini museum, open monday to saturdays in winter. (The Castelain's just opened a temporary store in the center of Avignon, in a prime location place de l'Horloge... that will close by the end of the year, unfortunately.) My favourite chocolate is their 'ganache des Papes', made with marc ( a liquor obtained from the distillation of mout, i.e. what remains of wine grapes after pressing.) Gorgeous.
And yes, there is a castle there, the dark oblique slab above is not a piece of chocolate but the dungeon. Sorry for the bad photographs.

EDF, a French utility gone kafkaian?

post edited pending contacts with the company.

...and mellow fruitfulness

Autumn is back. It is one of the nicest time of year in Provence. Markets are full of fruits, and while few mornings are misty, all lights are subdued, quieter, yet still vibrant with infused lights. Great weather for painting, for country walks.
We had, so far, remarkably few rain this autumn, which is just as well, because during rainstorms the adjoining building's gutters (yes, the lovely Saint Antony's church owned by the American universities Institute) do leak in our bedroom. Roman rooftiles are not designed to be waterproof when water hits them sideways. The leak happens to be right over my bedside table. ( Why is that on my side and not my wife's, I wonder.) I've been talking to IAU in Avignon since more than a month, and apparently it's terribly difficult to fix that simple gutter problem, due to the number of restrictions that apply to maintenance of french historical monuments.
So when the french national TV worries about drought and unusually high temperatures, at least we sleep dry ! Hopefully the problem will be solved soon.

Les demoiselles d'Avignon

Shame on me. I learnt only recently that the large oil painting of this name, painted in 1907 by Pablo Picasso, which portrays five nude ladies, two of them wearing seemingly african masks, has nothing to do with Avignon's beauties. The damsels were sex-workers in a brothel on carrer d'Avinyó, a red light district in Barcelona. The work - dubbed "le bordel d'Avignon", or simply "le bordel" by the painter- remains one of Picasso's most famous, and is considered to be the first Cubist work of art. Its first public exhibition after WW1, was a public outrage ( because of the painting technique, not of the subject, mind you) and the painter kept the canvas rolled in his atelier for some years. Bought (cheaply, at 35.000 francs) by couturier and collector Jacques Doucet on the promise that it would be donated to the Louvre Museum after his death, it was priced at 350.000 francs immediately after changing hands, wrote art historian Richardson. After Doucet death, it was sold by his widow mme Doucet to an art merchant in 1937, for financial reasons, alongside with major cubist paintings from Braque and Picasso and is now in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, since 1939.
Luckily, other paintings of Picasso, alongside with masterpieces of Cezanne, Modigliani, Vuillard, Sisley, Manet, Foujita, Derain... are however to be found in Avignon. The bulk of the collection of Jacques Doucet is hosted in a remarkable building, rue Laboureur, less than a hunded meters from our flat in rue Figuière.
The Musée Angladon is open to the public since 1996, and displays major works of french painters in a carefully preserved XVIIIth century setting, the former home of the museum founders Jean and Paulette Angladon-Dubrujeaud, heirs to the wife of famous Parisian collector, who fought trough their final years to constitute a Foundation ( wich is no small deed in the french legal system). Their generosity certainly match their uncle's, famous patron of the arts, and nonetheless a very shrewd buyer.

An art hotel in front of the Popes' Palace

The large, sloped square in front of the Palais des Papes in Avignon is adorned with a large, handsome building, surprisingly baroque in inspiration in front of the gothic Palace, and almost windowless : la Monnaie des Papes , the Pope's mint.
This building, dating from the XVII century, was later converted into a "conservatoire", or school for the performing arts. The conservatoire Olivier Messiaen has since been moved to the Place Pie, at a stone's trow from our flat. The deserted mint, looking rather like a Roman palazzo stranded in Provence, has recently been sold by the municipality to a british investor, who wants to create an Art Hotel.
While somme people wince at the comparatively low price - 3 million euros, a trifling sum for a building this size, listed as a World Heritage building by UNESCO- the commitment of the investor to create local jobs ( about 45 for 27 rooms) and to open the Art hotel to the huge number of visitors to the square is apparently worth the sacrifice of one of the city's most valuable piece of real estate.
Park Plaza hotel, the lucky buyer, part of Carlsson hotel worldwide, is the owner of Art'otel group, which plans openings in Marrakech, Amsterdam, London, says the city magazine Avignon Actualite. Fashion designer Kenzo will be in charge of interior decoration, and Fendi, the luxury brand will be also trown in somehow. But hopefully the place will not cater to fashionistas alone, art exhibitions shall be a permanent fixture of the hotel. A ground-floor gallery is part of the plans, which include a large glass-covered patio in the center ; the mineral facade of course will be left untouched. Add music, works of art in the rooms.. Half vault, half palazzo, the former Papal mint will sure need creative ideas to make it a pleasant place to stay.
The municipal opposition regrets that this singular heap of stones has not been converted into a youth hostel. It is maybe a sign of the times that this locale, once so vibrant with young crowds in the summer, during the Avignon's festival, shall go the way Saint Germain des Prés has... fashion and commercial contempory art. But on the other hand, let's face it, the city finances are probably better served by this very upmarket project. Avignon is not only a gorgeous gothic and baroque inner city, but also has huge suburbs with a rather young population, coming from all around the mediteranean, who badly needs jobs and resources.
For more modest budgets, there is always the opportunity of staying in our studio flat. A week there costs a fraction of a night in a four-star joint. We did hang a couple of paintings on the wall, too... and I will be glad to talk to you about the artists.

Several Martini's later...

To celebrate the 700th anniversary of the coming of the Popes in Avignon, the local Petit Palais Museum and the famous Pinacoteca Nazionale di Siena in Italy, together organize a fascinating exhibition focusing on the legacy of Simone Martini. This Sienese painter died in 1344 in Avignon, where he followed the Papal court.
It is a pleasure to wander among the gold covered panels, gleaming like huge icons in the dark hall of the Petit Palais, close to the Pope's Palace. A pleasure and a privilege, for the Pinacoteca has lended to the Petit Palais several major paintings of the master and his followers, including two pictures of the Virgin Mary carrying the Infant Jesus which had never previously left that museum.
Sienese-inspired paintings from Avignon's masters are also included in this exhibition. The legacy of Simone Martini goes a long way into Renaissance painting, say the experts... but the splendid ornamentation, the praying and maternity themes, the serene indifference of the faces with slanted eyes, do leave the visitor subdued and wondering. How come this religious painting still is so powerfull, so impressive ? How come we seem to have lost our capacity for meditation, for prayer? Where and why did western civilization derail from its quest for eternity ? A must-see among the twelve or so museums in Avignon, but don't lose time, for the exhibition lasts only until Oct. 31. (Note : Worth several years of papal indulgence.)

Stay in a former Medieval LSD desintox center !

When we say our building is "historic" it's not merely because it is old, but because it was part of the ancient hospital Saint Antoine. The handsome hospital chapel next door dates from the thirteenth century. The ground floor of our building is noted for a great stone arch which was probably part of the hospital. (a symmetrical one is said to have straddled the tiny rue St Antoine to the left of the chapel.) You might be interested to know that in those days the people around the Mediterranean where suffering from intoxication by ergot, a fungus that grows on rye ( Well know nowadays under the name of LSD (d-lysergic acid diethylamide) a potent mood-changing chemical discovered in 1938 and still manufactured from lysergic acid, which is found in ergot).

Huge and ugly epidemics of hallucination and other disorders (psychiatric and digestive) where cured during the middle ages in the Antonian's abbeys - nowadays we know it was done most effectively by removing the affected pilgrims from their contaminated source of bread, or "pain maudit", but it only contributed to make the Saint's cult stronger. (see Bosch's Temptation of St Anthony's painting, left.)
In 1403, the hospital welcomed Pope Benedict XIII and hid him when he fled from the french troops, leaving his nearby palace, in the guise of an ordinary monk. The great medieval poet Alain Chartier is also buried here since 1449.
In the mid-XXth century, the city has contemplated destroying the place which was nearly in ruins but finally they restored it in 1972, with the very welcome help of the Institute for American Universities. What remains today are the old church walls, well maintained, for the place has been transformed into an exhibition hall and cultural center. (An other part of St. Antoine church has been renovated into a movie theater for 'off the mainstream' films, Action Republique.)
The studio flat that we rent is on a floor that dates from the XVIIIth century, but actually shares its northern wall with the hospital church. The niche in the wall match the spaces between the pillars. No drugs allowed, of course, but fresh rye bread can be had for breakfast in the nearby boulangerie.

London to Avignon

A greener and more sensible way to enjoy your holiday in Avignon than driving or flying into town from the UK is to come by train. Eurostar offers a direct weekly Saturday service to the heart of Provence from 11 July to 12 September 2009. Prices can be as low as 99£ return or even 56 for the under 26. Eurostar journeys are carbon neutral, ( the company compensate it's CO2 emissions, apparently )at no extra cost for the traveler. Anyway, a Eurostar journey is much greener than going by air, generating around one-tenth of the amount of carbon dioxide emissions.

Once you're there, don't expect any more to be able to enjoy the colorful chaos of Avignon's train station as depicted in the movie "Mr Bean's holiday". There is a new and efficient TGV station just 3 km. south of town, with frequent connecting buses arriving within the city walls. (Bus fare is 1.20 euros per trip) From there to our holiday studios it is only a short walk, ( which won't damage your faithfull and battered suitcase wheels.) We can fetch you at the bus stop, if you are scared to loose your way. You'll recognize me easily, for I am afraid I do look and dress a bit like Rowan Atkinson.

The wine maker's procession in Avignon

Today the vignerons, french for winemakers, of the famous Cotes du Rhone production area have been staging, like they do every year, le ban des vendanges, a procession that comes complete with medieval costumes, jugglers, acrobats, donkeys and heavily embroidered banners.
The procession follows the main street, 50 meters from our building, anf ends at the rocher des Dom, the huge monolith on wich sits the cathedral and the Popes palace. There was Mass at the cathedral, and some harvesting in the tiny Pope's wineyard at the top of the Rocher, facing the Rhone valley. But clearly all this people expected more action.
Wine tasting, anybody?
We had guests staying at the studio and they bought for 2 euros a magical glass : (acually they bought two which says a lot to their taste for good wine. They were told they could refil it as often as they liked ... provided they sat patiently trough all the official adresses from the mayor, the prefet, the presidents of various societies ...
As they told us, the end of all these discourses was vigourously applauded. The good news is that everybody in the wine profession was confident that 2009 will be a great year, having benefited from lots of sun - and little rain except at the end of the maturation process, which is said to be just fine.

Salads in Avignon

While staying in downtown Avignon ( the locals say " intra-muros" as if the Popes were not really gone and Latin still the official langage), you will certainly be tempted to indulge in the pleasures of the mouth : lots of restaurants ( of note, the Cid and the Opera café on the Place de l'Horloge, the Artists on place Crillon, the pleasant Pearl on place Saint-Didier, and the friendly Jasmin downstairs from the flat.
But Avignon is also at the center of a great agricultural region. Fresh produce find their way daily into the central halles Market, five minutes from this house. Great sarray of sellers, vegies, cheese etc, and the place even offers a cooking school). Chances are that you will indulge in some cooking of your own. Our studio comme complete with pots and pans, and should you need extra spices or advice, we live just upstairs and will be glad to oblige. This glorious salad was made from BIO tomatoes. It might not be tourism-office material, but the photo is rather nice. These black or purple tomatoes are a russian variety, grown locally. I was of the opinion that they looked better without the cheese on, so we took it away for the photo. But now I'm not really sure ... What do you think ?

hidden treasure : the seaside 1 hour from Avignon

The mediterranean coast in the south of France could hardly be called a hidden treasure : hordes of vacationers are pouring yearly either East of the Rhone valley towards the Cote d'Azur ( St Tropez, Hyeres, Cannes ...), or West towards the Languedoc coast (Montpellier, Cap d'agde, Grande Motte).

Avignon is located at the intersection of the highways to these well know destinations. Yet if you venture directly south, in the mouth of the Rhone river you have a choice of less over-exploited destinations :
- Saintes Maries de la mer and the Plage de l'Espiguette , for that windy, salty, horsey feeling of the Camargue ; Saintes Maries de la mer is the place where Sarah and Mary disembarked from the holy Land, so legend has it. I dont suppose that they went to the age old restaurant lou Santem, altought everyone does. Great for wind surfing, kiteflying, kite surfing... Read more on Saintes Maries " Bohème chic"
- The remarkable "calanques" of the Estaque hills west of Marseille are more fun for snorkelling , diving, seakayaking, climbing and and hiking . These are really hidden, unlike the famous ones East of Marseille ( Cassis, Sormiou ...)
So much that I am at risk to be shot at if I publish the detailled list of the Estaque calanques and their many cliffs and beaches, somme not much larger than an american king-size bed.( From Martigues and Carry le Rouet to l'Estaque, a lovely train runs along this idyllic strech of coast, stopping in tiny stations ). But shall you come to our place, I'll be happy to whisper to you the way to these great spots.

Country walks in Provence

Avignon is a great starting point for walks in the lovely countryside of Provence. The city is at the center of an extensive local bus network (the bus station is minutes away from your flat).

I love walking and strongly suggest you take walks in nearby Alpilles ( Saint Remy with its Roman ruins and les Baux de Provence are only 25 km away) or even closer in the " Montagnette", stopping at the summit at the St Michel de Frigoulet's welcoming Abbey. Olive orchards ( photo), mediteranean pine forests, river and canals banks are on the menu.
Even closer is Avignon's huge and green Barthelasse island in the middle of the Rhone river, within easy reach by a free 5' ferry ride. There is even an olympic size swimming pool at the ferry arrival !