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Arles Trip, May 2001
From Paris to Vichy, the Cevennes, Arles, the Camargue By Linda Thalman
Do I take my woolly mittens or not? Heading for a week in the south of
France in May one wouldn't think so.
An hour behind schedule (dithering about what to pack) we pointed the car direction Arles, knowing we'd be stopping somewhere about half-way there for the first night. Leaving without a reservation for dinner or a bed for the night sets off bells of anguish when I'm in a foreign country, but in France - not at all (in the off-season anyway)! While I drove my partner Pierre, pulled out the Michelin Guide Rouge and
Gault Millau guides. He then cross-referenced hotels, eateries, multiplied by
our driving speed, adding (or subtracting?)
Presto: our destination was Vichy. Two quick cell phone calls and reservations were made for bed and dinner. We stayed in the pleasant two-star Arvena hotel on a quiet street smack dab in the middle of town. We couldn't have pre-planned it better. Our hotel was a 5-minute walk to the Jacques Decoret restaurant. Finding good restaurants open on a Sunday evening is not all that easy in France. Our dining experience was one of the most delightful I've ever had in France. The setting is modern, with tables nicely spaced and impeccable service. The presentation was as creative as it gets (score 20/20) and our meal was delicious from start to finish. Gault Millau calls it 'une adresse en or' and I heartily agree. We only had time for a brisk morning walk around downtown Vichy. Not dipping in a spa or thermal bath was regrettable, but we had a cooking class to get to in Arles.
Then in the northern part of the Cevennes we were really the only tourists on the winding roads from exit 39 passing through Chanac, Florac, and Alès. Around Nimes and into Arles the traffic picked up. Our hotel in Arles had only been booked for 4 nights starting on Tuesday. We arrived one day early. No problem, the summer hoards hadn't arrived, and, yes, there was room in the inn for Monday night. The Jules César is one of the top hotels in Arles but our smallish room with little natural light was slightly disappointing. The service, breakfast and heated swimming pool qualifies this hotel for its 4 stars.
For value for money I would recommend the 2-star Calendal hotel with charming rooms,
On Tuesday, 8 May (a national holiday in France), we headed for the Camargue region south of Arles. Flat as a pancake and deceptively empty of tourists (until noon), we headed for Stes-Mairie de la Mer which, frankly, I would describe as tacky. After a 10 a.m. coffee we agreed lunch would need to be somewhere else. We meandered along tiny roads of the zoological and botonical reserve, spying the wild yellow irises in bloom just for us it seemed. We saw pink flamingos and the famous white horses of the Camargue at dozens of 'ranches' offering horse-riding excursions. The sun was out, it was warm and we were getting hungry.
Hand-painted signs caught our attention. Chez Ju Ju (closed Thursday) and Mireille
et Marc (closed Wednesday). Ah, but this was Tuesday: we're in luck. Literally not
Ready for fresh fish and white wine... only to discover we hadn't reserved (no phone numbers on any of the signs). The locals who had reserved (by sending smoke signals perhaps?) were arriving in droves and we were stuck in the middle of nowhere on the beach and only two fully booked restaurants. U-turn and nearly an hour later we had grilled loup and daurade washed down by a Listel rosé (vin du pays de sable) accompanied by a green salad full of tiny bugs... a VERY unusual event in all my dining in France. The restaurant shall remain nameless. Wednesday the cooking adventure began for my partner. I certainly wasn't going to slave over a hot stove for 4 days on my vacation but I enjoyed the fruits of the cooking class students' labor every evening at 20:30. While Pierre and his group of 3 other participants did the market, visited cheese and wine producers, had a hands-in-the-dough baking lesson, I was visiting every museum and monument in Arles.
My suggestion is to start at the Musée de l'Arles antique, a 20-minute walk from the city center in a low-slung modern building. Ignore the ugly exterior architecture and delve into the fascinating history of Arles. Beautifully presented and explained in detail on wall panels (in French only). I read every description and looked at almost every piece displayed. From 7000 B.C. up to the 5th century A.D. the history of Arles is put into perspective.
Now that's precise archeological dating! The Amphitheater was erected around 90 A.D. and is the prime tourist spot in central Arles today. Climb the tower for a view of the city in the day and walk round it in the early evening to admire the lighting and hark back to the days of the Romans. Using my pass I also visited the roman baths (no running water today), Saint-Trophime cloister with a lovely view of the city and the Alyscamps, a Roman graveyard.
You'll want to spend at least two hours to take it all in as it is an outstanding museum. The Réattu Museum is Arles' musée des beaux arts. It borders the Rhône river and the 16th-century building is worth the visit in itself. I particularly enjoyed the 57 Picasso drawings.
Time to head for home. So, early Saturday morning we packed bags, recipes and 10 liters of local olive oil heading through the heart of National Park of the Cevennes on a different route. Nature lovers, put the Cevennes on your list. It was gorgeous in May. I imagine there are swarms of visitors in summer given all the camping, hiking, canoe, kayaking signs we saw! We meandered all the way up to the highest point in the Cevennes, (1,567 meters) to the Observatoire du Mont Aigoual (in service around the clock since 1894!). We visited the fascinating Méteo France museum (open from 1 May to 30 September, no entry fee). Their gift shop had lovely T-shirts, gadgets and even dried mushrooms. We didn't encounter any 'extreme' weather events fortunately. The
Alas, we had to get back on the autoroute. But there was still no traffic and the hot sun and blue skies kept us smiling. By 19:00 we agreed another 2 hours to get home was just too much. Pulling out the handy guides again, my scientist and navigator did some quick calculations as to the closest spot for dinner and bed. Voila! A short drive off the autoroute and we arrived at Le Prieuré Hotel and Restaurant in Vignous-sur-Barangeon between Bourges and Orléans on the National 76. Their champagne flavored with fresh melon juice was perfect after our very long day on the road. I was too tired to take notes on the meal, but it was delicious! Zooming down the autoroute on the last lap home we knew we wanted to explore more of France. Treasures await you. Don't miss them. From Paris, Linda Internet Links Cuisine et Tradition - School of Provencale Cuisine
Le Calendal
Hotel Jules César
Arles
Le Prieuré Hotel and Restaurant
Hotel Arvena
Jacques Decoret Restaurant
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Yet, a decidedly leaden sky, drizzle and 10-degree Centigrade temperatures in Paris had me wondering. 
how many kilometers one could go in
3 hours.
'Pas un chat nulle part' - not a 'cat' in sight - on the A 20 autoroute (through some fog, which is probably why we didn't see any other cats or cars).
some with views on the Arènes as well as the prettiest garden restaurant in Arles. 
having a clue where the signs were leading us, we bounced and bumped along a
very unimproved road, ending up in Beauduc.
The 65 franc pass to 8 museums and monuments in Arles has to be one of the best deals anywhere in France. You can take in all of them in two days - or at a more leisurely pace as I did, in three days. 
In 46 B.C. Julias Cesar promoted Arles to the rank of a colony. Emperor Augustus built
the 10,000-seat Theater at the end of the first century B.C. and the 20,000-seat Circus
was built on 28,000 oak and pine posts cut down in the
winter of 148-149 A.D. under the reign of emperor Antonius.
The Museon Arlaten housed in the Hôtel Laval-Castellane was built on
the remains of the Roman Forum. This musée d'ethnographie
provençal has a splendid collection of daily life in Provence.
Marketing, tasting, cutting, cleaning, preparing, baking, frying,
beating, boiling, basting, tasting with Erick and Madeleine Vedel
at their School of Provencale Cuisine was nearly over.
The cooking students were very pleased. 
observatory has had some nice weather records. Lowest temperature recorded:
minus 28 C. - hottest day: 29.9 C. - 1.86 meters of snow fall in one day
- 300 kilometer per hour wind gusts (that was in 1968). It's normal to
encounter fog (241 days a year) but being on a roll with the weather,
are view was clear!