For the long weekend over Bastille Day back in July, we visited a charming little Roman town in Provence called Vaison-la-Romaine for a few days. It's a pretty, 2,400 year old place sat on gentle slopes to the north of the Ouvèze river, most known for its Roman ruins, an ancient stone bridge and a huge flood in 1992.
The town is filled with archaeological sites, boutiques, terrace cafes and restaurants with the Haute Ville overlooking it all. We climbed the steep hill to the medieval centre at the top and wandered around the picturesque buildings and 12th century chateau with wonderful views. We stayed at Bastide La Combe, a gorgeous five bedroom private house in the countryside surrounded by vineyards just on the outskirts, with a beautiful pool. I've been day dreaming about it on these rainy November days...
I hired a bike and we climbed 2/3 of Mont Ventoux (due to time restraints and, er, lack of hill training on my part - I'll be back to complete it in the next couple of years for sure). We visited Les Baux-de-Provence, an old, little too touristic, village with castle ruins sat on the rock cliffs of the Alpilles mountains before heading to Saint-Rémy-de-Provence where Van Gogh painted Starry Nights and spent time in the asylum, Nostradamus was born and I spent way too much time taking photos of shabby chic shutters. It was a balmy summer night, we had dinner outside at one of the pavement cafes with a live jazz band playing and I vowed I'll return.
Bastille Day fireworks
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