Author: Ella

Post by Ella Grubb says “hey look, another carousel” “You’re kidding, right?” No, he wasn’t. I say NO. What do you say? And how about this? Reindeer going on a track, like a train? Grubb says yes, I say no.

Post by Ella Dinner last night (Thursday) was cassoulet. It’s a big thing here in Carcassonne. Every restaurant menu has at least one cassoulet on its menu. I might have mentioned before, a cassoulet is a rich, slow cooked stew. A medley of meats (sausage, mutton, pork and goose are the classic combo) and haricot…

Post by Ella We are now in the old city of Carcassonne , staying in a house within the ramparts. I am working on a glass of red from Carsac. A gift from our host.  So I’m relaxed…now. But earlier…. Driving from Avignon to NImes, well, first of all, we had a few misfires getting out…

Post by Ella I’ll just say this about that. Rumbling through the Palais de Papes in Avignon today, there was a surprising art exhibition adding to the decor of the somber early 14th century rooms. This and then that. That and then this.

Post by Ella Our apartment in Avignon has equaled our place in Nice. A spacious two bedroom, separate kitchen and living room, two full bathrooms. On Rue Victor Hugo no less. We’d arranged to meet host Adrien in front of the building (on Monday) to get the keys and get checked in. A few minutes…

Post by Ella Avignon. An intimate French restaurant. Took awhile to find. Many fine dining establishments were closed for Armistice Day (Monday, Nov 11). Finally came upon Le Vintage while googling “restaurants near me” in an ever widening circle around our apartment. It was 5:00pm and we were hungry having been chugging along on only…

Post by Ella On to Avignon with a delightful stop in Les Baux-de-Provence to climb around the Chateau and then an immersive experience in an old cavernous granite quarry.  The drive was lovely. It felt like Van Gogh’s world. How much more spectacular it would have been without asphalt roads and cars. And if only…

Random pictures from Arles

Post by Ella Staying in a pedestrian only area in Arles and having a rental car meant finding a place to park added to travel challenge. Our AirBnB host gave us the location of a parking garage that was “secure and monitored “ 24/7. A 15 minute walk to the apartment. Okay, that works.  We…

Post by Ella ❤️La Nuit Arlésienne❤️ (The Arles Night) is the name of our apartment. I guess the hearts were meant to catch your eye so you’d stop scrolling the listings on AirBnB. “Oh, this one must be great, look at those hearts”. Honestly, emojis as part of a name confounds my brain. I guess…

Post by Ella Yesterday, Grubb wanted to soak up the Van Gogh vibe (along with a lot of rain) so after he snapped a dozen or so photos of the closed Le Cafe Van Gogh, we sat down for lunch under an awning at L’Apostrophe right next door.  We both opted for burgers. I went…

Post by Ella The Carmague, a regional park south of Arles is known for its abundance of birds and other wildlife including flamingos and white horses. In Arles, the Rhône splits in two and between the two branches, in the area close to the sea, there are abundant salt marshes. At the Ornithological Park within…

Post by Ella Musée Réattu, housed in a 15th century building, was delightful. We might have skipped it but for the steady rain. This was the first break in our perfect weather streak so not complaining. In fact, torrential downpours and thunderstorms had been forecast but the waterworks never got more intense than a steady…

Post by Ella Did they slither up from below the ancient Roman walls of Arles?

Post by Ella In our corner of Arles, the restaurants open for dinner at 7:30pm. Which is not unusual for a lot of countries. I booked a table at the intriguing Le QG. All the restaurants are small, it was Friday night and even though we’d seen few tourists, I was guessing this area was…