Day 4 - Les Alpilles

I’m not exactly sure what Les Alpilles means – does it mean like the Alps? Probably.... and it should do as these are mountains covered in alpine flora. I took one of the winding drives through this picturesque landscape to Eygalières this morning – a stunning village with the benefit of free (yes absolutely gratuit) parking. Sorry, I’ve found the need to charge exorbitant prices for parking in little villages quite cheeky, even when quite far out of the centre, but I digress.


By walking along the main street, you discover it begins to climb, and if you follow the road and then path all the way up, you are treated to a truly panoramic view of the surrounding countryside – mountains, vineyards, fields, olive groves, streams, roads, trees and in all directions.

 


This seems to be a theme of the Alpilles towns – they are situated on a spur of rock pointing straight up out of very flat surrounding land...... and my second destination was no exception:





Les Baux de Provence is another of the “most beautiful villages of France” and in my humble opinion, more worthy than Gordes from yesterday. Perched on its own rocky outcrop, it is dominated by a château, ancestral home of the Marquis de Baux, who also happens to be the sovereign Prince of Monaco, Bert Grimaldi to you and me; aren’t some people so lucky – not only a perfectly lovely castle in Monaco, but another in Provence! His father, the late Prince Rainier, husband to Grace Kelly, had donated an alter to the church, St Vincent’s (also the patron saint of wine!), but the church’s most stunning features were its stained glass windows – of contemporary design, yes, but no less of an impact and made for a surprisingly bright church for one carved out of a cliff.

Gateway to Les Baux de Provences

While a definite tourist destination; the winding road up to Les Baux was filled on both sides with cars; the pedestrianised village retains much of its original charm – sorry, I’m sounding like a travel book, but in all truth, I was reminded of a scene in the film (gentlemen read ‘chickflick’) “French Kiss”, where Meg Ryan encounters Kevin Kline’s (playing a French man) home town for the first time – she waves her hand in the air spurting “Beautiful..... Gorgeous..... Wish you were here!” in a way that only Americans can, but I have to confess my excursions of the last few days could well be distilled into those 3 phrases. It is no small wonder the French are so chic.... even their countryside is chic!



And now for something completely different – a wine trip where one tastes wine – yes folks, at long last I got my laughing gear around some fermented grape juice.

Upon leaving Les Baux, I stopped off at the bottom of the road at the vineyard of Mas de la Dame, where red, white and rosé wines are organically made, (and was also painted by M. Van Gogh during his stay at St. Remy).

It was quite full of visitors, so I only sampled two of their less expensive wines, though both are Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée Les Baux de Provence:


Cuvée Gourmande Rosé 2009 – Grenache, Cinsault, Syrah blend which was very refreshing with a taste of wild strawberries – lovely chilled in the warm weather;

Cuvée Gourmande Rouge 2008 – Grenache, Syrah blend which with its youth and the very sunny weather enjoyed here could be nothing other than a mouthful of rich red fruits – cherries, ripe strawberries – mmmm delicious – a little tannin, but it disappeared very quickly. Though I wouldn’t say it would stand up to a big heavy meat meal (not a problem for me).

So, there we go – the wine tour has started at last – maybe a little slowly, but I’ve another 8 weeks to go, so plenty of time to sample...... and just in case you were wondering, no, I didn’t swallow any – spat it all into the spittoon, as I was driving!