Provence, Canal du Midi and More

[Jacques Vert]

Aix-en-Provence:

Another beautiful town.

 

[ellen10]

Enjoying your trip report and taking notes for our visit next July. Definitely marking the sound and light show.

On our last trip to the region we ran out of time to visit the Camargue. Worth the effort do you think?
Did you like Aix I have read mixed thoughts on staying there.

We fly Ba from London to Milan and then Ba Paris to London, fingers crossed our bags will come through.

 

[VPS]

Enjoying your trip report and taking notes for our visit next July. Definitely marking the sound and light show.

On our last trip to the region we ran out of time to visit the Camargue. Worth the effort do you think?
Did you like Aix I have read mixed thoughts on staying there.

We fly Ba from London to Milan and then Ba Paris to London, fingers crossed our bags will come through.

Sorry to butt in but I've spent quite a lot of time down that area - I've only done day trips to Aix but really enjoyed - also St Remy de Provence seemed delightful during a day trip - I really enjoyed the Camargue - we went to a bird park and saw thousands of flamingos and the white horses and black bulls were amazing - nice towns too - enjoy

 

[Jacques Vert]

On our last trip to the region we ran out of time to visit the Camargue. Worth the effort do you think?

We only had half a day in the Camargue and enjoyed our visit. If you are into nature and birdspotting you will get a buzz out of seeing the flamingos and a few other species. There are a couple of areas designated as breeding areas.

I guess how long you spend there depends on how much you like nature areas.

 

[Jacques Vert]

Did you like Aix I have read mixed thoughts on staying there.

Aix is a pleasant town with typical Provence architecture: lots of narrow streets and small open areas full of eateries. However, accommodation is expensive (quite a bit more than other towns in this area when we were there). There are also a couple of museums and Cezanne's studio, although we didn't visit any of them.

As VPS said, it is worth a day trip or a one night stay; but maybe spend the rest of your time in other Provence towns.

JV

PS: Good luck with your bags on BA.

 

[Jacques Vert]

Before heading onto Marseille, we were warned by a couple of people to be very careful in Marseille; one person at the hotel in Aix described it as messy. I understand there are areas in northern Marseille which are considered no-go zones for emergency services, including the Police.

However, we never felt even slightly unsafe and had a lovely couple of days wandering around this beautiful city, taking in the sights and enjoying the food and wine:

My moules marinières (63 mussels for €12.50):





Washed down with a pichet of rosé and then some profiteroles:

 

[Jacques Vert]

We looked at staying at the Intercontinental, situated one street back from the harbour, using my BOGO certificate:




However, our final itinerary had us only staying one night and arriving and leaving by train. So we opted for the Holiday Inn Express which is directly across the road from the Gare Saint Charles and you can get a day pass at the station that covers the metro, tram and buses for €5.20 This time convenience won over luxury.

I forgot to mention that we dropped the Fiat 500 back to the airport and caught the bus and train into Marseille. I now know that there is also a bus that goes directly to the city from the airport which may be more convenient when dragging bags. However, we had already booked on-line to take the free shuttle to the station at Vitrolles and then the train to Marseille for a total of €3.90 each.:shock:

 

[Jacques Vert]

Down near the harbour we turned a corner and came across this interesting church:








And in the main street, a shop selling all kinds of biscuits; gotta love the presentation:





You've also got to admire what they do with blank walls in this part of the world:

 

[Jacques Vert]

Perhaps the most significant landmark in Marseille is Basilique Notre-Dame-de-la-Garde:




That gold statue can been by approaching mariners from quite a distance to sea.




Inside the Basilica:





A the view from up there is quite spectacular:

 

[Jacques Vert]

A few shots of the harbour:










There is an art gallery near the fort at the entrance to the harbour which was holding a couple of exhibitions. Only a couple of euro's to enter so we went in. Some nice impressionist style paintings of Marseille by a local artist (excellent work) and some paintings of Egyptian scenes.

No photos of the paintings but we also came across these two sculptures which were quite exquisite:

 

[bam71]

Before heading onto Marseille, we were warned by a couple of people to be very careful in Marseille; one person at the hotel in Aix described it as messy. I understand there are areas in northern Marseille which are considered no-go zones for emergency services, including the Police.

We accidentally took a wrong turn and ended up in one of the areas you describe. As two adult males that can take care of themselves, we realised we were in a "spot of bother", with the locals about to car jack us with a variety of weaponry. We had to run red lights to get out of there, not a pleasant experience.

 

[Jacques Vert]

We accidentally took a wrong turn and ended up in one of the areas you describe. As two adult males that can take care of themselves, we realised we were in a "spot of bother", with the locals about to car jack us with a variety of weaponry. We had to run red lights to get out of there, not a pleasant experience.

Sorry to hear of your experience. We always try to be aware of our security and, as I said, in Marseille we felt quite safe, but we didn't stray too far from the main areas,

 

[ellen10]

Aix is a pleasant town with typical Provence architecture: lots of narrow streets and small open areas full of eateries. However, accommodation is expensive (quite a bit more than other towns in this area when we were there). There are also a couple of museums and Cezanne's studio, although we didn't visit any of them.

As VPS said, it is worth a day trip or a one night stay; but maybe spend the rest of your time in other Provence towns.

JV

PS: Good luck with your bags on BA.

Thanks for the BA bag encouragement! We have a 5 hour layover at LHR so maybe time to put them on the plane. Our return from Paris to LHR only has 2 hour between flights but we are on our way home by then.

We spent 2 weeks in Provence in 2009. Loved the small towns. Could easily go back.
But Marseille looks impressive.

 

[Jacques Vert]

Montpellier:

After retrieving our bags from the Holiday Inn Express, we walked across the road the Gare Saint Charles to catch a Regional Express to Montpellier Saint Roch. We booked via the French national railways (SNCF) website. Train tickets in France work similarly to airline tickets: the prices vary according to time of day, day of week and level of demand. Once the cheap tickets on a particular train sell out, the price rises to the next category.

We obtained our tickets for the 1½ hour journey for €10 each.

Montpellier is the 8th largest city in France and the capital of the Herault Department. A third of the population are students.

Montpellier has developed an extensive tramway network over the past decade or so and you can get a 24 hour pass from the TAM office or any of the ticket machines at the tram stops for €4.30.




The architecture is quite regal and rich in design:












Then there's the viaduct that was the original water supply for the city:

 

[Jacques Vert]

We came across more of those flat, featureless walls that had been painted with a mural. The perspective on this one was so good that I literally walked up to the wall and stood leaning against it looking up to prove to myself that it was actually a painting rather than some clown standing on a balcony:



Believe it or not, that is a perfectly flat, rendered wall.

 

[Jacques Vert]

At night the city is quite beautiful:

 

[Jacques Vert]

A couple of other shots from Montpellier:

 

[OZDUCK]

Some lovely photos of Montpellier a city I have known about but not really seen many photos of before. Thank you for making me even more want to return to France - more kids inheritance money to spend..

 

[Jacques Vert]

Some lovely photos of Montpellier a city I have known about but not really seen many photos of before. Thank you for making me even more want to return to France - more kids inheritance money to spend..

The pleasure is ours.

 

[Jacques Vert]

In Montpellier we stayed at the Appart'hotel Odalys Les Occtanes which we found on Qantas Hotels (around $A130 per night). As our train from Marseille was arriving just before 7PM, and not having been to Montpellier before, we wanted somewhere close to the station, and the Centre Ville, so that we could walk there with our bags before dark. This hotel ticked the boxes perfectly. Cross the road outside the station St Roch and 50 metres up the street to the front door.

Being an apartment hotel there was a fridge (which you don't always get in France), cooking facilities and best of all a washing machine and dryer (one of each, coin operated) in the basement.

There is also a tram stop immediately outside the front door and all trams on all lines pass through the intersection outside the main station (St Roch).

Back on the train to Narbonne. This time all the cheap tickets were sold in economy, so first class tickets were actually cheaper than what was left in economy. EUR 14 for the 1 hour 10 minute journey to Narbonne. First class is 1-2 configuration where 2nd is 2-2. Otherwise not much difference on the train we were on.