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Le Moulin de Daudet +/- 3km Between Arles and Les Baux-de-Provence, the admirers of Alphonse Daudet's works can make a literary pilgrimage to his mill, the inspiration for his famous Lettres de mon Moulin. A lovely avenue of pines leads from Fontvieille to the mill. A. Daudet often stayed with friends at the Château de Montauban at the foot of the hill, but it was in Paris that he wrote. And yet he enjoyed strolling through the countryside, seeking inspiration, listening to the miller's tales or daydreaming. The view embrases the Alpilles, Beaucaire and Tarascon castles, the vast Rhône valley ans the Abbaye de Montmajour. Inside the mill, the first floor displays different kinds of millstones used in the grinding of grain. Note at roof level the names of the local winds, positioned according to their source.
Visite : 9h-12h 14h19h June to September ; 10h-12h 14h-17h30 February to May ; 10h-12h 14h-17h October to December. Tel. : 04 90 54 67 49 Tourism office : http://www.fontvieille-provence.com |
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Abbaye de Montmajour +/- 3km On a hill overlooking the Arles plain lie the ruins of Abbaye de Montmajour, the buildings of which represent two different periods : medieval and 18C.
Visite : 9h-19h April to September except Tuesdays ; 10h-13h 14h-17h the rest of the year. Closed 1st Januar, 1st May, 1st & 11th November, 25th December. Tel. : 04 90 54 64 17 Tourism office : http://www.fontvieille-provence.com |
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Fontvieille +/- 1km For centuries, the main industry in this small town where Alphonse Daudet is remembered for his Lettres de mon Moulin has been the quarrying of Arles limestone. In the 18C parish church, the old ceremony of the shepherds' bringing the offering of the lamb is celebrated on Christmas Eve. Office du tourisme : http://www.fontvieille-provence.com |
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Aqueducs de Barbegal +/- 4km The aqueduct which branches off to the west supplied Arles with water from Eygalières some 31mi away. The other one cut through the rock and served a 4C hydraulic flour mill on the slopes's south side, the ruins of which provide a rare example of Gallo-Roman mechanical engineering.. Office du tourisme : http://www.fontvieille-provence.com |
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Chapelle St-Gabriel +/- 5km Located originally on the site of this chapel was a Gallo-Roman town, Ernaginum. Surrounded by marshland, it was a port for rafts as well as being the junction of commercial and military roads. The small, late-12C chapel has a west doorway gramed within a rounded arch by antique-style columns and a pediment.
Visite on request at the Tarascon tourism office. Tel. : 04 90 91 03 52 Office du tourisme Tarascon : http://www.tarascon.org |
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Panorama (table d'orientation des Baux) +/- 15km This rocky promontory offers the best view of Les Baux and a far-reaching panorama : Arles and Camargue, Rhône valley, Cevennes mountains, Aix-en-Provence, the Luberon and Mont Ventoux. Office du tourisme : http://www.lesbauxdeprovence.com |
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Val d'Enfer +/- 13km A path crosses this jagged and irregular gorge aptly named Hell Valley. The caves used to be lived in and are still the source of many legends as the place where witches, fairies and sprites reign. |
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Les Baux de Provence +/- 12km Detached from the Alpilles, this bare rock spur - 2953ft long and 656ft wide - with vertical ravines on either side, a fortified castle lying in ruins, and old desolate houses, compose the spectacular site of the village of Les Baux, once a pround fief. Office du tourisme : http://www.lesbauxdeprovence.com |
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St-Paul-de-Mausolé +/- 18km Located near the Roman monuments, to which its name is linked, this monastery of Augusrinian and later Franciscan canons was transformed into a convalescent home in the mid 18C. It preserves the memory or Vincent van Gogh who demanded to be interned here from 3 May 1889 to 16 May 1890.
Visite : 8h-18h from March to Oktober ; 9h-17h the rest of the year. Office du tourisme : http://www.saintremy-de-provence.com |
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Glanum +/- 18km The origin of the site is a sanctuary venerated by Celtic-Ligurian people known as the Glanics. This native settlement rapidly came into contact with the merchants of Massalia owing to its location close to two important roads.
Visite : 9h-19h April to September ; 9h30-12h 14h-17h the rest of the year. Closed on 1st January, 1st May, 1st & 11 November, 25th December. Tel.: 04 90 92 23 79. Office du tourisme : http://www.saintremy-de-provence.com |
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Panorama de la Caume +/- 22km Altitude 1270ft. Walk to the southern edge of the plateau to enjoy a vast panorama of the surrounding countryside, including the Alpilles in the foreground and the Crau and Camargue plains; from the northern edge, the view encompasses the Rhône plain, the Guidon du Bouquet with its characteristic beak-like outline, Mont-Ventoux and the Durance Valley.. |
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Rochers d'Entreconque +/- 17km Lying to the leftof the road, these rocks are, in fact, former bauxite quarries, as can be seen from their characteristic dark red color. Office du tourisme : http://www.lesbauxdeprovence.com |
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St Rémy-de-Provence +/- 16-20km Gateway to the Alpilles, St-Remy symbolises beautifully the essence of Provence, whether it be through its decor of boulevard shaded by plne trees, fountains splashing in the squares, charming old town alleyways or the atmosphere which reigns especially on market day and during traditional fairs. Office du tourisme : http://www.saintremy-de-provence.com |
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Arles +/- 8km Roman capital ans a major religious centre in the Middle Ages, Arles preserves, from its glorious past, two gemsof Romanesque art, the cloisters and doorway of St-Trophime. The development of the Camargue as a protexted natural environment has made Arles the rice capiral, and yet the city depends not only on its vocation as a central market for agricultural produce but also on its diversified light industry and administrative and cultural functions. Office du tourisme : http://www.ville-arles.fr |
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Tarascon +/- 10-12km A tradition dating back some 2000 years has created Tarascon, the city of the Tarasque. Last century the French writer Alphonse Daudet brought fame to the town through his character Tartarin. And yet the city has its own claim to fame in the shape of its magnificient castle, with walls which drop straight down to the swift-flowing River Rhône.
Castle Visit : 9h-19h from April to September, every day except on Tuesday from 9h-12h and from 14h-17h the rest of the year. Closed on 1st January, 1st May, 1st and 11th November, 25th December.
Tél.: 04 90 91 01 93. Office du tourisme Tarascon : http://www.tarascon.org |
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Beaucaire +/- 10-12km A royal seneschalship in 1229, Beaucaire kept watch over Tarascon, across the river, which was part of the Holy Roman Empire Office du tourisme : www.ot-beaucaire.fr |
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La Camargue Camargue, the most original and romantic region of Provence and possibly of France, has been largely preserved in its natural state through its designation in 1927 and 1970 as a botanical and zoological nature reserve. Late spring ans early autumn are the best times for a visit : horses and bulls are easily seen and birds abound, the sun shines and there are the famous pilgrimages to Stes-Maries-de-la-Mer. Office du tourisme : http://www.saintesmariesdelamer.com |
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Nîmes +/- 30km Situated on the edge of the garrigue limestone hills and the Petite Camargue plain, Nîmes exudes the air of a great city of the arts, proud of its prestigious Gallo-Roman past, yet nonetheless anxious to open itself up to new ideas. Deeply-marked by its Huguenot past, Nïmes is a city of old traditional industries, particularly textiles and the processing of local agricultural products. It is also an administrative capital and a garrison town, one which only recently has endeavoures to embrace the advancement of high technology with the opening of a computing college and the Georges Besse industrial estate. Office du tourisme : http://www.ot-nimes.fr |
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Pont du Gard This aqueduct, one of the wonders of the Ancient world, is certainly worth a journey. It is part of a system which brought spring water from a catchment area near Uzès to Nîmes ; it was built c 19 BC and in spite of its 2000 years is in very good condition. |
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Avignon City of art and culture, on the borders of three départements (Bouches du Rhône, Gard and Vaucluse), Avignon stretches in all its beauty along the banks of the River Rhône. Peppered with bell towers emerging from a mass of pink roofs, the city is surrounded by ramparts and dominated by the Rocher des Doms, on which stand, majestically, the cathedral and Palais des Papes. It is from the City of the Cardinals, Villeneuse-lès-Avignon, opposite that Avignon should be admired, especially at sunset. Office du tourisme : http://www.ot-avignon.fr |
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Fontaine de Vaucluse Vallis clausa, from which this departement gets its name, is best known for its fountain, the famous resurgent spring which rises in a picturesque site dear to Petrarch and is the source of the River Sorgue. Office du tourisme : http://www.tourisme.fr/office-de-tourisme/fontaine-de-vaucluse.htm
Office de tourisme Isle sur la Sorgue : http://www.tourisme.fr/office-de-tourisme/l-isle-sur-la-sorgue.htm |
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Parc zoologique de La Barben This 12-acre zoo features a number of enclosures in which over 400 animals roam is relative freedom.
Open every day from 10h to 18h. Tél. : 04 90 55 19 12 |
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Le Château de La Barben Château de la Barben occupies a predipitous site in the small Touloubre valley. The access ramp to the castle offers a plunging view onto the formal French gardens. The present castle was originally a medieval fortress, built before AD 1000, belonging to the Abbaye St-Victor from Marseille and then to King René, who sold it to the powerful Forbin family. In front of a noble 17C facade is the terrace from where there is a good view of the gardens designed by Le Nôtre and of the Provencal countryside.
Guided tour from 10h à 12h and from 14h à 18h. Tel : 04 90 55 25 41 - Fax : 04 90 55 42 75 |
