Avignon, Provence
I didn’t plan to go to France the first time that I visited. I had applied for a scholarship through Culinary school to be part of a study abroad program that was planned for Santiago, Chile. South America had been high on my “to visit” list and Chile was a rising star in the food and wine scene at that time. I was beyond excited to visit a new continent, but, upon receiving the scholarship, I also received the news that the trip would be going to France instead of Chile. I was so disappointed that I even considered not going. I was at the end of my Culinary school career though and I knew that I wouldn’t have this opportunity again. After all, France is the epicenter of modern cuisine so I knew I would gain a lot of culinary knowledge.
I gained more much than I could have imagined, in fact. The trip was life-changing for me as a chef and a traveler. It’s where I developed a palate for wine, which was not hard to do when an endless amount of varietals are included in every meal. I gained a deep appreciation for coursed meals where each plate was presented like a beautiful work of art. I learned how to make cassoulet from the “Pope of Cassoulet” in Carcassonne, where they sang us a song before serving us the finished product. Toby jokes that it is a trigger for me because, whenever anyone mentions the dish to this day, I still have to sing the chorus. I had the honor of learning sugar work and entremets from Meilleur Ouvrier de France (MOF) of pastry (the highest culinary honor in the world) Phillipe Rigollot. While in Lyon, I attended a few classes at the Institut Paul Bocuse, who is considered the father of nouvelle cuisine, and toured his restaurant. I was able to visit a snail farm, tour the Roquefort cheese caves, visit a trout farm, walk through countless food and produce markets, and visit a pig farm where the owners invited us into their home to lunch on their farm raised charcuterie. It was the quintessence of farm to table. That trip taught me the value of locally grown and raised while giving me such a respect for the integrity and care that the French take with their food.
On that trip, I became so fond of French people with their warm hospitality toward me as a visitor, their helpfulness and understanding when I couldn’t piece together more than a couple of French phrases, and their strong sense of family and community that weave together such a beautiful culture and appreciation for every day life. Since then, it is the country that I have visited the most because this “joie de vivre” that the French do so well is just plain intoxicating.
So when our oldest son said he would like to go to Monaco for his senior trip with my parents, we jumped at the chance to go along with our whole family. We planned to split our time between Avignon and Nice since none of us had been to Provence before and Nice is right beside Monaco. We flew to Paris to save money on airfare and took the high-speed TGV train through the French countryside to Avignon. My friends make fun of my love for Rom-Coms, but I’ve wanted to do that ever since I watched Meg Ryan and Kevin Kline take a similar route on the big screen in the 90’s. It was beautiful – a lot of farmland and green pastures. Toby and I joked that it was kind of like Indiana, but with castles. Upon arriving in Avignon, we pulled our luggage along the ancient ramparts until we reached the apartment where we were staying just inside this walled city.
Our family on the train to Avignon
I would consider Avignon to be the doorway to Provence. It is the first large city that you pass through from nearby regions both from the North and West. Ruled by the Roman empire starting in 120 BC, Avignon is a historically significant city because the Catholic Papacy was moved there from Rome starting in 1309 AD to 1377 AD. The ramparts, or defensive walls, that are in place today were constructed in the mid 1300’s and protected Avignon’s most famous residence at the time, the Palace of the Popes (Palais des Papes). It is definitely worth touring the inside of this enormous palace to experience its medieval grandeur. Our kids loved the self-guided audiovisual tour they offered with recreated 360° panoramic views of how each room would have originally appeared. Elaborate Roman frescos covered all of the walls and ceilings, though these paintings are extremely faded or gone altogether now. It was an adventure, and a bit scary, climbing up to the bell tower and walking high along the rooftop edges far above the rest of the city, but well worth the bird’s eye view. Our teenagers really loved that part.
We roamed through the narrow, hilly streets behind the palace and over to the Pont Saint-Bénézet, or better known as the Pont d’Avignon. This iconic bridge only partially remains. It was destroyed in a siege in the 1200’s and sustained regular flood damage throughout subsequent years; therefore, it became too expensive to maintain. It is situated on the Rhône, which is a major river in Europe running from the Swiss Alps to the Mediterranean. An important river in wine production, the Rhône creates the surrounding fertile valleys which produce some of my favorite wines, including Côtes du Rhône and Châteauneuf-du-Pape. There is a famous French children’s song about the bridge, called “On The Bridge of Avignon” (see the lyrics pictured below). Standing on top of what is left of the bridge, it is easy to see how the strong, swirling currents could wreak such havoc over time. Looking across the river is a breathtaking view of several nearby villages and castles spotted throughout the Provençal countryside.
One of our favorite things to do was walk to the local boulangerie, or bakery, each morning while the city was still quiet to purchase our breakfast pastries and to buy bread for our dinner that evening. Our next stop was the nearby market to buy freshly squeezed orange juice, local cheese, preserves and anything else we might need for lunch or dinner. To people living in European cities or even large cities in the U.S., that’s just normal, everyday life. To us though, it’s such a treat to be able to walk to the market without having to drive.
When we travel, we usually stay in an apartment or a home that we find on sites like Airbnb because it is much more economical for families than hotels, plus we can cook meals there. We purchase ingredients from markets and small shops and try to whip up some regional specialties to give us the experience of eating local without going broke. It also gives us the opportunity to play around with food that we may not have access to at home.
Even so, one of our main reasons for traveling as chefs is to dine out. On our first night in Avignon, we found a quaint little bistro called Ginette et Marcel that specialized in tartines, French open-faced sandwiches. It was quite small and it felt like we were walking into a 1950’s apothecary. We were seated at a large table in the back room, where the walls were adorned with brightly patterned, green floral wallpaper and what appeared to be old family photos. We ordered a variety of tartines as well as a charcuterie plate with cured meat, cornichons, pâté, and rustic bread. Toby was in heaven in France because he would eat duck or goose liver pâté every day if given the chance, which he did most days of our trip. The food did not disappoint, nor did our desserts: lemon tart and raspberry tart. While I didn’t notice a ton of culinary diversity inside the city walls of Avignon, I enjoyed the food because it was very traditional French cuisine. This makes it the perfect first stop on any introductory trip to Provence. We feasted on classics like galettes (savory crepes folded over filling), quiche, Croque Monsieur sandwiches, roasted chicken, crepes, cheese plates, and crème brûlée.
Traveling with our children is quite different than traveling just the two of us. It’s harder and a lot more expensive, but it’s also much more rewarding when we see them trying food that they’ve never had before, seeing new ways of life, or trying to speak the language and interact with others. We ask that the kids try at least one bite of new foods on our trips, which they have always done. They may not like it and may not ever eat another bite, but the important thing is that they tried it and expanded their horizons if even just a little. We also expect that they learn a few phrases so that they can ask basic questions and order in the native language to be respectful and polite. I’ve never been any place in France where someone didn’t help us out by switching to English if they knew we were struggling or at least point and figure it out patiently with us if they couldn’t.
Avignon was a great city for our teenagers because it is fairly quiet and very safe. Our oldest son’s best friend was with us, or our adopted son as we lovingly refer to him. He and our two teenagers enjoyed venturing out in the evenings to wander the city, just the three of them. It is hardest taking our youngest son on trips just because he’s five. We started traveling internationally with him when he was two and it has definitely been challenging. He is not one for changes in routine, so we try to find things that are fun for him while not doing too much in one day, which would wear him out and cause meltdowns. Not that they don’t happen but we try to take lots of breaks to eat, drink some water, ride carousels, play at playgrounds, get a snack or just find places where he can run around. It felt like we knew every playground from Avignon to Monaco by the end of the trip, but he loved those pit stops.
On our second day in Avignon, we visited a Confectionery shop called La Cure Gourmande which was a wonderland of candy, cookies, and candied fruit. While speaking with the owner, she warned us that the shops, restaurants, and transportation systems would be completely shut down the following day in anticipation of the planned Yellow Vest protest. We knew about the ongoing protests throughout the country, but had no idea one was about to descend on Avignon and to what degree. Protests are such a common thing in Europe, so we were very surprised that even the train station was going to be closed. Since a good number of people don’t own cars and only use public transport like buses and trains to get to work (sometimes in nearby cities), that was a huge deal. The seriousness that she had about the situation and the knowledge that many of the Yellow Vest protests had turned deadly in other cities made us stay inside the entire next day.
Protests have widely been used throughout Europe over the years to fight for rights of various groups or to protest political policies. The first time I was in France, our group had stopped in Rodez for a night and we were sitting at an outdoor café on the town circle. About thirty minutes later, a long line of tractors drove past us to a nearby government building, where they proceeded to throw large amounts of milk and cow manure at the façade. The thing I remember the most was that there were two police officers standing nearby, watching with little interest while smoking cigarettes. I remember thinking that an event like this would never be looked upon so casually in the United States. When the farmers had finished, they gathered their tractors around the town circle where they talked with fellow farmers, pouring drinks from what looked like homemade wine bottles, before returning to their farms. I found out soon after that it was in regard to a dispute over low dairy prices, which were bankrupting farmers. All that to say, protests are a very accepted practice in France and are typically non-violent.
It was very quiet in Avignon the next morning with very few residents on the street, but by afternoon things started to kick off. The apartment we were renting faced the southern ramparts. Large groups of protestors began marching and chanting outside the city wall which was accompanied by numerous emergency vehicle sirens. The city gates were all barricaded by police vehicles (as shown in the video below), minus the main entrance on the Rue de la République which leads into the city center. We watched from our balcony as it got louder and the group started to near the city gate. Hearing a series of loud pops, smoke appeared from behind the ramparts. Within a minute, the tear gas had reached our balcony and was burning our eyes, forcing us back inside with the doors closed. I can’t even imagine how strong it was for the protestors if it burned our eyes and noses so much from afar. The citizens donning yellow vests continued down the main thoroughfare to meet in the open plaza near the Palace of the Popes, which was out of earshot from us. After that, it was mostly quiet the rest of the day with only small groups of protestors leaving the city and police dispersing.
The next day, walking through a field of broken glass and debris on the way to the train station, we departed for the ancient city of Arles. One of the oldest cities in France, dating back to around 800 BC, this city has a rustic and artistic feel to it. Also located on the Rhône, Arles sits right above the Camargue delta, where the river divides before flowing into Mediterranean Sea. The Roman Amphitheatre in the center of town showcases the layers of history from Roman occupation to Spanish influences. Events are still hosted in the ruins of this gladiator-style arena, including festivals and bullfights, the latter which are more common the closer you get to Spain. The mix of French and Spanish culture is also apparent in Arles through music like the Gypsy Kings. Even though they sing mostly in Spanish, many of the members were born and raised in Arles. They are children of Spanish gitanos or gypsies, whose culture and traditions are deeply rooted, resulting in their Flamenco style ballads.
We ventured through the old corridors and passageways of the Amphitheater constructed in 90 AD before climbing the tower to enjoy an aerial view of the city. Famed Dutch artist Vincent Van Gogh lived in Arles briefly in the late 1800’s and many of his paintings are depictions of local buildings and landmarks. It is where he had a mental breakdown and notoriously cut off his ear. When Toby and I visit places, a lot of times we walk around without an agenda to see what we find. It’s not that we don’t do any research, but we are very fly by the seat of our pants as travelers. My parents travel quite differently than us. My dad is an electrical engineer, so he does a lot of research and likes to have things planned out and mapped. It’s a good thing my dad was with us because he directed us to several locations that Van Gogh had painted during his time in Arles, including the restaurant that inspired his renowned “Café Terrace at Night”.
Our five year old was smitten with Arles for a very different reason. If you have kids who play games then you know that Minecraft has a very distinct style – lots of cubes, boxes, and straight lines. Many buildings, signs and tower walls throughout Arles looked similar, so our son kept asking Toby, “Daddy, are we in a Minecraft city?” He was fascinated.
After taking the 20 minute train ride back to Avignon that evening, we spent the next day wandering around the city one last time before departing for Nice. Avignon is a major train hub and a quick ride to many nearby towns, which makes it an ideal traveling home base. I would definitely recommend staying inside the city walls or just on the other side so that you are within walking distance to the city center. The only thing I regret about our trip is that it wasn’t later in the year when the lavender fields, for which the area is known, are in bloom. Even so, the fragrance of this prolific Provençal herb filled the air throughout the city from the dried bud sachets, soaps and lotions sold in nearly every shop. Avignon is a wonderful city in which to start a trip to Provence because it is steeped in history, tradition, and beauty; giving wayfarers a glimpse of what makes Southern France one of the most popular vacation destinations in the world.
