October 7 – St. Remy and Provence countryside

Today we set out with no destination in mind other than to visit a winery or two and perhaps an olive grove.  Things just seem to always work out when we meander and not choose specific destinations.  The common theme for the day was that when we finished with one destination we consulted the Garmin GPS for the next; herein referred to as Garmin, our tour guide.  Our first stop was only a mile away at Sainte Berthe winery.  This is directly beneath Les Baux in a very scenic location.  I took a few pictures, we tasted two unimpressive red wines and left. 

It was worth stopping at but we have learned in the past that visiting wineries is a quick stop for us and we only need to see one or two per day to get our fill.

Next, Garmin led us to an old rock quarry.  There didn’t seem to be much else there other than more views of Les Baux so we moved on again.  We asked Garmin where to go to next and he told us to go to the Glanum archaeological site.  On the way to Glanum we saw a handful of tourists at an estate so we pulled in.  The estate turned out to be Vincent Van Gogh’s insane asylum and the place where he ended his life.  There was more to this estate than a mental hospital, but that was the highlight.  The entire place, inside and out, was decorated with statues of Van Gogh and prints of his works. 

Van Gogh looks older than Tom, yet he died in his late 30s.

Somehow I thought an olive grove was going to be more attractive looking for no other reason than olives taste so good.  I will tell myself that it looks much nicer in the spring.

This poor olive was left behind during picking.

After lunch Garmin finally took us to the 2800-year-old ruins of the Glanum archaeological site.  The first inhabitants settled here from the Hellenistic era around 6^th to 7^th century B.C.  It eventually became a Roman city and survived for about 1000 years total.  Tom was in heaven.  This was not in the preserved condition of Pompeii but the period was much earlier.  Good job Garmin.

Tom is thoroughly enjoying this archaeological site.  He wants to be reincarnated as a history major.

Not only are the ruins interesting but we saw them on a beautiful day.  For the record, these are the first clouds we have seen since we have been here.  Not that I’m rubbing it in to everyone back in the Pacific Northwest.  ;-)

Remember when at Glanum, no smoking, no littering, no leaning on the ruins and absolutely, positively no stinking cheeseburgers.