sat on side of hills

“I tried to hitchhike through Provence, outside Aix, where Cézanne painted, ended up hiking 20 miles but it was worth it …  sat on side of hills and pencil sketched drawings of the Cézanne country, dull red rusty rooftops, blue hills, white stones, green fields, hasn’t changed in all these years … mauve tan farm houses in quiet fertile farmer’s valleys, rustic, with weathered pink powder roof tiles, a grey green mild warmness, voices of girls, gray stacks of baled hay, a fertilized chalky garden, a cherry tree in white bloom (April), a rooster crowing at mid day mildly, tall Cézanne trees in back … etc. just like Cézanne nein? Then a rattly old bus through Arles country, the restless afternoon trees of Van Gogh in the high mistral wind, the cypress rows tossing, yellow tulips in window boxes, a vast outdoor café with huge awning, and the gold sunlight …”

– Jack Kerouac in a letter to Ed White dated 28 April 1957 

arles and avignon and some in between

We started off at the HUGE Arles market. Fruits, veggies, fish, live poultry, flowers galore. It was rather overwhelming, but bright and colorful. We got some olives for our picnic and a lavender plant for the porch. Took a turn through the city. Paid homage to Van Gogh's night cafe, but got coffee down a side street, and overheard a piano practice through an open window.

With some market treats, and baguettes, we headed to Abbaye Montmajour for another picnic, starting to make our way back north.

Stops to walk near the Roman aqueduct and Daudet's windmill near Fontvielle.

Final stop, Avignon on the way...

A stroll through the walled city just before dusk.