We see what we want to see; we tell ourselves the stories that comfort what we think we know.
I don’t take the beauty of Provence for granted. It can be wide and sweeping or minuscule and intimate. An endless variation of songs to light up the dance floor. And how I do love it when I am asked to dance.
But, but after ten years of living here, I can be a snob about certain things, as unattractive as that is to admit.
For example, I don’t like crowds and feel foolish when caught in the midst of them in full on “ooh” mode.
Fanning women who have “A Year in Provence” poking out of their bag and agressive baseball cappers extending a selfie stick towards the sky make me grumpy.
See? Right on time. Snobby.
And certainly no place tends to prickle my skin more than Les Baux-de-Provence.
While I have a healthy respect for its fame, I see its potential and shake my head in dismay at the endless line of identical tourist shops lining the cobblestone streets, those selling fake savon du Marseille and polyester napkins imprinted with bees.
And yet, here we go, the entry to the humbling part…
…of course I wanted my Mom and her husband Leonard to see it while they were visiting in September.
And they were enchanted.
So how could I not be? Wonder is delightfully contagious.
All of those veils of ideas, judgements and expectations fell away. The crowds pushed around me and yet it didn’t matter. Of course, they have the right to stop and point and rave.
By giving in, I found myself back in Les Baux, the one that I know to love in my heart, even when my head tells me otherwise. Stories silenced, vision cleared. In seeing it through the eyes of loved ones, I discovered it anew for myself, Provence plus one.
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Eh oui, I seem to have written quite a few times about this enigmatic village (and I am not done yet as there will be a post on the main church there in the future). It is fun to look back at them now…especially in seeing how certain places have changed or not over time.
If you would like to understand the history of the village, click here.
Another shift in perspective, this time via a camera trick. To read, click here.
I love everything about this post (save that the photos are so small!): here.
And for my friends in the other hemisphere, you must believe in spring, so please click here.
Oh! And thank you all for your lovely responses on my previous post. For those of you that have been wondering, yes, Ellie arrived safely and is already making her new house a home…
Oh my gosh, that last line made me laugh!! I am kind of horrified fascinated by them, I really am. And how fabulous that you went to South America! Would love to hear more…
And seriously, the crowds were swarming while I took most of these photos!
Completely agree, Bonnie.
Rebecca and Judi, I allllmost put a video about the current show at the Carrieres at the end of the post! It is so amazing, isn't it? Alas, it just didn't work out time-wise to go with my Mom and her husband, a definite disappointment because it was on my "must do" list. Judi, I missed the Klimt show and as I am a fan I know that I would have loved it.
The only bad thing? Off-season it is freezing in there!!
Rebecca, of course I have to ask: which restaurant?? L'Oustau or La Cabro d'or???
Beautifully said, Loree. I see so many tourists here rushing time to try and "capture" it. I imagine you have your fair share of maneuvering around tourists on Malte also!
You know I have never liked crowds. Even as a kid going to the Ohio State Fair was overwhelming! Did you go when you were little?
how does one tell the difference between real savon de Marseille and fake? (asked the girl who has bought her share of the stuff)
I understand and agree with so many of the comments above about crowds, tacky shops etc, and wish that back in the day there had been more control to stop the creation of the theme park atmosphere. And yet – and yet – if you can lift your eyes from the path and look at the stonework against the sky, the doorways you can't go through, the unbelievable view from the ramparts of Provence spread out in front of you like some gorgeous carpet, there is still some magic there.
I'm with you, detest the tacky shops, and busloads of tourists. But, it is enchanting all the same, and I feel very lucky to have been there several times. xx
OK, I officially feel like a hick! I've never been to Les Baux. Know nothing about it. I'd probably be one of those tourists staring and ooohing and taking photos. Sorry about that. But I would not be wearing shorts, baseball cap, or flip flops. But I would be trying to speak French and winding up speaking Spanish. Oh well.
Sandra Sallin http://www.aparfrommyart.com
I've only visited Les Baux once and was both enchanted and disappointed. We rented a motor scooter in Avignon and went out to Le Pont du Gard for a visit and a swim in the river. Then we rode the bike through the countryside and waves of scented fields pushed against our faces – olive groves, fields of I don't know what, and it was lovely, lovely. Then up the road to Les Baux. All those shops were a disappointment but the vista amazing. And the history. In my mind I wafted away all the tackiness to grasp at the essence of the place. I think I may have caught a teensy bit of it.