Saint Remy de Provence is a small
town located around 40 miles north of the Mediterranean sea in
the heart of the french region of Provence. There has been
a settlement here since roman times (the roman city of Glanum
is on the edge of town). Nowadays it cosists of a medieval
centre with the old town walls following a circular boulevard
which houses many of our 80 restaurants and cafes. Interestingly
there are only a very few of these which aren't family-owned and
not one single chain restaurant or hotel in town - if you want
your McDonalds fix we can direct you 10 miles north to Avignon.
The town is definitely a tourist
venue, in summer the coach-parties outnumber the locals but dont
forget that the town stays open all year round - even in December
and January around half of the eating places are open for business
- thats one for every day of the month so you will never be short
of choice. Remy is home to many well-known but reclusive
names such as Princess Caroline of Monaco who has her farmhouse
close to the village of Les Baux which has connections to the
Grimaldi family (the princes of Monaco) going back many hundreds
of years.
For a small town we have had some
famous residents:
Vincent
van Gogh
|
The
view from my window - oh yes it is...
|
Vincent stayed here for a year
as a paying guest at the asylum of St Paul de Mausole which now
has a permanent exhibit including a walk around the sites where
he made some of his most famous paintings.
He was only in town for just over
a year but he painted many of his most famous pictures here, as
well as inspiring the locals to name cafes, restaurants, roads
and buildings after him. Before he came here he spent a time in
Arles, just 15 minutes from here where he painted the sunflowers
amongst other famous canvases. We visit all the Vincent
sites on several of our trips.
The light here in Provence inspires
many painters, and as you may inmagine the town here is full of
artists and galleries. Four times a year we have the artists
fair when 250 or more artists and painters of all qualities and
styles descend on the town for a Sunday oil-fest..
Nostradamus
Michel de Nostredame, known as
"Nostradamus" was born here the 14th December 1503,
and only ever travelled a few miles east to Salon de Provence
where he died. In between he prophesied (some say) many
of the greatest events in the worlds history. Whether he did or
not his house is now a clothes shop right next door to the best
ice-cream parlour in town and the town is celebrating his 500th
birthday...I wonder if he predicted all that?
The
Marquis de Sade
Best known for his positive attitudes
to brisk physical pleasures the Marquis lived in St Remy as well
as several other places around the area - the best known being
his castle at Lacoste in the Luberon (on our Luberon tour) which
is now owned by that other well-known hedonist, Pierre Cardin,
who is converting it into a theatre - should be a show to remember...
.
St Remy Links on the web
include:
The
Provence tourist authority pages
The
official St Remy tourist office website
Provence
web
Beyond
Provence
The Alpilles or "Little
Alps" - our very own little range of hills and personal
test-track just 5 minutes from us. On the south side of the Alplles
is the
hill-top town of Les Baux, the ancestral home of the Princes of
Monaco.
There is plenty to do in St Remy
and close by - market day is Wednesday, there are 12 vineyards
in the Alpilles, museums, galleries, clothes shops and gift shops
abound and a short trip takes you to Avignon or Aix-en-Provence
for shopping and sight-seeing. We offer a non-biking trip
each day during our Provence tours and can arrange the same trips
for you whenever you wish to visit given a days notice. You can
even take a day trip to Paris on the TGV train.
