Saint-Rémy-de-Provence

The Alpilles & the Garrigues: Principle Destinations: St. Rémy de Provence

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Once in a great while, you may come upon a place that is so completely inhabited by the spirit of an area that you need go no farther to experience and understand the entire region. St. Rémy de Provence is such a place. If can visit only one town in the Alpilles, make it this one.

With a population of about 9,500, St. Rémy is a small gem of a town. It offers some of the oldest evidence of settlement in France (the ruins of Glanum, page 48); a town center of winding lanes and tree shaded avenues; several grand 14th- and 15th-century town houses and historic connections to musicians, artists, poets and philosophers. It has plenty of restaurants for every budget, ranging from casual sidewalk cafés and pizza joints to Michelin-starred eateries; a good selection of hotels, dozens and dozens of lovely shops and, arguably, one of the best markets in Provence when the entire town fills up with stalls and vendors.

St. Rémy is surrounded by several wonderful villages (Maussane, Eygalières, Les Baux de Provence – see Worth a Side-Trip, page 49) and is in the center of an area rich in opportunities for such outdoor adventures as hiking, cycling, climbing, caving, riding, hang-gliding and parasailing. You may find that some of the countryside around St. Rémy looks very familiar. That’s because you have probably seen it before. Vincent Van Gogh spent most of the last year of his life, from 1889 to 1890, painting frantically in St. Rémy. While voluntarily committed to an asylum there (St. Paul de Mausole, see below), he produced 150 canvases. Some of these – including Starry Night and Irises in a Vase – are among his most famous paintings. Parts of the asylum can still be visited. From the olive groves to the cypress trees to the views of the rocks and mountains, Vincent’s views are all around.

For Van Gogh Enthusiasts Marie-Charlotte Bouton, journalist, translator and author of Van Gogh, L’homme qui Aimait les Fleurs et la Lumière (Van Gogh, the Man Who Loved the Flowers and the Light) offers excellent and informative personalized tours of Van Gogh’s St-Rémy and its environs for individuals and groups of up to 25. Two-hour tours, including St. Paul de Mausole and Glanum, cost €60 for two people, €90 for groups of five people. She also offers full-day tours that take in Les Baux de Provence, St. Rémy de Provence, Arles or Avignon. Contact her at boutoncharlotte@club-internet.fr or fax 33 04 90 92 40 85.

NOSTRADAMUS, THE PROPHET OF ST. RÉMY The lasting fame of Nostradamus (born Michel de Nostredame at St. Rémy in 1566) owes as much to good medieval public relations as it does to the accuracy of his obscure and much debated predictions. Catherine de Medici consulted him about the fate of her husband, King Henry II, and her three sons. Impressed with his predictions, she gave him her protection and enabled him to publish his prophesies. Nostradamus also successfully treated victims of the bubonic plague by boosting their immune system with tablets made from an extract of roses, inadvertently inventing the first vitamin C supplement.

Getting Here: St. Rémy is about half an hour’s drive south of Avignon. Take the A7 18 km/11 miles south to the Cavaillon exit, then west on the D99, 15 km/9.3 miles to the center of St. Rémy. The D99 can be a busy road but sections of it are lined with trees that arch over the road. Very scenic and typically Provençal.

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