On our second (and last) day in Provence we visited Les Baux de Provence, a tiny medieval village built on the top of a hill, on a very rocky plateau. It's located near Arles and was recommended by Amy, one of our new friends here.
Les Baux was placed under the protection of the Ministry of Culture. This lead to its revival and eventually got them on the 'Most Beautiful Villages of France' list.
You drive up a hill until you find a parking spot on the side of the road. You then walk up the rest of the way to the town itself; and if you're like me and forget your sunglasses all the time, you get to do it twice. It was Sunday, and it was a long weekend, and the weather was superb, so there were a lot people moving through the narrow cobblestone streets. Lots of small eateries and souvenir shops line the streets. And all the time you're going uphill.
At the summit is the Château des Baux, or rather what's left of the immense stone fortress, but you get a good idea of what the Citadelle used to look like. On the site still are the church, the windmill used to grind grain, and a few huge catapults, including the biggest Trebuchet in Europe, some of which are demonstrated during the summer months.
You have to be part mountain goat to reach the highest part of the fortress because many of steps are quite uneven and some are very tall. But the spectacular view of the plains to the south are worth the climb. Vineyards and olive groves as far as they eye can see.
Culturespaces, a French company that manages this and other historic sites and museums, provided wonderful activity books for the kids that kept them entertained for hours looking for clues all over the place to solve a puzzle.
After visiting the fortress we did a little more walking on the other side of the village, and then enjoyed a beautiful sunset.
This was our last day in the south. We definitely need to come back and see Avignon, Arles, Orange, and other towns farther into Provence.
And a bit of trivia: Les Baux is also where the French geologist Pierre Berthier discovered a red rock rich in aluminium and called it "bauxite". But it's all gone now.