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A Monday in Provence: Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, Les Baux-de-Provence, & the Camargue

This itinerary includes visiting Van Gogh’s asylum in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, fortress ruins in Les Baux-de-Provence, & flamingos in the Camargue!

A monday in provence visiting the french villages of St-Remy-de-Provence, Les Baux-de-provence and La Camargue

Road trip Map

Click on the locations below for a brief summary!

For more information about how I would recommend getting here, check out A Tuesday in Provence linked at the end of this post. For many people this will be a long Monday of travel, but we are a little crazy and made it work. If I would do it again, I would make the Camargue into it’s own day of exploration.

Saint-Remy-de-Provence france
Charming country roads

Birthplace of Nostradamus

Saint-Remy-de-Provence

First stop on this road trip is Saint-Rémy-de-Provence! Since it was not Wednesday, aka market day, it was very peaceful. We didn’t stick around too much because we wanted to visit the Van Gogh sites. But before we left, we made sure to visit the home where Nostradamus was born. THE NOSTRADAMUS! The French astrologer, apothecary, physician, and reputed seer, best known for his book Les Prophéties (published in 1555), predicting future events. Many of the eerily accurate predictions were Hitler’s rise to power, the French Revolution, JFK’s assassination, and the 9/11 terror attacks in New York City. He even predicted the most intense inflation (which doesn’t surprise everyone alive in 2023). He states, “So high will the bushel of wheat rise, that man will be eating his fellow man.” There has been good evidence that he even predicted the recent death of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022.

Nostradamus birth place
On our way to Nostradamus’ home where he was born
Nostradamus birth place in Saint-Remy-de-Provence
Nostradamus was born here and went to university at age 15 in Avignon. The university had to close down because of the Plague outbreak and he traveled France for years, studying medicines and herbal remedies. He even was summoned by Queen of France, Catherine de’ Medici, to come to Paris and explain his predictions and draw up horoscopes for her children.
Nostradamus birth place

Nostradamus fountain in Saint-Remy-de-Provence
Nostradamus fountain in Saint-Remy-de-Provence

Vincent van Gogh’s Asylum

Saint-Paul-de-Mausole asylum

Vincent Van Gogh arrived in Saint-Rémy de Provence in 1889 to be “confined” by his wishes in the Saint-Paul de Mausolée Asylum. It really is a beautiful and peaceful place.

Van Gogh

As beautiful as the grounds were, the inside was an unsettling place to visit. If you are someone who can feel energy, the energy in Van Gogh’s bedroom while staying here was melancholic. The museum was very informative and I highly recommend going! Just beware the vibe in his old bedroom lol.

Van Gogh's bedroom at the Asylum
This room was melancholic. He painted about 143+ paintings while he was here, including A Starry Night – which is not based on a real place, but based on his emotions. He painted his emotions so that people would understand him better.
  • Monastery Saint-Paul de Mausole in Saint-Remy-de-Provence asylum
  • Daily life in an insane asylum at the end of the 19th century
  • Monastery Saint-Paul de Mausole in Saint-Remy-de-Provence and history of Van Gogh
  • Monastery Saint-Paul de Mausole in Saint-Remy-de-Provence about Van Gogh

Fascinated by the quality of the light and the beauty of the landscapes that he discovered in Saint-Rémy, very inspired, happy and relieved to find a serene and understanding atmosphere amongst the nuns and nurses who received him, Van Gogh carried out 143 oil paintings and more than 100 drawings in the space of 53 weeks. This time in Saint Rémy is considered a major period in the works of Van Gogh.

Monastery Saint-Paul de Mausole in Saint-Remy-de-Provence

Monastery in Saint-Remy-de-provence

Château des Baux-de-Provence

Ready for a little more adventure? Make sure you wear something a little better for climbing rocks than I did. Highly don’t recommend cute sandals and a dress, but I made it out without a Marilyn moment! You can see old weapons and climb through the entire castle, all the way up to the top. The wind was so strong at the top that we had to hold our phones so tightly!

ruined fortress in Les Baux-de-Provence
The Baux family established the first fortified town in the 10th century. They also ordered the building of the imposing 13th century castle, with its dungeon that still proudly dominates the village.
Les-Baux-de-Provence map

Les-Baux-de-Provence
A touristy little town, but worth it to walk through and see the chateau.
Chateau des Baux-de-provence
Don’t want to end up locked in these.
chateau castle ruins

ruined fortress in Les Baux-de-Provence

Chateau ruins
People lived here 900 years ago
Chateau des Baux de Provence
This is a story about a princess here who never got to marry because she died at age 20 from a fever and her fiancé, who waited 3 years to marry her, found her in this state and he died from a broken heart.
ruined fortress in Les Baux-de-Provence
Climbing through here was awesome. They carefully put steel steps and railings for our safety, without overwhelming the ruins.
views of Provence on top of ruined fortress in Les Baux-de-Provence
…and the views from the tippy top!
views of Provence on top of ruined fortress in Les Baux-de-Provence
Those are working trebuchets down below
views of Provence on top of ruined fortress and chateau in Les Baux-de-Provence
The small village we walked through to get here. The village fell into decay in the 19th century due to lack of water. In 1821, the French geologist Pierre Berthier discovered a red rock rich in alumina that he called bauxite, the main ore for the production of aluminum.
Around the same time, the quarrying of limestone was expanding throughout the local area for use in building the new towns and cities. Many abandoned buildings were re-used or dismantled to reclaim the stone.
views of Provence on top of ruined fortress in Les Baux-de-Provence
After the Second World War, Les Baux began its cultural and touristic renaissance. Eventually, this began a period of revival which saw Les Baux listed among The Most Beautiful Villages in France in 1998, and as an Outstanding Heritage Site in 2019.
ruined fortress in Les Baux-de-Provence
Fashionable – yes, practical for climbing ruins – also yes 😀

UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, The Camargue

Pink flamingos in the Camargue

Attention all nature-lovers! Head to western Europe’s largest delta, where the Rhône River meets the Mediterranean Sea. The Camargue is a wonderful place for you to explore any time of year. Just south of Arles, the national park lies in the Provence Alpes Côte d’Azur and Languedoc regions of France.

The camargue and Sainte Maries de la Mer
Sainte Maries de la Mer is a beach town with some cowboy and gypsy influence. The vibe is all of those things haha

I can comfortably say that I have never visited a place similar to here. The Camargue is most known for the wild white horses, a special breed that are reputedly one of the oldest horse breeds in the world, and bird-watching! It is the largest nesting area for pink flamingoes.

Camargue France Flamingos

Unfortunately, we didn’t have enough time to explore this area to it’s fullest. We did not have the chance to visit areas with the wild horses, but we did see a couple on our drive home!

Our Provence Itinerary for 1 week

A Monday in Provence: Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, Les Baux-de-Provence, & the Camargue

A Tuesday in Provence: Historic Hilltop Village of Gordes

A Wednesday in Provence: Ménerbes

A Thursday in Provence: Château de Fonscolombe

A Friday in Provence: Lourmarin & Bonnieux

A Saturday in Provence: Apt, Saint-Saturnin-lès-Apt, & Goult

A Sunday in Provence: L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, Avignon, & Pont du Gard

Our home base village: Historic Hilltop Village of Gordes & our spectacular hosts at L’Amandière!

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