Romans, Popes, Post Impressionists and Flamingos… Provence visit, October 2025

A group from The Arts Society North Yorkshire & South Durham eventually left foggy Manchester Airport behind and soared upwards into the clear blue skies which then stayed with us until we returned, five days later. Our modern hotel was on the outskirts of Avignon, adjacent to the perfect medieval city walls, (were they made out of Lego?!), and a very convenient location for trips into town and strolls along Rue de la République and surroundings.

Our first day was spent in Avignon and during the morning were taken to the now incomplete, abandoned Pont d’Avignon, (of the famous song), followed by a tour of the impressive, monumental Palais des Papes. After lunch, some of us visited the Musée Calvet, the Fine Arts Museum for Avignon, containing paintings, sculptures and works of art from the 15th to the 20th centuries in a beautiful 18th century mansion. A visit to Nîmes the following day showed us the outstanding Roman temple – ‘La Maison Carrée’, overlooked by Norman Foster’s contemporary ‘La Carrée d’Art’. We were impressed by the monumentality of the Roman Arena before visiting the equally impressive Pont du Gard, which some of us eventually discovered after a wander through the ‘garrigue’…

The next morning in Aix en Provence found us at Cezanne’s studio, which would have been in the countryside before the later expansion of the town, and still a pleasant, elevated, leafy location.  It was fascinating to see some of the objects that he used in his paintings. After a short drive, we visited the Musée de Beaux Arts in Marseilles in a stunning 19C building and a setting adjacent to a wonderful water feature/grotto. Our final day was spent in Arles with its connections to Vincent Van Gogh, more Roman buildings and the stunning LUMA Tower designed by Frank Gehry. We then had a tour of the Camargue and were able to view black bulls, white horses, pink flamingos and the Mediterranean before returning to Avignon for our final evening dinner altogether.

Many thanks to Julie for organising this wonderful trip and looking after us all so well.