VIKING STAR Mediterranean & Adriatic Sojourn
Barcelona to Athens April 3-24, 2023
Description from the Viking website of In the Footsteps of Van Gogh:
Contemplate van Gogh’s artistry in the fields, monasteries, chapels and villages depicted in his paintings. After wandering through the town of Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, you will be driven to the St. Paul de Mausole Monastery, a masterpiece of Provençal Romanesque art. From the top of the beautiful two-story square steeple, topped by a pyramidal roof, you can see the wheat field that Vincent van Gogh painted during his year of confinement.
You will enjoy a delicious lunch in the amazing eagle’s-nest village of Les Baux-de-Provence. Built on a rocky spur in the Alpilles mountain range and offering great views of the countryside and vineyards, the village is full of Gothic and Renaissance houses. Your guide will take you on a stroll past the 12th-century Church of St. Vincent and the 17th-century Chapel of the White Penitents and along the narrow and winding streets lined with local craftsmen.
Unable to dock in Marseilles due to the ongoing French dockworkers’ strike, we docked in Toulon. Excursion buses picked up passengers a short walk from the ships. One bus with about 50 passengers went on the optional excursion In the footsteps of Vincent Van Gogh. ($159 per person, eight-hour tour with included lunch.)
About a two-hour bus ride from the port to Saint-Remy-de-Provence with a not-very-brief restroom stop midway. It was an early spring day in Provence, trees just beginning to leaf, and flowers were in bloom (iris). Four or five-block walk to the convent where Van Gogh spent months towards the end of his life.
Painting reproductions were set up at sites showing where the artist would have set up his easel. Olive groves and mountains, for example. Then toured the interior of the monastery. A flight of steps led to his bedroom.
After the monastery tour, there was free time in Remy for strolling and shopping — ceramics, textiles, perfumes, housewares, clothing.
Twenty-minute drive to a mountain-high restaurant, Le Mas d’Aigret. Salad, sauteed chicken, veggies, dessert. Your choice of red, rose, or white wine. The restaurant was built into a cave. Food was 3.5/5. Lovely setting, and an intimate dining space.
Then to Les Baux-de-Provence, and toured the village. Hour of free time for shopping — artisanal foods, crafts, souvenirs, textiles. The bus drive back was about 90 minutes.
This excursion was well worth the time and cost. Not easily replicable as a do-it-yourself and I didn’t see anything comparable offered by independent guides. This is one time when booking with Viking was fortuitous because we unexpectedly docked in a different port.
