The Alpilles: St Remy to Les Baux

St Remy has derived all its fame from housing Van Gogh in its mental hospital. The rather unremarkable village is very tidy, not very many visitors - maybe still early in the morning. We then followed the Van Gogh trail to the hospital. Our real aim is the Roman site of Glanum across the street, skippable except for baggers of ancient sites. They do have a spring and a well that are unusual. Actually there are Celtic, Greek, and Roman ruins; each on top of the previous.

Right outside Glanum we caught the GR6 for Les Baux, ignoring half dozen warning signs around town, our usual protocol. Five minutes later, I found out - John neglected to share what he learned on the internet - I had to go down a 20-meter hole, with chains and ladders. Which was quite an excitement! Afterwards, it was smooth sailing. In fact, we saw a few mountain bikers on the trail. It was a beautiful ridge top trail through the Apilles with great views.

Les Baux is yet another famous village that can be taken in from a single viewpoint. Judging by the parking lot, they were having a lot of visitors. If it's entirely up to John, we would only go to the viewpoint, skip the village. Instead, we promenaded around the tiny village with a few hundred other visitors-of-the-minute, for completeness. Then we walked down to the valley to Maussane to catch our bus back to Arles (no bus to Les Baux this time of the year).

A square in Saint Remy. Note the "easel" with the Van Gogh self-portrait.


The Tourist Office sports a Van Gogh easel with Starry Night located in the spot where it was painted.


Near the Hospital Saint-Paul-de-Mausole where Van Gogh was treated for mental illness.




Between the hospital and the Glanum archaeological site there is a Roman mausoleum and triumphal arch - very cool.


Awesome battle scene relief on the mausoleum.


The Glanum archaeological site, a small but important Roman city, is located in a narrow valley on the north side of the Alpilles.






Peering into the Sacred Spring.


And a view of Glanum from the hills.






After Glanum we set off on the GR6 to Les Baux, about 7 kms away. But first, the grotto.






Then an easy, mostly level, walk to Les Baux with amazing views of the Alpilles at every turn, in every direction.


Lunch spot view.


Looking north to Saint-Remy and it's church spire.








A sliver of the Rhone at far left.


And then Les-Baux and its surrounding quarries and parking lots.




Views from Les Baux.




We get some very good information from the tourist office and walk down to Maussane the back way with great views to Les Baux and the Alpilles; and vineyards and a swanky golf club.










And a bonus aqueduct.


On the bus back to Arles.