Yesterday afternoon we arrived at Arles by train. I will have to write the blog about our time in Toulouse later. Suffice it to say Toulouse was a lovely city particularly along Canal Midi with the varying bridges and particularly Pont Neuf.
We got to Arles by train and looked to pick up car which was about 10 mins walk. All good except the GPS I bought would not connect to satellites . Bit of a panic as we were staying in a country farmhouse that had a tricky route.
Anyway, this may be a tip for young players - I did a full reset on the TomTom and miraculously it worked. So we headed to Le Mas de Florent with much excitement. Somehow still got lost. This place is incredible - run and owned by Monsier Gilbert this is a very large villa/farmhouse dating back to around the time of the revolution.
He explained it was held in the same family for 220 years till it was purchased in 2004 and partially renovated then he bought it in 2007 and did lots more.
To describe it as extraordinary would be an understatement. There are about 5 living areas available to guests, my favourite has a huge fireplace, massive sofas with original art and books all in excess. There are masses of gardens, formal and not as well as stables and fancy tree lined driveway .
The pool is huge with cabana and triple size beach towels and seating. Not put off by al the topless bathing I later had a swim and everyone had left except a fellow who wore nothing at all. Luckily he put on swimmers when I got in as my 20 laps may have been a bit uncomfortable.
Our room is really an apartment, 15 foot ceilings, antique table and chairs, the whole place has a feel of slight decadence.
It seems to be all french guests staying here, nuch more stylish than us as only the french can be. Monsier gilbert has been very helpful and sent us to a great restaurant last night in Maussane, about 20 mins away. Seafood, Barbie went on the wild side and had scallops which she never has, I had mussels gratin with pesto followed by a super creamy risotto with scallops and unusually large prawns. A half bottle of local vin blanc pus aperitifs filled us up and hopefully kept me under the limit driving back. On the drive to restaurant it was very flat surrounded by a range of severe mountains/hills which i will work out what they are called today.
No comments:
Post a Comment