South of France Road Trip: Les Baux-de-Provence

Actual date of this event: 7 May

After a short visit in St-Rémy-de-Provence, we drove on to Les-Baux-de-Provence for our last stop on our little day road trip. As we pulled up, we saw a rocky hill sticking out from the ground. Then we saw many cars and buses up ahead. We knew that had to be it.

It was almost 3pm when we arrived, so we didn't have all day to visit. We parked in the free area along the road, where we then hiked uphill to the town. It was the hottest it had been the whole week, and the uphill walking did not help.

Les Baux reminded us of Eze Village but not as heavenly. It was still a very unique village though. Set high up in the countryside, the views surrounding us were amazing. We could see wine country for miles and miles. We wandered around going up and down any pathway we could find.

After a while, there wasn't much more we could explore, so we sat for a drink with a nice view, and decided to pay the entry fee for the Château afterward. Turns out that the fortress is the majority of what Les Baux is about. Had we not gone in, we would have missed out on quite a bit.

Château des Baux is a 10th century castle ruin built on top of the rock. The largest trebuchet in Europe is found inside the fortress - they demonstrate a launch every few hours but we had just missed it. We got some of the best views of the country around us from inside the Château, but the best were from the peaks of the ruins.

It was pretty dangerous climbing up to the top of the ruins. There were handrails, but the ground was extremely uneven and slippery. Sandals were not the best footwear. It was very hot at the top, and we did not expect such a large area to explore, so we did not have any water with us.

Around 5:30pm, we decided we were done, and it was time to head back to Avignon. I am glad we chose to make a stop in Les Baux-de-Provence during our road trip. The South of France continued to impress us!

More from the South of France: Intro, Nice, Antibes, Monaco, Eze Village, Avignon, Pope's Palace & Pont d'Avignon, Pont du Gard, Buisson, St. Remy, Les Baux, Arles, Nîmes

RANDOM FACT:
In 1642, Les Baux was granted to the rulers of Monaco. The title still remains today, although it follows French law.