Page 149 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Provence & The Côte d'Azur

BOUCHES-DU-RHONE AND NIMES  147

or presently, the Carrières de bound up with the Abbaye de
Lumières was established. The Montmajour. The oratories that
imaginative slide show is pro- stand at the four corners of the
jected not only onto the white small town were erected in
limestone walls of the natural 1721 to celebrate the end of
theatre, but also the floor and the plague (see pp52–3).
ceiling, creating a three dimen- To the south on the D33, set
sional effect. The 35-minute on a stony hill is the Moulin
show is renewed each year. de Daudet and further on at
Accompanied by captivating Barbegal are the remarkable
music, it is an extraordinary remains of a Roman aqueduct.
audio-visual experience.
tAbbaye de
Montmajour
Road map B3. Route de Fontvieille.
Tel 04 90 54 64 17. Open Apr–Sep: The cloisters and keep of the Abbaye de
daily; Oct–Mar: Tue–Sun. Closed 1 Montmajour
Jan, 1 May, 1 & 11 Nov, 25 Dec. & 7
abbey was largely restored in
Standing out like Noah’s ark on the 19th century.
Mount Ararat, 5 km (3 miles) The Eglise Notre-Dame is
northwest of Arles, this one of the largest Romanesque
Benedictine abbey was built in buildings in Provence. Below,
the 10th century. At the time, the 12th-century crypt has been
the site was an island refuge built into the sloping hill. The
Les Baux’s Chapelle des Pénitents, next to in marshland. The handful of cloister has double pillars orn-
the Eglise St-Vincent monks in residence spent all amented with beasts and lies in
their spare time draining this the shadows of the 26-m (85-ft)
area of marshland between the tower, built in the 1360s. It is
rFontvieille Alpilles chain and the Rhône. worth climbing the 124 steps
The abbey is an imposing to the tower platform to see the
Road map B3. * 3,700. @ £
n Ave des Moulins (04 90 54 67 49). place, though all the Baroque stunning view across to the sea.
( Mon & Fri. ∑ fontvieille- buildings were destroyed by Also carved into the hillside is
provence.com fire in 1726 and never restored. the atmospheric Chapelle de
The original church is said to St-Pierre. It was established at
Fontvieille is an agreeable have been founded by Saint the same time as the abbey and
country town in the flat fruit Trophime as a sanctuary from is a primitive place of worship.
and vegetable lands of the the Romans. It grew rich in the There are a number of tombs
irrigated Baux Valley. Halfway Middle Ages when thousands in the abbey grounds, but
between Arles and Les Alpilles, of pilgrims arrived at Easter to the principal burial area is the
the town makes an excellent purchase pardons. After 1791, 12th-century Chapelle Ste-
centre from which to explore. the abbey was broken up by Croix. It lies not far to the
Until the French Revolution two successive owners who east and is built in the shape
in 1789, the town’s history was bought it from the state. The of a Greek cross.
Daudet’s Windmill
The Moulin de Daudet is one of the most famous
literary landmarks in France. Alphonse Daudet was
born in Nîmes in 1840 and made his name in Paris.
The windmill is the setting of Daudet’s Letters from
my Windmill, stories about Provençal life, first
published in 1860 and popular ever since. He
observed the local characters and wrote about their
lives with irony and pathos. He never actually lived
in the mill, but made imaginative use of some of the
resident miller’s tales. When he stayed in Fontvieille
he was a guest in the 19th-century Château de
Montauban. He came to find respite from the capital,
but returned there in order to write his stories. The
mill cannot be visited, but there is a small museum
located in the château dedicated to Daudet.