Page 245 - Lonely Planet France’s Best Trips (Travel Guide)

audioguide, and access the colonnaded boutiques
to the Musée d’Art et 6 Vaison-la- and bathed at La Villasse,
d’Histoire (h9.15am-7pm Romaine where you’ll find Maison
Jun-Aug, to 6pm Apr, May au Dauphin, which has
& Sep, shorter hours rest of Is there anything more splendid marble-lined fish
year) across the road. telling of Rome’s smarts ponds.
Its collection includes than a sturdy, still-used In Puymin, see noble-
friezes from the theatre Roman bridge? Vaison- men’s houses, mosaics,
with the Roman motifs la-Romaine’s pretty little a workmen’s quarter, a
we love: eagles holding Pont Romain has stood temple, and the still-
garlands of bay leaves, the test of time and severe functioning 6000-seat
and a cracking battle floods. Stand at its centre Théâtre Antique (c AD
between cavalrymen and and gaze up at the walled, 20). To make sense of the
foot soldiers. cobbled-street hilltop Cité remains (and gather your
For bird’s-eye views Médiévale, or down at the audioguide), head for the
of the theatre – and phe- fast-flowing Ouvèze River . archaeological museum,
nomenal vistas of rocky Vaison-la-Romaine is which revives Vaison’s
Mont Ventoux and the tucked between seven val- Roman past with an
Dentelles – follow montée leys and has long been a incredible swag – superb
Philbert de Chalons, or place of trade. The ruined mosaics, carved masks, PROVENCE & SOUTHEAST FRANCE 21 ROMAN PROVENCE
montée Lambert, up remains of Vasio Voconti- and statues that include
Colline St-Eutrope, once orum, the Roman city that a 3rd-century silver bust
the ever-vigilant Romans’ flourished here between and marble renderings of
lookout point. the 6th and 2nd centuries Hadrian and his wife, Sa-
To the town’s north, BC, fill two central Gallo- bina. Admission includes
the Arc de Triomphe Roman sites (%04 90 36 entry to the soothing
stands on the ancient Via 50 48; www.provenceromaine. 12th-century Romanesque
Agrippa (now the busy com; adult/child incl all ancient cloister at Cathédrale
N7), 19m high and wide, sites, museum & cathedral Notre-Dame de Nazareth
and a stonking 8m thick. €8/4; h9.30am-6.30pm (cloister only €1.50; h10am-
Restored in 2009, its rich- Jun-Sep, 9.30am-6pm Apr & 12.30pm & 2-6pm Mar-Dec), a
ly animated reliefs com- May, 10am-noon & 2-5.30pm five-minute walk west of
memorate 49 BC Roman Oct-Mar). Dual neighbour- La Villasse and, like much
victories with images of hoods lie on either side of Provence, built on Ro-
battles, ships, trophies, of the tourist office and man foundations.
and chained, naked and av du Général-de-Gaulle.
utterly subdued Gauls. The Romans shopped at 54 p245
4 p245
The Drive » Northeast, the ROMAN PROVENCE READING
D975 passes through gentle LIST
vineyard-lined valleys for 40
minutes, with views of the
Dentelles de Montmirail’s » The Roman Provence Guide (Edwin Mullins)
limestone ridges along the » The Roman Remains of Southern France (James
way (the D977 and D23 can be Bromwich)
equally lovely). Parking in Vaison
can be a trial; nab a spot by the » Southern France: An Oxford Archaeological Guide
tourist office (place du Chanoine (Henry Cleere)
Saute), or try below the western » Ancient Provence: Layers of History in Southern
walls of the Cité Médiévale, if
you don’t mind a walk. France (Jeffrey Wolin)

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