We met our driver bright and early on another beautiful morning. She introduced herself as Lucy and away we went to Aix. We were supposed to pick up two more people but only one showed up, Sarah. We waited for 30 minutes for the other woman, and finally gave up and left. Our first stop was Baux de Provence. It's a medieval city, very picturesque, only has 22 full time residents. We were given time to wander around where we bought some olive oil, tamponade, and chocolates. Back in the car and we drove to St. Remy, which is famous for a psychiatric hospital where Vincent Van Gogh stayed as a patient. During his time there, he painted about 150 canvases, and several of them became his most well known pieces. We toured the place where he lived and saw reproductions of his paintings. Next stop was Gordes, which is a city made out of stones perched on a hilltop, with the most amazing views. All buildings inside the walls must be made exactly as they were. It's a small community, but very pretty. We had free time for lunch, and we found an outdoor cafe with a shady table. We decided to share the plat du jour, warm goat cheese with onions (this was the BEST!), grilled guinea fowl, and chocolate cake. Rose wine is made in this region and everyone drinks it, so when in Provence...LOL. On we went to visit a lavender museum, which was basically a store selling all kinds of products made with lavender. There are lavender fields everywhere in Provence and it's supposedly difficult to grow elsewhere. We tried different products and bought some soap and oil for me, as it's supposed to help with arthritis. Next was Roussillon, which is famous for its ochre mines. There's a path you can take through the ochre hills, but we were only given a small amount of time to explore and I didn't want to slow Rich down. So, I opted to sit on a bench and just enjoy the beautiful view and weather. He went on the trail and later told me I made the right decision, it was challenging even for him. Gorgeous pictures taken from there, though! The only hiccup with this outing was our companion thought she had an hour more time than she did, so we spent 30 minutes looking for her! :( The final visit was to Lourmorin, where we visited a castle that had been built in the 1400's. it was very plain and worn looking, but was fun to see. I was ready to call it a day by then, lots of stops and exploring! We dropped off Sarah at Aix, then on to Marseille. As we neared the city, fog started rolling in and the temperature dropped at least 10 degrees! You can see a little of it in the picture Rich took of the Marseille sign. Lucy dropped us off at a restaurant we wanted to try, but they wanted us to sit outside and wait for 30 minutes until they opened at 7:30, and I said no thanks. We went a few places away, found an English speaking place and ordered--grilled lamb chops for me, bouillabaisse for Rich. And a bottle of Rose, of course. ;)) Long day, but a good one!