Today we’re up and early to for our first excursion in France, “Arles and the Olives Oil Mills of Les Baux.” This excursion was a bit of a crapshoot as I hadn’t been able to find any information about it on any websites prior to the trip, except for what DCL had provided. We had a quick breakfast on Deck 9 at Topsiders. I had my favorite of smoked salmon on a bagel with fresh fruit. I’m sure going to miss the convenience of this morning meal when we get home.
We made our way to the busses at the pier to meet our local tour host, Anne Marie. Heading west from Marseille, we got a good overview of the city from our host. Marseille is one the oldest cities in France, located in the Provence area in the extreme southeast southeastern corner of the country. Today it’s heavily dependent on incoming petroleum. Crossing the bay you can see many tankers bringing oil into the port.
We continue our way to Arles, a French village that was the home to acclaimed artist Vincent Van Gogh for several of his best years painting. Here, he was a misunderstood artist, often ostrecized by the more affluent of the community. To combat his isolationism, he mixed with the peasants, often using them as the subjects of his masterpieces. His isolation is also the reason he painted so many self-portraits. Among the masterpieces Van Gogh created in Arles was “Starry Night.” We make a quick photo stop at the cheery yellow Café du Nuit—the subject of Van Gogh's Cafe Terrace at Night–his painting of an outdoor cafe with bright yellow walls against a navy star-swirled sky. This really brought art history to life for all of us. It did for me, at least (I now regret sleeping through most of those class periods, which happened early in my college days). Ironically, Van Gogh only sold one painting during his stay in Arles.
In Arles we also got to see one of the best-preserved arenas from the time that the Greeks settled Arles. The locals have restored the structure and now use it for public events, such as the popular bullfights. In shop windows you can catch a glimpse of the head of a bull mounted on the wall. Anne Marie explains that even today the locals have a custom of barricading streets and allowing bulls to run free, much like they do in Spain. Crazy!
A short walk from the arena is the town square of Arles, anchored by the Catholic Church. I recall that Anne Marie said it was built some time in the 12th century. She points out the details of the intricate masonry work around the door and explains that the depictions chiseled in stone represent scenes and stories from the Bible. This allowed people who couldn’t read—and at that time most couldn’t—with a means to understand what the church represented. The detail is amazing. She goes on to explain that this particular doorway is well studied because it’s one of the few that survived destruction during the French Revolution.
We stop for a short restroom break and Maddie gets an opportunity to engage in one of her favorite activities wherever we are — ride the carousel. I have to jump onboard before the ride is done to collect her for the bus. The ride operator and locals look at me like I’m nuts. And I felt a little crazy (and embarrassed) at my actions. Stupid tourists!
Back on the bus we head for a local olive oil mill for a demonstration and a lunch featuring regional foods. Upon arriving you cannot help but notice the thousands of olive trees that are producing fruit in the summer sun. Our guide explains that they purposely cut the trees in a crown-like form to allow more sunlight to reach them, producing more fruit. If the trees could withstand a freeze I’d consider planting a couple.
The mill is old, but the current family owners took over operations 16 years ago. They produce the olive oil in December, after the harvest. The owner explains that they comb the trees and catch the fruit. The old manual presses have been replaced by modern machinery, which produces cleaner products. It’s a small operation requiring just five people to operate at peak production. Surprisingly, they use the entire fruit to get the oil, including the pit. After the oil is pressed out, the remaining flesh and pit of the fruit is then laid back on the ground of the orchard as fertilizer—simple and efficient.
After our tour of the small factory we get a sample of the olive oils and pastes produced by the mills. Wow! This sure isn’t the stuff we buy at Wal-Mart. It’s liquid gold—and the first time that I have actually TASTED the olives in the oil. Our little sampler also includes crusty French bread topped with green and black olive oil pastes, and a light wine to wash it all down. Yummy! But this is just a prelude to the incredible lunch that is to come. The family, which formerly owned a restaurant, supplements its income in the summer by hosting tourism lunches like the one we’re having today. Served in an open-air, cavernous setting, our meal is immense, but not heavy. Now in France, it’s a bit different than what we experienced in Italy. Appetizers are followed by a main course of lamb. We’ve seen nearly no beef this entire trip, and here is no different. Everything is wonderful. We wrap up our meal with a trip to the adjoining store and purchase some of the delicious oil. They promise that it will keep up to seven years in the can, but I have no doubt we’ll need that long.
We thank our hosts at the mill and head off to our last stop on the tour, the nearby village of Les Baux. Originally built as a fortress, it’s perched atop a high hill, with one entry and exit. Today, Les Baux is mainly operated as a tourist destination, thus the reason why shops are open on a Sunday. We climb the winding street leading to the top of the settlement. It’s absolutely gorgeous. Les Baux is well-known for cicadas—what we call locusts—and their distinctive sound can be heard in the trees throughout the village. Their images adorn pictures, pottery and other goods sold in the many stores. A small, but significant, church is the pinnacle of the settlement, and remains in use today. Our guide explains that this church holds a special Christmas processional that has been ongoing for centuries. We do a little shopping and make a last stop in the most incredible candy store near the exit of the village.
We return to the Magic around 6pm, just in time to get ready for tonight’s theater show, Disney Dreams. “In this spectacular fantasy, a little girl discovers the power of her dreams,” according to the information provided in the ship’s Personal Navigator, a four-page event guide published and distributed to guests daily while on board the Magic. The show is very good and featured an actress that we had met briefly at the port in La Spezia. She was off work that day (remember it was the crew talent show) and in Florence to do a little shopping.
Tonight is also Pirates IN the Caribbean Party—a popular carryover theme night from DCL’s regular routes from Port Canaveral. All of the ship’s crew and nearly all of the 2700 passengers are decked out in pirate costumes ranging from the obligatory head scarves and eye patches to full-blown, cut-off-my-leg-and-replace-it-with-a-wooden-peg regalia. Only on DCL could such a scene be taken in without thoughts of lunacy. Here, big kids acting like little kids is just the norm. The Pirate theme runs through dinner. Fortunately, we’re in Parrot Cay restaurant tonight—a perfect setting for this. Maddie strays from the kid’s menu and orders her favorite meal of shrimp and scallops on pasta.
At one point the kids are invited to dance around the restaurant with the service staff. They all had fun. After dinner we head upstairs to the Pirates party happening on deck at mid ship. Meg and her band of teenage pirates are awash in the crowd, while we (along with our table mates) watch from the railing on deck 10. The energy is palpable, and is elevated when Captain Mickey swings on a guideline above from one of the ship’s two towering smokestacks to the other. Of course, no visit to a Disney destination would be complete without fireworks, and the Magic is no exception. In fact, the appearance of the Big Cheese is our cue to look upward as fireworks fired from off the deck of the boat (by experts from a well-secured area) light up the sky. DCL is the only cruise line to offer this and I cannot help but wonder what the people living in the houses in the twinkling lights a few miles away on shore must think of this display in the Med.
The fireworks finale is the crew’s signal to open up the massive Pirates buffet on deck. I spy a kid with a meaty turkey leg and, for a moment, consider thoughts of plundering. But we’re all still stuffed from dinner and instead head back to the cabin. I put the girls to bed and take the opportunity to return to the Buena Vista theater to see “Pirate of the Caribbean: At World’s End.” It was good, but not as well done as the first two episodes. I returned to the cabin around 1am, but didn’t find Meg there. She finally arrived at 5:30am, well beyond our expectations. I wasn’t happy and she knew it. I feel safe that the kids can’t get into too much trouble on the Magic, but a curfew will have to be imposed for the remainder of the trip. In fact, I think the ship should have a 2am curfew for anyone under the age of 18. (Are you listening, DCL?) Missed curfews aside, let me say that this was one of my favorite days thus far. Tomorrow is our last port stop—Villefranche.
