When I was in the Luberon in late July, I met Julie Mautner for a coffee in Saint Remy. Julie is a transplanted American who has been living in Saint Remy for over 20 years. She creates custom-designed trips and experiences for the Provence area that can include villa rentals, tours, activities, hotel recommendations and bookings, transfers, and restaurant reservations.
We had connected a number of years ago online, but we had never met so it was fortuitous that we finally met. Julie lived in NYC for a long time before she moved to Provence, and we discovered we had parallel backgrounds, as she was an editor and writer for a prestigious food magazine at the same time, I was a chef and caterer. We also have similar businesses here in France, plus we both write blogs, and we spoke in length about clients, business, tours, etc. She also told me how she worked with clients and about the various tours and activities she planned for her clients, which all sounded so appealing to me.
I have only been to Saint Remy and the surrounding area of Provence once over 10 years ago, and I’ve always wanted to explore the area more. With Julie’s enticing description of her tours and the area, I wanted to return, and I asked her if she would organize some tours for me in October, so that I can also write about them here and perhaps for some other publications I write for.
I told Julie I wanted to spend two full days and a night in Provence, and she sent me an email asking what types of activities and tours I was interested in, and areas of interest such as food, history, hiking, biking, sightseeing, etc. I told her I was interested in food, culture, and historical sites in the area and she followed up with within 24 hours with a suggested itinerary, and it was spot on in terms of what I was interested in. We exchanged a few more emails just to iron out the details and I was now excited about the trip.
Arriving on Friday morning at about 11am at Avignon TGV station, my guide Marlene Boyer, who Julie booked for me, met me at the station with her car and we drove to Avignon for the first part of the tour. Marlene, who is French and speaks English with a lovely French lilt, was warm, friendly and enthusiastic, the right combination of qualities you look for in a guide.
Our first stop was the Les Halles indoor food market in the center of Avignon for lunch at Cuisine Centr'Halles, a café, cooking school, and catering company, owned by chef Jon Chiri from California, another Provence transplant who has been living in the area for over 20 years. It was a few minutes before 12pm, so Jon was prepping lunch. He invited me into the open kitchen and offered me a taste of some tapenade and other spreads he was making for lunch and a glass of wine. Jon was friendly and generous, and we shared about our experiences in the food world, since I was a chef and caterer in NYC before I moved here. Lunch wasn’t going to be ready for about another 20 minutes, so Marlene took me around the market and introduced me to the various food stall vendors she knew and explained in great detail about their products and backgrounds.
Lunch started with a continuation of the four spreads I had tasted before, and I now appreciated them more since Jon told me what was in them. My plat was sliced duck (Jon made it a point that the duck was carved from a whole duck rather than a magret) cooked rosé or medium rare, with lavender, roasted potatoes, and ratatouille. The duck was tender and flavorful, and a real treat since I hadn’t had duck in ages. Jon totally spoiled us with two desserts, a super moist honey and spice cake with figs, followed by a tarte Tatin, literally straight out of the oven.
Happy and stuffed, we made our way back to the car to continue our tour. Next was Les Antiques de Glanum in the Alpilles mountain range, the site of two, well preserved artifacts from the Roman city of Glanum from 200BC, The Mausoleum of the Julii, and the triumphal arch of Glanum. An archeological excavation was led by Pierre de Brun in 1921, which uncovered a good part of the ancient city.
Van Gogh has long been associated with Saint Remy, and the next stop was the Saint Paul Asylum where Van Gogh self-admitted himself and spent a year in 1889. Van Gogh prolifically painted dozens of canvases from his room which looked out on to fields and from his walks on and nearby the property of the asylum, of olive trees, wheat fields, cypress trees, and lilacs and irises in the gardens. Even though I have extensively studied and read about Van Gogh, since I sometimes lead tours of Auvers-sur-Oise, the last place Van Gogh lived and painted before he died, Marlene shared many new facts I did not know. We toured the church, and I especially loved the courtyard garden, and the garden field.
Stimulated by the spirit of Van Gogh, Marlene drove me through the foothills and windy roads of the Alpilles mountains where I was awe inspired by the rugged rock formations of gray stone, and the incredible views of the ancient village of Les Baux de Provence.
Marlene parked the car just below the center of Les Baux, and we climbed up the hill and through the quaint village. Although Les Baux is a village from the Middle Ages, its foundations date from 6,000 B.C. At one point, Marlene escorted me to an almost hidden perch, where clients can set up a picnic lunch with wine, so they could marvel at the breathtaking view below.
After Les Baux, Marlene dropped me off to Carrieres de Lumieres, a former quarry which now hosts the incredible light and laser shows, similar to the Atelier de Lumieres in Paris. The current show is about Dali, and the images of Dali’s surrealist works looked great on the massive stone surfaces.
After the show, Julie picked me up and we had dinner at a popular bistro in Saint Remy.
I thoroughly enjoyed my day with Marlene and thank you Julie for arranging such a pleasant experience.
Stay tuned until Thursday, when I write about my fabulous food tour on My Excellent Provence Adventure Planned By Julie Mautner- Part Two.
Jon Chiri/ Cuisine Centr'Halles https://www.jonathanchiri.com/
You can view more info about Julie and her services at the two websites below
https://www.provenceposttravel.com
Also check out her blog
Please watch my latest A Bite of Paris video, where I make and bake a Dark, Chocolate, Chestnut Cake.
Click here to watch the video.
Hi Richard,
Thanks for this lovely report! It was such a pleasure arranging your Provence adventure...I just wish you could have stayed longer! Hopefully you'll come back soon. And when I'm next in Paris, I'm definitely taking one (or more!) of your tours!
Posted by: Julie Mautner | October 13, 2020 at 02:51 PM
That duck sounds absolutely delicious! It's so rare to see duck on a menu here and, honestly, I've never tried to cook it. And Les Baux is a favorite of mine! I would love to see Dali there...or anything!
Posted by: Cheryl | October 15, 2020 at 04:09 PM
I would love to do that tour. It sounds fantastic and delicious
Posted by: Beverly Stephen | October 15, 2020 at 08:19 PM