"Your focus determines your reality" - Fall 2025 Travel Adventures - Update 10/10

[Dis_Yoda]

Thursday
September 18th 2025
Exploring L’Isle sur La Sorgue

I had set my alarm for 6:30AM and was not the happiest person when it went off. I debated on missing the sunrise and sleeping some more but I’m glad I forced myself to get going. The view was very much worth it as I walked down to the pool to see it over the vineyard.





I returned to the room and got ready for the day. My husband was holding back his run until later this afternoon so we didn’t have to put his sweaty clothes straight into the suitcase. We finished getting our luggage all set to place by the door to our room as well as the bags that we would take with us on the bus for the day. From there, we headed to breakfast where again I had lovely bread with butter and some cheese while my husband had the waffles. Upon finishing, we had time to go back to the room to refresh up one last time before we loaded up onto the bus.

We were starting our travels today with a visit to L’Isle Sur La Sorgue. This is a town known for its antique shops as well as having a very large market. It also has many canals running through it that adds to its beauty.


David & Goliath Sculpture

Our guide led us on a 30-minute walk through the town and markets to give us a sense of the layout and spoke of some of the history of the church as well as landmarks to recognize to ensure we didn’t get lost. Afterwards, we had about 3 hours on our own.




Once our on own, we wandered into the Notre Dame des Anges Church. This church was originally built in 1222 but was renovated in the 17th century to an Italian Baroque style. There are over 200 angel statues within the church and filled with frescos, paintings and other sculptures.








From there, we looked in various markets and stores, picking up a metal lion as well as some truffle mustard and salts.




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[Dis_Yoda]

We also ran into another Rhodesian Ridgeback!



The candy store also shows the process of making the candied fruits that are well known in the area.





Eventually we wanted a light lunch so we headed to a creperie.

We started with some hard cider to drink.




For my meal I had a buckwheat crepe topped with burrata, prosciutto, arugula, balsamic and parmesan. This was so good. While it looks like a lot of food, it was just the right amount to fill me up and keep me going until dinner that evening.



My husband had a vanilla sundae. It is vacation after all!




After our meal, we continued to wander the shoppes and look at the statues around the canals until it was time to meet back up with the rest of our group to head towards the asylum Van Gogh committed himself at.







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[alohamom]

My goodness, everything is soooo picturesque!

 

[Dis_Yoda]

My goodness, everything is soooo picturesque!

Truly! I knew it was going to be so pretty but it was truly unbelievable getting to see it in person! I see why artists love to paint there!

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Thursday
September 18th 2025
Guided Visit of Saint Paul de Mausole (Van Gogh’s Asylum)

We headed to Saint-Remy-De-Provence for our next adventure. Initially we were lead to two Roman Relics that represented the arch and mausolum of Glanum.

When Gaul was conquered by Julius Caesar in 49 BC, the town of Glanum became an oppidum latinum which basically means the local elite were granted the rights of Roman life. Glanum was known for its healing spring.







The arch signified the entrance to Glanum. The mausoleum was built in memory of the Julii, members of the elite for their assistance during the Gallic Wars.

The town was abandoned in 260 AD after barbarians ransacked the city.

We crossed the street and began our walk of Van Vogh towards the Saint Paul de Mausole where they had reprints set up so you could see the view Van Gogh had when he painted them.















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[Dis_Yoda]

Saint Paul de Mausole is a former Benedictine monastery from the 11th century that was converted to a psychiatric asylum by the Franciscan monks that took over the building. It is still a working facility with both temporary and permanent residents. Occasionally you could hear the patients that were in the permanent wing.













A few months after Van Gogh cut off his ear, he self-admitted himself to the care of the asylum. As they mainly served wealthy clients, he was able to have both a patient room and a second room dedicated to his painting studio.









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[Dis_Yoda]

During the initial part of his stay, he was confined to the asylum grounds and painted the world that he saw around him such as the flowers of the garden, views of the hospital, ivy covered trees. As his time there continued, he eventually was allowed to go outside the walls and he painted the olive groves, wheat fields, and other typical views of Provence. He ended up painting around 150 paintings during his stay but that isn’t confirmed since he could have painted over other works or they haven’t been found yet.
The walk showed how his paintings aligned with what was visible there.








When we were at the asylum, they had the intake building set up similar to how it was when Van Gogh was there. You were able to walk through the traditional kitchen and the intake room. They had the “therapy” bathtubs that forced people to either a cold or hot bath for treatment.


Our guide talked a lot about Van Gogh’s Letters to his brother. There are theories that his illness was epilepsy. The theory was presented that Van Gogh didn’t commit suicide but rather said he did to protect two young boys playing cowboys. You can read about it here: https://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2014/12/vincent-van-gogh-murder-mystery

While the museum was interesting, the tour guide went very far into art theory that my brain checked out and I wandered some. I ended up seeing some interesting sculptures and viewed the church onsite. I also ran into another Rhodesian Ridgeback. Truly, I’ve never seen this many on any of our previous Tauck tours.







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[Dis_Yoda]

Thursday
September 18th 2025
Arrival in Avignon & Dinner at Hotel

We headed to Le Pontet-Avignon for our hotel for the next 4 nights. This would be our final hotel of the trip so we knew it was time for us to fully unpack so we could properly repack on our final day between souvenirs, clean and dirty laundry and all that fun stuff.
We arrived a little before 5PM and we met the hotel owners in the garden where we were served mint tea and handed the key to our room and were taken in small groups to whichever area of the hotel our rooms were located in. We had about 2.5 hours until it would be time for dinner to enjoy however we would like. After unpacking, I head down to the spa to enjoy the saunas and whirlpool. I spent about an hour down there relaxing.



While I did this, my husband went to the gym and I got sent a photo that I asked him initially is this a dog walker? No – it’s an eco friendly treadmill! He hated it but still ran a 10k on it.



I put together all the souvenirs we had gotten and realized – wow, we only bought food for the most part. I guess that makes sense – we don’t need huge souvenirs anymore. We have photos for the memories!



A little before 7:30PM, we headed down to the restaurant and were led to where our Tauck group was set up at. There were 3 tables for us to pick from but being some of the first ones there – we took the approach of sitting down and seeing who joined us. This worked out for us.

After we made our dinner selections, we were given three options for wine, and I decided to go with red for this evening as it was a Chateauneuf-du-Pape.

The amuse bouche was smoked salmon with an aerated sauce. My husband didn’t care for this but he really does not enjoy salmon. During the course of the dinner – we were discussing other potential travel locations with our tablemates and one mentioned that certain countries on our list will pretty much try to serve you salmon every night on certain tour groups. We made a note of that if we ever head to Norway or Finland.



Amuse Bouche – Smoked Salmon

We went with the same choice for our appetizer. This was a first for me though. I think every time I’ve ever been served zucchini flower, it had been fried. This one was baked while stuffed with a crayfish mixture. I did enjoy it but just different than I was expecting. I do think zucchini flowers do better when fried though to help provide the texture element needed.


Zucchini Flower stuffed with Crayfish

As soon as I saw the duck on the menu, I knew that was what I was going for. It was perfection as it was tender with a well reduced sauce.


Roasted Duck Filet with Maison Burguad & its delicate refreshing juice

My husband went with the squab as he was not wanting to eat fish this evening and duck is not his favorite protein. The squab was tender and the confit was served on this lovely shallot tart that he also enjoyed.


Squab Breasts and Confit Legs

For dessert, I went with the lighter option again opting for the lemon and lime dessert. This was perfect.


Lemon and Lime in Different Textures

My husband had the almond dessert as it also included sesame flavors that he enjoys. The stone fruit used were peaches which played nicely with the almonds.


Amadine Tart, Roasted Stone Fruits & Black Sesame Praline

As we hadn’t had enough food, we were given one more plate of sweets that included macarons, almond clusters and marshmallows. It was a nice way to end the meal.


Sweet Treats

After some more conversation, we called it a night.​