April 21, 2022
In Vaison-la-Romaine (a photo gallery)
We don’t want to leave Vaison-La-Romaine without recognizing the distinguished B&B we lodged at here: Maison d'Hôtes de l'Evêché. We mentioned previously how grateful we were at the welcome we received when we arrived five hours before check-in on a rainy morning and were warmly greeted and shown to our room. We didn’t say anything about the place itself though, which is definitely worth remembering.
Our stay was in the medieval city, in the old bishop’s house (l'Evêché is French for the bishopric). Built in the 1500’s I believe, it’s a sprawling, confusing space - three or four levels with eight bedrooms and a narrow corkscrew staircase at its center - that took us a while to orient ourselves to so we could find our way between our room, the common areas, and the street. Surfaces are uneven, and you have to pay attention to your footing every step of the way so you don’t trip. Our hostess, Aude, was careful to point out all of the hazards when she led us to our room, helping us with the luggage as she climbed up the steep staircase in front of us.
So the structure itself is noteworthy. So too though is what the owners have made of it. Aude and Jean-Loup (Aude’s husband, a retired architect) obtained and began renovating the old bishopric decades ago, making it more or less a lifelong project I imagine. They’re a refined, sophisticated couple with strong artistic tastes. Everywhere you look are prints from art exhibitions, artifacts, prints and originals, and architectural drawings. It’s an exceptional space to just sit and look around.
I don’t know how lodging here would feel in a busier time, but we were the only guests and had the common area all to ourselves so it worked well for us. In other circumstances - sharing the smallish breakfast space with others we couldn’t really communicate with, for example - it might have made us uncomfortable, but that’s just us. As it was, we enjoyed a memorable stay in a virtual museum.
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2 years ago
Some photos from around town, mostly from the medieval city. The first is the crux of the city, the 2,000 year old Roman Bridge that spans the Ouvèze and joins the medieval and newer halves of town. It’s a single arch bridge with a 17 meter span, so from the looks of the photo the river must be at least 30 feet below the surface of the bridge in normal circumstances.
At our next stay, our host heard we had stayed in Vaison and advised us to look for this video of the great flood of 1992, in which the Ouvèze overflowed the surface of the bridge and devastated the town. Terrifying to watch, but also a testament to the bridge that it withstood this as well as other major floods in its long history.
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2 years ago
I hope you and Al do make it back here. It’s really a lovely part of the world.
2 years ago
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That flood would have been terrifying to experience.
2 years ago
2 years ago