A Festival in Arles + Relaxing on a Kayak

We were still in Village of Gordes when evening approached and so we started to make our way to Arles, where our next accommodation is located. It was about 2.5 hours drive so by the time we arrived at the motel it was about 10:30pm. We checked in and headed out for a late dinner. We didn't know this but we found out from the motel receptionist there was a costume festival at Arles called Les fêtes d'Arles the very next day. We counted our lucky stars as we visited Arles on the right weekend!

On Sunday morning, we made an early start towards the heart of the festival. We didn't know exactly where it was but we followed a few festival goers who were beautifully dressed in traditional French costumes. We arrived at the square and immediately felt as though we have just stepped into a historical French movie set!

Everyone from men, women to children were immaculately dress. Details were everything. There were French umbrellas, dated prams for kids and bowler hats. Every costume was unique and styled to their gender and age.

Even toddlers and babies were dressed in their heritage clothes.

Unfortunately, we couldn't stay for longer than an hour as we were scheduled to go kayaking down the River Sorgue at Fontain de Vaucluse. On the day before, while driving to Gordes we happened to discover this kayaking place on the outskirts of L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue. Break-Away in Canoe/Kayak rents out canoes and all the necessary gear for 2 hours and allows you enough time to canoe down the river towards the town.

Kayaking haven just past this beautiful bridge.

We decided that we were going to do this on our last day, and it was one of our best ideas. The river that we were going to kayak in was pristine, clear and oh so very cold! It is the clearest most beautiful river water I have ever seen. We could clearly see right down to the floor of the river bed and even the fishes.

Idyllic, pristine river.

We dipped our feet in the icy cold water, till our feet went numb!

Getting ready for our kayaking expedition!

Andy and I.












Left: Group photo. Right: Linda on her kayak.

Fin. Finish.

The kayaking trip was such a relaxing activity as we lightly paddled down the river. We also saw many locals enjoying the river as we ventured our way down. Some brought picnic baskets, others their pets and young families.

Once back at the base, we sat down for a scrumptious meal on their onsite restaurant. It was one of our best meals in Provence.

The restaurant on the same kayaking venue.

Carpaccio. This was a beautiful plate of raw beef. Thinly sliced with pesto and parmesan dressing.

BBQ beef skewers.

BBQ King Prawns.

Andouillette. French pig's colon sausage.

It was our first time tasting the Andouillette. The only clue the waitress gave was, "some people love them, and some people hate them" - so we had to try it, just in case we fell within the former half. At the time of eating, we knew that it was made of sort of intestine but I never knew that it was colon. I probably wouldn't have wolfed it down with such gusto if I knew. But then again, for a person who is fairly adventurous with most food, who knows! Andy and Linda couldn't quite eat it but I honestly enjoyed it. It reminded me of the intestines found in a Malaysian dish that love, called Bak Kut Teh.

Either case, we were all super hungry after our 'exhausting' kayaking expedition our mains disappeared within minutes. Later, we topped it off with melt-in-your-mouth chocolate pudding dessert and an iced coffee (it had lovely little chocolate bits inside and creamy ice-cream!) Yum!













Our meal was a perfect cap to our kayaking adventure!