The Three Wise Men Connection in Provence

On Monday morning, the sun was shining again and it seemed like the wind had died down a little, so we decided to go up to the mountain village of Les Baux-de-Provence. We arrived around 10am, again just in time for Clementine to nap on me in the carrier. We’ve really got this travel nap situation figured out (we think)!

It’s a short 15 minute drive up the mountain and we were strangely able to park in the lot right by the entrance to the old town. As we got closer to the town, we could see Marseille 30 miles away because we were so high up the mountain! We soon learned that most of the restaurants and shops in the town are closed on Monday, but the old chateau was open, so we slowly made our way towards the top of the town where the ruins of the chateau were located. We stopped at a couple open shops along the way and got some local crackers and truffle seasonings.

Once we got to the chateau, it truly felt like we were on top of the world! Amazing 360° views all the way to Marseille on one side and of the Alpilles on the other side.

Again, I’ll defer to Claude to explain the rich history of this village:

People have been drawn to this rocky outcrop since prehistoric times — there’s an 8,000-year-old grave on the site — but it was the Lords of Baux who put it on the map, medieval Provence’s most powerful and most troublesome family, claiming descent from one of the three Wise Men and controlling nearly 80 towns across the region. It all came to a dramatic end in 1631 when Cardinal Richelieu finally lost patience, besieged the fortress for 27 days, and had the walls blown apart with gunpowder. Then, in one of history’s stranger footnotes, Louis XIII gifted the entire marquisate to the Prince of Monaco as a reward for expelling the Spanish.The ruins are still there to explore today — all five hectares of them, perched on that same windswept rock, drawing two million visitors a year who come to see what all the fuss was about.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Ok wait…a descendent from the THREE WISE MEN? I have to know more about this.

Balthazar was, according to Western Christian tradition, one of the three biblical Magi — also known as the wise men or kings — who visited the infant Jesus after he was born. He is traditionally referred to as the King of Arabia and gave the gift of myrrh to Jesus.

Before the end of the twelfth century, an inventive story emerged — likely dreamed up by a clever clerk or minstrel — that “Baux” derived from Balthazar, one of the three Magi, whose son had supposedly come out of Ethiopia to settle in Provence and founded their line. The legend goes that after dropping off his gift of frankincense at the stable in Bethlehem, Balthazar continued following the star — all the way to Les Baux, where he settled.

It is almost certainly invented mythology — a powerful medieval family essentially writing themselves into the Bible for political prestige — which honestly makes it even more interesting. The audacity of it is very on-brand for the Lords of Baux.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Yep pretty fascinating! As we continued to explore the chateau ruins, the mild wind down below turned into strong icy gusts at the top…so Silas wasn’t very happy after about 30 minutes of exploring. I learned that the winds this weekend are “mistral winds” and that Les Baux is the windiest spot in an already famously windy region. The mistral is strongest between winter and spring…of course our visit timing was impeccable.

Clementine had woken up at this point but was perfectly content nestled against me as I braved the rocky ruins of the chateau. We all finally agreed it was time to find lunch and began our mission to find crepes. Aren’t crepes supposed to be like the national dessert of France? We haven’t seen them anywhere we had been so far! As we begun or Google research, we quickly learned that many restaurants in this entire area (not just this little village) are closed on Mondays. Luckily, one was open in the main square in town, near the other 2 cafes we had visited on previous days. And it said “crepes” on the awning outside, perfect!

We settle into a table, Clementine in a high chair, and order our signature tourist drink - cafe au lait. The waitress does not speak any English (go figure) and the entire menu is in French. Brennan notes that traveling here without the help of our AI buddy Claude would be a special kind of challenge since we don’t really speak any French. The menu had another “plat enfant” which included chicken nuggets and fries, so we decide to stay and eat here. Silas’s meal also came with sirop a’leau…which Claude translated to “water syrup”. I’m not sure what to expect when the waitress brings a glass with a little bit of red syrup in it and a straw. I then dilute it with water (still sickly sweet) and Silas down it in about 5 minutes 😂

He also ate nearly his entire plate of chicken!

Clementine tried a clementine orange for the first time at this restaurant! After making an initial sour face (which she does with every new food), she slurped it out of my hand so fast I was taken off guard!

As we finish eating our mains, Brennan asks the waitress about crepes. She explains in French (and what we try and piece together) that it’s too late in the day and they only have them for breakfast. UGH! And there isn’t a single other creperie open in town today. We tell Silas we will find crepes tomorrow for breakfast instead, and he’s okay with it.

Once we get back to the house, it’s nap time for Clementine. Brennan is finally turning a corner and feeling much better than he did the last few days, so he cleans up around the house and heads to the store to get food for dinner. I attempt to put Silas down for a nap, but after 3 stories and multiple songs, I realize the nap is not happening today. I tell him that if he doesn’t take a nap, there can’t be a family movie night; however, we somehow land on a compromise to watch a family movie during Clementine’s nap. I picked another Disney movie set in France that I knew he would like…Aristocats! And boy did he love it. So much that he started it over again while Clementine was still sleeping!

One she woke up, the wind had noticeably died down so we hopped in the car and drove to the Playground of Saint Remy. This was a very well-kept, well-built playground in the heart of the town, with areas for really little kids, toddlers, and big kids. Silas had fun exploring every area - climbing up slides, sliding back down, bouncing on seesaws and hanging on ropes.

Clementine just sat with me and enjoyed the fresh air!

We drove back to the house and Brennan started dinner. Yes, he’s cooked dinner nearly every night since we’ve been here and I’m eternally grateful! As he cooked, I fed Clementine plain yogurt and mashed sweet potatoes, and watched Silas play with minimal toys - we brought a few cars and Paw Patrol figures, but his ability to turn anything into a toy has really impressed me. Backpack hooks we use on the stroller have become his “cranes”, Clementine’s spinning wheel toy has become a “unicycle”, my hair clip has become “a rescue claw”. His imagination has definitely run wild on this trip and I love to see it in action.

Brennan grilled chicken thighs and used some of the truffle seasoning we purchased earlier in the day on them. The whole house smelled like truffle! I was questioning our decision to cook with it but the flavor on the chicken was actually super mild - how does that happen?! Since Silas didn’t have a nap earlier, the kids both got baths and went to bed around 7:15. Bren and I decided a movie night was in store for us. We watched The Woman In Cabin 10 (a athriller I had read almost 10 years ago) and were in bed asleep by 10:30.

Seems like everyday in France we are able to explore the local area in our own, slow way. I definitely didn’t overplan this leg of our trip intentionally, as it doubles as our recharge leg. There’s still plenty more to explore in Saint Remy and we have only a couple days left!