"Welcome to Les Baux de Provence " a Les Baux-de-Provence Travel Page by rwlittle

Les Baux was the site of a citadel of powerful mideval feudal lords, who commanded over the valley below. The citadel was destroyed in 1632 by the French king, as it had become a Protestant enclave. What remains now are the ruined citadel, a cute village below, and family entertainment by way of reproduced mideval weapons of war, and re-enactments.

Bauxite (named after les Baux) was discovered near here.

We were staying in Arles during our 2003 vacation in France, and caught the local/regional bus to les Baux. Our bus to les Baux was 45 minutes late in arriving in Arles, and our fellow bus-mates turned out to be a couple from Quebec City also on their way to the citadel. Being nervous about the bussing situation, they proposed and we agreed to meet again for the return bus trip at 5pm; in the event that the bus didn't show, we could all share a taxi back to Arles. After touring the citadel, we did meet up with the couple, and the bus did not arrive, so we did in fact share the taxi, driven by an old woman who drove us at excessively high speeds back to the Arles bus depot. It's great when fellow travelers can pull together like that!