European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - March 13, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Non prove ice plays classroom Story and photos by Linda White travel editor three Days in Southern France. Three Days Jam packed with learning. Not just with sightseeing but with finding out the whys and wherefores of the history and culture of the Region. We were on the Art history tour of Provence led by or. Andrew Laurie Stangel. The brochure promised plenty we did More. We made great leaps through history and Art from the Palace of the Popes in Avignon to the Hospital where Vincent Van Gogh spent some of his last Days to the walled crusader town argues Mortes to the seashore at Saintes Maries de la Mer famous forts Gypsy pilgrimage. It s All a part of the essential continuum of human experience which Stangel preaches in his slide shows that Start out with symbolism in Early religious Art and end with Van Gogh s violent landscapes. This is our history As much As the europeans history he says. We arrive in Avignon in Winter a sleepy town nestled round its papal Palace just after 6 . Ahead of schedule despite heavy Snow on the Way Down. Breakfast slide show a visit to the Palace. It s empty now but Stangel Calls on the group to imagine the tapestries on the Walls and the Popes in their Robes of Ermine followed by trains of  we have to keep a few Steps ahead of the next tour group but we know what to look for in the Palace because we be seen it in the slide show. Sure enough Here Are the wonderfully painted trailing vines full of Birds on the Walls of the papal bedchamber. There is the fantastic Blue ceiling of the St. Martial Chapel. Then we Are free to see the town and we take Stangel s recommendation to wander through the gardens to visit the Petit palais museum of medieval painting and sculpture. We toss a Coin into the hat of a Street artist we Stop to watch the children on the Carousel in the town Square. And suddenly it s Sunset and we must Rush to see St. Benezet Bridge which Breaks off Midway across the Rhone. Its Gates Are closed we Are too late to dance on the Bridge As in the song. The second Day begins with a Mist but soon turns warm and sunny a perfect Day for walking into Van Gogh paintings. Van Gogh s Pallete lightened up when he came to Provence says o stripes Magazine March 13,1986 Stangel. The sanitarium where that great artist lived is sunday quiet and monochrome. Nearby Are two ancient wind bruised roman monuments. We drive past Long greenhouses plastic quonset huts this is a prime vegetable growing Region. Sycamore Trees stand knobbly and naked on either Side of the Road. Then the Al Pilles Rise up a Range of Bare White Stone with garlands of Olive Trees clustered round the base. We Stop for a photo of Les Baux ancient stronghold of the robber Barons. It is hard to discern where the rocks end and the Man made structures begin. Near Fonvielle we visit the Windmill where the 19th-Century author Alphonse Daudet wrote. Inside Are inscribed the names of the 32 winds of Provence. At Aries we walk through gardens to the Square where the medieval Church of Saint Trophim stands. In the Cloisters we scatter looking for the figures on the column capitals that we have already seen on slides. There is a sad Joseph hearing from an Angel that Mary will Bear the son of god. Here is a scene of the holy family in the stable. From Aries we enter the Ca Margue that Marshland where wild horses and bulls roam. A few horses stand