A little chair in Aix

This sweet little chair is in our gite in Aix-en-Provence.  I love its colours and its lines.  And so I couldn't resist painting it.   (It's an exercise in perspective and I'm still learning, but I'm loving the learning.  It's about 5 x 7.)
For lunch today we had organic rice that was grown in the Camargue.  How amazing is that?!  Perhaps watched over as it was growing by the amazing Camargue horses and the flamingoes.  Who probably wish the land that has been drained to grow the rice still belonged to them.   Sigh.
We're going into Aix this afternoon to have a walk around.  Back soon.

Down to the Mediterranean

This is the central roundabout in Aix at the Fontaine de la Rotonde. One of the main streets that ends at the fountain is the Cours Mirabeau, a beautiful street that was originally all huge private homes in the 19th Century.  Pretty impressive.  This statue of Cezanne watches over the roundabout.  It is possible to follow the Circuit de Cezanne to see where he ate, drank, studied and painted.  We haven't done that yet.

 Monday morning we went into Venelles, a small village a short drive north-west of our gite.  This picture is taken on the drive there.  Lovely.

Today, Tuesday we took a drive south to the Mediterranean.  We have the GPS set to avoid highways so we did a clockwise circle from Aubagne to Le Beausset along some very beautiful roads.  We stopped for a (fairly nondescript) lunch in Le Ciotat, the city in the fourth picture above.  As you can see, we dropped out of the mountains in order to dine seaside!  We then took a seaside route called Route des Cretes from Le Ciotat to Cassis.  (It's one of the suggested drives in the book Backroads of France...thanks again, Chris!).  OK, I knew it would be impressive and it was.  But I can now tell you for sure than when you are a passenger it in fact does NOT help to try to apply the brakes on the passenger side of the car.  I know, because I tried!!!   A lot.  And it seemed as if all the drop-offs were on my side!  The third picture from the bottom was taken from the car window as we were driving.  It's sort of like a huge narrow ridge that someone has taken a butter knife to, all along the top.  The second last picture is also taken from the car, looking down at some of the amazing rock formations with the sea beyond it.  Very down.  Very My Side!  And then finally we descended into Cassis.  All of the villages and towns were crazy busy today because it was a national holiday.  That meant that we couldn't find any parking to get out and wander around the towns, and in fact there were several outdoor functions going on and some roads were detoured.  But it was a great day, nonetheless.  Now, on to the resting.  Sore legs from all that braking!!
Back soon.

Avignon to Aix

Our last night in Avignon was punctuated by a HUGE thunder and lightning storm with heavy, heavy rain.  The first picture is of the back of one of the blue chairs on the balcony the morning after, still hung with rain drops.
We packed up and left around 9 in the morning and drove to Arles.  The next two shots are of rooftops and shutters in the town hall square.  (I can't get enough of them!  Sorry, are you getting bored?)  We walked further on to the arena where we stopped and had a coffee then we bought some cheese and a baguette in the market for our lunchtime picnic and carried on our way.  The fifth shot is of a field of wind turbines, like the ones that are sprinkled all over California.  These monsters are huge and remind me of something that John Wyndham (I forget how to spell his name, sorry) might have written about ....maybe The Turbine Wakes???
The sixth and seventh pictures were taken on a walk we took after we had arrived at out gite in Aix. Such a beautiful cloud rising on the horizon, don't you think?  And the final picture is of the Chemin de la Fontaine des Tuileries (the road the gite is on).  Apparently, this used to be a large tile-making area and the red soil around here gave its colour to the tiles.  The actual tuilerie (where they made the tiles) is just up the road but has fallen somewhat into ruins now.
So that's it for now. We'll do some exploring in the next while, and I'll be back.....still having such fun!!
Bye for now...    

Avignon journal page

Oh sigh.  Another page where you have to flip your computer on its side.  Sorry.  I can't seem to get that part right.  Anyway, a quiet day here.  We took a drive this morning to an art store about a half-hour from here but it didn't have anything that I wanted.  Sennelier products are somewhat cheaper than at home but the Golden products are really expensive.  That makes sense.  So I didn't get anything yet.  I am looking for Caran D'Ache Neocolour 1.  I can get Neocolour II at home but not 1.  Oh well, I'll keep looking. We came back to the gite around lunch time and I painted my journal page.
It's overcast again today and there is talk of a thunderstorm tomorrow.  We are packing up in order to leave early in the morning.  We'd like to stop in Arles on the way but if it's too wet we'll just poke our way along and picnic somewhere on the way.  On the way to Aix-en-Provence!!!  It's been a wonderful week. I wonder what next week will bring??!!
Back in a bit.

How it began and how it ended

Another amazingly beautiful day.  It started early this morning with a shroud of mist that enveloped everything.  This shot is toward the west from the balcony of the gite.  But by 10 this morning it had totally burned off and we set off into town.
The second shot is of Villeneuve-les-Avignon.  While Avignon was the Papal seat for almost a hundred years in the 14th century, Villeneuve-les-Avignon was the seat of the cardinals. We drive past this lovely sight every morning as it is just across the Rhone from l'Ile de la Barthelasse where our gite is siutated.
Today we spend about three hours walking around Avignon.  The third, fourth and fifth shots above are taken on the Rue des Tinturiers where we stopped for a coffee and a chat with a local bookstore owner.  In the 14th century and even longer, water from the river Sorgue turned twenty-three wheels (of which only four now remain) that were used in the dyeing of fabric in the wool and silk textile industry here in Avignon. The third picture above shows one of the waterways and the fifth picture is of one of the remaining wheels.  The pigeon sitting on the wheel in the fifth picture?  Well, I just couldn't resist.....
The final two shots are of the Palais des Papes, the largest gothic building in Europe. To the left in the sixth picture is the cathedral Notre-Dames-des-Doms with its gold-covered statue of the Virgin on top.  To the right, and in the last picture also, is the Palais itself.
So the day began with mists and ended with glorious sunshine.  And finally, I got my sunshine pictures of the Palais des Papes.
Not a bad day, I would say!!

Pont du Gard, Uzes, Nimes and back

We left early this morning and went to see the Pont du Gard, a 2000-year-old Roman aqueduct near the city of Remoulins.  It is made up of three stories (160 feet) of limestone that span the river Gardon.  The weather was perfect and we climbed all the way up to the top.  This is now a world heritage site and is really quite spectacular.
Then we went into Uzes but it was super busy because of the market this morning so we carried on to Nimes.  To get there you drive up through the mountains and take the Pont St-Nicholas from which I took the next picture.  (Remember that about 80% of my pictures are taken from a moving car!!  I am very impressed that my little camera is able to cope with this situation, but I apologize for any fuzziness that is the result.  Sigh.)  We found parking in Nimes and walked around for a while, and we took pictures of the huge Roman amphitheatre.  Also pretty amazing!
We decided that we were really impressed with Uzes so we went back, stopping for a picnic on the way.  The fifth picture here is looking in one of the directions from our lunch stop.   I keep having to pinch myself to remind myself that I am in the south of France.  How wonderful is that!
The last picture is from Uzes, well worth the trip back.  It is a delightful medieval city with quite a large area that cars are not allowed into.  We parked this time and walked around and had a coffee in the Place aux Herbes.  It is humbling to think of all the people who have walked those streets down through time.
The days are passing at a lovely slow holiday pace.  It's all good!  Back soon

Market day at Vaison la Romaine

We travelled north-east to Vaison la Romaine where every tuesday they hold a HUGE outdoor market, in the streets and in the squares of the little city.  It is one of the best known markets in the region.  One can find everything from mattresses to tea strainers (we found them, we didn't buy them!!!).  The way there is filled with vineyards (it is the region of the wine from Chateauneuf du Pape).  At the market, among the many stalls was this lovely spice stall with a spot reserved for lavender.  And on the walk back to the car I couldn't resist this picture of windows and walls.  Finally, on the way back to our gite, we passed outside the walls of Avignon where the Palais des Papes was clearly visible....no rain today!  And most exciting, the Pont d'Avignon.....(insert singing here!!).  Enjoy!