On the move again

13 July

Being Sunday we had to get moving to the supermarket before noon to get supplies for dinner.  In many ways it's nice to be in a country where almost everything is closed on Sunday - it actually feels right to have to have leisure time with no pressure to shop.

For the afternoon we headed for the nearest beach at La Grand Motte - a 1960's development on what had been an undeveloped sandspit.  There were traffic jams and we took a long time to find a park.  Once we reached the beach it felt like some of the Manawatu beaches - a long flat beach backed by low sand dunes. The sand was very fine and the water deepened very slowly.  Fortunately the area we were in was not developed and there wasn't a commercial deckchair in sight. It wasn't crowded and there were few people in the water.  When we went in for a dip we found the water too cold to stay in more than a few minutes with pleasure so we spent the afternoon developing tans and watching the activities.  There were a lot of family groups and the only change from a NZ beach was a bevy of vendors wheeling carts along the beach.  It was obvious they were not allowed to approach people or stop in any position unless they were hailed, so they spent the entire time trolling back and forwards along the tideline.

14 July

We forgot this was Bastille day!!  The date is 14/7/14 !!  However we did find a supermarket that was open.

Anyway today we had a leisurely start and headed out towards Orange via St Remy de Provence.  St Remy proved to be difficult to navigate as half the roads were closed, we assume because of a patriotic parade.  We found the tourist office and got a good lead on where to go.

We started at the Monastere St Paul de Mausole which is a 'rest home' / mental hospital( in the bad old days) that hosted Van Gogh for 1 year 1 month and 1 day, during which he painted around 150 paintings including some of his well known images, e.g. Starry Night.  His room we visited - set up as  a replica of his room which seems spacious for a 19th century institution.  There were a number of copies  of his paintings around the monastery that were painted during his stay there, some of them with very recognizable elements still visible from the area.  I have to feel sorry for the Paul that the monastery is named after - apparently he was offered a position as bishop, but refused saying "I'll

GB take: St Remy, Provence is where went went today.We visited the 'place' where van Gogh committed himself - hate the word asylum. So many thoughts in my mind  as we looked at his creations, his paintings, his room and the gardens.It still feels a place of peace and one where healing could be possible - I gather from what i read that the doctors were kind and understanding and the care gentle.

We also read about his medical indications, familial history and the final diagnosis of manic depression, epilepsy and poisoning from the various toxins he had tried to use to end his life.  - as i read the description of his behaviours over time as well as during his time at St Paul I said to Stephen I thought he was dealing with MD - my paternal grand mother was diagnosed as manic depressive which we now call bi polar in our PC language. In the 1960s my mother was  involved with the care of psychiatric patients when they were discharged and  came home after 'treatment' as a public health nurse and had explained to me Granny's condition  so I could understand that when we went on our many visits to see her that she wasn't 'odd' just different and there were reasons for that. So - In the chapel de St Paul I gave some grateful thanks for everything.

I am stunned by the courage of this (VG) man who wrote so honestly and making himself hugely vulnerable as he described to the people he loved best what he was going through - this made me really think about the concept of ' self pride' and how valuable it really is!?

Then we went to Glanum - what a surprise and a delight - Gallic/ Hellenic/ Roman settlements - not in the blog yet - my next job!

Glanum:

When we arrived to look at Van Gogh's Clinque we became aware there were archeological sites.

 We walked toward the site over open ground and encountered a very discontented donkey ( we had already heard his braying) - who was tethered with only 2 meters of rope to his site. I was quietly chuffed when he evaded the strokes from a passing tourist who told him he was lovely - I could hear him say - "Yeah right! If I am that gorgeous how come I am tied up like his in the 34 degrees sun with no water and no freedom" I hate this stuff!

Glanum - This was a surprise that the Lonely Planet didn't tell us about.  Next door to the Monastere St Paul is a archaeological site of a village abandoned before 300AD.  There were remains from the 7th century BC of a Gaullish village built around a spring in a natural defensive position in a small rocky valley.  This expanded into a Greek style town and then was overlaid by a Roman settlement.  Temples and forums were built, then demolished and built over, but the way the site has been prepared now makes the layering clear.  The exposed area is around 200m long by 50m wide and gives a clear indication of the buildings and how they worked together.  Interestingly there were no side streets in the exposed area.  At the entrance to the site there are 2 stunningly presented Roman monuments, an arch and a mausoleum.  Given the size of the public buildings the town was obviously quite large.

15 July

Today we decided to visit Orange to see the Roman theatre. While we had seen Greek and Roman theatre ruins in the past, we have never seen a complete working one like this. In its heighday it could seat 10,000 and the actors could be heard everywhere. Now the full height of the building behind the stage remains standing and is a hugely impressive facade from the street towering over the nearby houses. Once inside the shear scale of the building is overwhelming. However this doesn't make the stairs any easier as the Romans obviously didn't mind a steep climb.

Leaving Orange we dropped into Chateauneuf du Pape. This is a well regarded wine area named after the chateau on top of the hill which was built as a summer house of the Popes of Avignon. We visited one “cave”, but couldn't raise anyone, so called next door to the Brotte estate to see what the wine was like. G liked the white, but I didn't think the red lived up to the $80+ a bottle they were asking. The red was a Granache/Syrah/??? blend that (IMHO) lacked fruit and tannin.

Then on to Gordes, recommended by one book as a Provence town on the checklist of most tourists. It is a small town sprawling down a steep hill from a small chateau. We found a park at the top and ventured into the top tier of alleyways. To go down further would have required the services of a goat to get back up. I am thankful that we don't have to live in this sort of environment where everything must be a struugle against gravity.

This evening we finally managed to find the local Gallician restaurant open and had a pleasant dinner of the Camargue specialities.

16 July

We left our winery perch to head north towards the gentler country of the Loire. Again we followed the book “Back Roads of France” which lead us first to a “Bambooserie”, an extensive garden mainly planted in 60+ species of bamboo, as well as water gardens, bonzai and a Laotian village.

We stopped in St Jean du Gard to visit a museum of silk making, but it was closed so we had lunch and G entertained herself by photographing the condom vending machine on the pavement outside the local pharmacy.(every pharmacy we have seen in France has had a condom dispenser on the wall outsde for out of hours emergencies! These pharmacies amaze us. They are prolific, huge affairs - some only metres from each other - all have the same logo - a green flashing cross)

After a couple of false trails we found our accommodation in a camp ground on the banks of the Tarn river. This camp is near a little village just outside the town of Florac.
The welcome we received was the model of how to make guests feel at home – the woman who received us spent 15 minutes enthusiastically telling us what we needed to see and showing us photos of the area while ignoring the phone and any other distractions. She spoke with an American accent when speaking English. her mother was American, her father French. She grew up in America and was happy to tell us all about how she and her husband ( no. 2) had acquired the camp. She had 2 girls from her first marriage and he had 5!  Her description of taking 7 young children skiing was very funny. Picture her with 2 - 3 kids behind her on her skis. She gave us some very amusing anecdotes.She was fluent in French, English and German and treated everyone as personal friends – exceptional. I am inspired by the attention detail in our accommodation - an immaculate mobile home. She hadn't received Stephen's request for linen so she just went out the back and came back with disposable sheets!! One fitted sheet, One huge flat sheet and 2 pillow cases! There were alsorts of nice touches in the mobile home. A starter pack including extre loo paper, pot scourer, coffees, teas, honey dish wash and hand wash, bag for rubbish etc. This in a camping ground impressed me.

She told us about the beavers who had their lodge on the banks of river, just down stream from the camp.there are a family in residence. Mum, dad and a young one born last year. We walked down the well worn track - more of a simple road to locate the viewing spot. They can be seen during the day but the best time is around 8.30 as dust arrives. The European beaver does not build lodges. They have a nest in amongst the reeds and driftwood that ends up at a convenient spot on the river with a nice big pool at its front door. We were told that the female has been seen looking very pregnant and evidently ready to pup and lactate. She has not been seen for a few days so the birth may have happened. Dad has been sighted though. As he swims up stream he makes a considerable wake. He is quite sizable evidently. We left the viewing platform of nice flat rock and went for a swim. The water was a little brackish - no where near as brown as rivers we would discover as we traveled.It was still hot at about  5pm so in we went - Stephen enjoyed swimming out into the middle of the river - I stayed closer to shore. The water was a nice temperature and it was great to cool down, despite the faint smell of 'river' in the water.We ate at the camp restaurant this is run independently of the camp and the food was truly delicious.

After eating we wandered down the road by the river to try a spot of beaver watching. The road we walked down is part of the route Robert Lewis Stevenson took on his 12-day, 120-mile sole hiking journey through the sparsely populated and impoverished areas of the Cevennes1878.  Modestine, a stubborn, manipulative donkey was his sole companion and he could never quite get the better of her. is memorable.

Once at the rocks we settled down for the wait. I keep wishing I had remembered to pack our small but very good binoculars. As time passed more and more people quietly arrived, the light slowly dimmed. stephen settled back on the sun warmed rocks and drifted off to sleep - quietly snoring in time with the sound of the river flowing. Gb stayed on beaver watch but no beavers appeared - I think dad must have been on night shift while mum rested from for feeding and pup grooming activities. Finally Stepehn woke - inquired as to beavers activities and so, after a while longer we trudged back down the PLS route to a comfy sleep in our little 2 bed roomed mobile home.   

17 Jul.

Again we followed our “Back Roads of France” and the advice of our favourite camp ground operator and drove through the Gorges do Tarn, stopping to explore medieval villages and gawp at limestone rock formations. The country around here is spectacular with the gorge cutting through limestone cliffs at elevation 500m and the plateau above at 1000m, seemingly 2 different worlds with the top verdant farmland and forest and the gorge rugged and spartan.

In Florac we stumbled into the local market day with the streets packed with stalls and people.  Again the old narrow streets were atmospheric.

We followed the winding roads and navigated the steep hair pin bends, drinking in the scenery when, about 3pm we caught sight, in the distance of the Millau bridge. Stunning at this distance it was nothing to compare the feeling as we drove under this incredible construction. It crosses the River Tarn in the Massif Central mountains. It was designed by the British architect Lord Foster and at 300m (984 feet) it is the highest road bridge in the world, weighing 36,000 tonnes. The central pillar is higher than the famous French icon, the Eiffel Tower. The Bridge opened in December 2004 and is possibly one of the most breath taking bridges ever built.The bridge was entirely privately financed and cost 394 million euros (272 million pounds, 524 million dollars). The aim is to cut the traveling time to southern France, removing the bottle neck at Millau, through the completion of the motorway between Paris and the Mediterranean.The aim of Lord Foster was to design a bridge with the ‘delicacy of a butter fly’ - he certainly achieved that.Approaching and driving under the bridge was a ethereal,surreal expereince - almost as if he were in some kind of fantasy
On a practical note  Lord Foster designed a bridge that enhances the natural beauty of the valley, with the environment dominating the scene rather than the bridge. The bridge appears to float on the clouds despite the fact that it has seven pillars and a roadway of 1½ miles in length. On first sight, the impression is of boats sailing on a sea of mist. The roadway threads through the seven pillars like thread through the eye of a needle.
Having gone through the visitors centre that documents the construction, design and statistics about the bridge  we drove over the huge viaduct. After coming back to earth with a jolt we we discovered that our accommodation for the night was another 2 ½ hours away! We found that driving through the middle of France means climbing and descending a lot of ranges and the towns and village change in character and appeal. For a while we followed the Lot River in lush agricultural land that looked prosperous. The villages here have more individual houses with land around them and are better maintained than many we've seen.
We finally made accommodation fall. This hotel, Mont du Source is a very large1800s house and is furnished accordingly! Lovely room, fascinating bath and shower!  The bath was  pretty shade of blue - as was the decor and furnishing in our very spacious bedroom.
 We ate dinner outside at the hotel - service was really slow. Actually we have been impressed by how much faster than we had expected service has been everywhere we have been.This time it was slow enough for me to inspect the very nice but cold swimming pool in the hotel gardens. After a so so meal for me ( only one of 2 meals I haven't enjoyed - chewy, dry jambon. The truffade that accompanied it was wonderful though and I have been precticing repeating this quite often since then) , a very nice meal for Stephen I was looking forward to that afore mentioned bath.

The bath sat in the middle of a large bathroom. I was delighted to turn it on, anticipating a lovely long soak. It was not to be. I couldn't get any hot water to run, only cold. So - into the shower I went. Another amazing experience. Hot water there was, descending from a shower rose directly above my head. I leapt out with alacrity , turned off the water flow and began a closer inspection. My next attempt bought froth 4 - 5 strong flows of water at right angles to my now wet torso. a massage no less! Further fiddling with taps revealed I could turn off some of these spouts of water, focusing the flow to where I wanted it. Very interesting but by now all I wanted was a wash and bed. I finally managed some sort of sponge down and took my wet head to bed.

Breakfast French style was lovely with quite the nicest raspberry conserve I have eaten. The owner of the hotel, an older woman took the time to give us the outline of the history of the house, the family who lived there and her own time running what began as a B and B then with the addition o a chef and catering kitchen became a hotel. She has run it now for 20 years.

18 July

Today we followed a route touching on the volcanoes of the Avergne from Salers to Clermont-Ferrand.  The village we had spent the night, Saint-Martin-Valmeroux, proved to be a delightful little market town and for a change the houses were clean and bright.  There was a covered market that looked ancient, a public water supply fountain and narrow streets winding off the central square.

Salers was an important centre in the 14th century and attracted a fair degree of wealth.  Although small, it was packed with houses that had additional features and as the stone used in construction was volcanic there was little sign of weathering.

From Salers the road ran along the side of a steep volcanic ridge giving a spectacular birds eye view of the farms in the valley.  After reaching Puy Mary, a pyramid shaped volcano we dropped own into wide valleys with intensive farming - a very pleasant landscape.

At Cheylade we found a huge garage sale spread over the square in front of the church with around 20 stalls of wonderful bric-a-brac, but no buyers in sight.

We stopped at Lac Parvin, a small crater lake, for a crepr and a drink while watching a family in  rowboat - the father standing and casting with a fly rod while hi wife and daughter hung on in the rocking boat.

Into France

5 July

Leaving Lausanne we headed down to Lake Annecy, reputed to be the deepest and cleanest lake in Europe.  We tried to find a park in the lakefront area near the  town of Annecy without luck so headed around the lake to a smaller centre.  As there were "corporate games" in progress this meant sitting in a half hour traffic queue held up by a pedestrian crossing.  Eventually we found a spot to stop and sat on the lake edge.  While the lake was nice, it doesn't have the charm of Lac du Joux we had seen the previous day.We saw a hilarious rally / crowd of bikers - obviously locals on their bikes with little shopping baskets before and aft and also panniers either side - children also on board. There were several double bikes - ie. one bike inserted on top of another with the rider on the top bike. Some not very stable - hanging onto the head of the biker beside them! They were obviously out for a festive jaunt - not a helmet to be seen on any one's head. In fact helmets are often not worn except by the serious road bikers - of whom there are many. People - men and women tackling the precarious Dolomite mountain roads and also going up to the alpine plateau of Vercour. Coming down behind cyclists on switchback turns who were traveling at the same speed as were were was breath taking!

From Annecy We headed down to Villard de Lans to follow a route advised in the book "Back Roads of France".  Villard de Lans in a pleasant alpine village with cobbled streets and a village square surrounded by cafes.

Moving on we came to Gorges du Bourne, an incredible narrow gutted deep gorge with vertical walls.  The stream was not particularly large, but in several places it filled the gorge side to side with the road cut into the cliff face above it.  The over hangs extended over the entire road and would not have allowed a vehicle higher than an average campervan through  At the end of the narrowest part of the gorge the road forked with both routes leaving through low rough cut tunnels.

From there the road climbed into a high alpine valley with magnificent ranges on each side topped with sheer cliffs - absolutely beautiful.  Arriving at our destination St Martin en Vercors we found our accommodation was in a renovated old farmhouse a kilometre out in the couutry.  The quiet, sense of peace and the views were breathtaking. 

6 July

Another day on the road.

Breakfast was interesting as we were faced with a huge salad bowl in our places, into which was poured large quantities of very nice coffee.  We gather that the idea is that you dip your crusty rolls into the coffee to soften them, but we chickened out of this.  We were then offered a "white cheese", like yoghurt our host said, which was eaten with sugar.  The quantity of various types of fresh and toasted bread on the table was huge and there was a large bowl of fresh fruit to finish of with.

We started following the route set out in Back Roads of France through a series of high valleys and passes, then looked at the time and decided to take the fast route to the south coast.  However the scenery in the foothills of the Alps is truly magnificent and we are definitely not averse to returning in the future to spend more time here.
 
7-8 July

We're spending a couple of days in Le Lavandou, a small town between Toulon and St Tropez, sometimes included in the description of the French Riviera.  It has been a lot better than I expected with good beaches that are not over-crowded and a relaxed feeling in town.  There are large petanque areas set up on the promenade overhung with plane trees and palms.  For the first time we are having to decipher menus that offer no English help so not all our meals are what we expect.

The hotel we picked is located in the middle of a series of narrow pedestrian only alleys dotted with restaurants and shops selling local delicacies.  The first day we spent time on the beach in front of the old part of town and enjoyed teh sand beach, but found the water a little on the cool side for lazing - it seems strange to swim in the sea with no waves.

The second day we found another beach 400m away which was sheltered from the wind which had picked up and found that the water deepened rapidly so that it was easier to get into the cool water.  Once in we managed to stay in for 20 minutes.  The extra buoyancy here is very noticeable and we found we could float suspended vertically with our heads fully out of the water.

In the afternoon we drove east along the coast.  While there are settlements fairly continuously along this area there are not a lot of villages as such and only a few beaches as most of the coast is fairly rocky.

9 - 10 - 11 July

Today we started off back at the beach with deeper water. Oh - the sensation of floating so weightlessly is amazing. In deep water your legs are suspended while you hang perpendicularly in the water - needing only a wee wave of your hands to keep your head above water! Our sun tans are gently advancing -it always amazes me how slow to sun burn we are in this part of the world - reminds me of Opunake in the 1970s and layers of coconut oil to hasten the process!  Unfortunately the wind picked up again so we packed up soon after noon and headed west to the Camargue.  As I said, the Riviera was less crowded and frenetic than I expected and I would happily go back to this area to relax in the future.

The drive across to our next resting place near Arles was mostly passing hills, that were rocky with stunted trees - the further we moved towards the Camargue the trees on the mountain slopes became more prolific and grew higher. Of course between these mountains ( they were not close) were open plains where horticulture ispr. There are prolific masses of vineyards, some olive trees, lots of fruit trees - apricots are sold everywhere at wayside stalls.Interesting is the range of care dealt to these crops - some are free of weeds and appear carefully tended, others are scruffy and overgrown. A few are obviously abandoned - as Stephen has already said, nowhere are the abandoned and decaying establishments ( house and farm buildings) that we saw in Croatia, Bosnia- Herzegovina  or Slovenia.

 Passing Toulon and Marseille the road was in tunnels, so we did not see much of these ports.We did spy a little of Toulon's massive port with ships and cruise liners in abundance as we travelled over an amzing state of the art bridge.
  West of Marseille we passed a large inland lake, Etang de Berre, which had bigger waves breaking on a breakwater than we'd seen in the Mediterranean.It is the usual glorious blue of the Mediterranean sea. We saw where an outlet / inlet links this lake to the sea.

After that the landscape became very flat and low lying as we crossed the estuary of the Rhone. The marshes soon appeared as did the horses of the Carmague - adults are white with brown foals who change colour to white when they reach their maturity. We saw huge fields of rice - brilliant green, almost olive green in hue. Rice of course thrives in such wet areas.Also in this area are the salt pans and it is easy to see the salt lying in the drier areas of the Carmargue.  We crossed over the Rhone, the Petite Rhone and Le Canale du Rhone in that order - all big greenish waterways - the 2 rivers lined with trees, some of the canale with concrete siding some with big yellow bricks and some with reeds and trees.

Arriving at Gallician, where we were staying, we wondered why we hadn't been given a street address until we found the accommodation WAS the centre of the village. This is a little village and we are still waiting to see if the restaurant will open for a meal! No worries as we are self catering and I was glad to hang freshly laundered washing out in the mistral this morning.

We have an apartment located over the barrel room and shop of a vineyard.  The wines are nice, but seem overpriced starting at $NZ18 a bottle when reasonable wines are available in the supermarket for $NZ5.
We had a fascinating talk with the woman who overseas the winery sales and the accommodation and heard about the various types of grapes they use for various wines,  about the Portuguese vintner, the family who have owned the vineyard for 4 generations etc

 The apartment is nice - rustic, very roomy and you reach it by a spiral stair case. My heart dropped as our previous 3 nights had been several flights of stairs up and after a day of walking and climbing knees were groaning. However all is fine - we  are loving the central location to so many interesting places and there is built in entertainment. After a day exploring we can sit in front of our large window, gaze at the garden, sip vin de Provence and watch as a company brings in land rover full groups of French tourists who get the tour we had free for staying here!Each your can't last more then 15 minutes maximum! By the look of the land rovers they cover a big distance in each tour and not all of it is on dry roads.

So far my impressions are that the French seem to be a polite people - we don't hear raucous exchanges and the children seem well disciplined. I was most impressed with the way children behaved when we were on the beach in La Lavandou and I see it again here while they entertain themselves in the park like garden here on swings and with balls. I haven't yet seen any squabbling - limited sample I am sure is the reason for this. .

As we drive around this part of Provence we find the oak tree lined roads - always narrow - that have their roots if not their origins in a Napoleonic initiative to ensure his army would always have wood available for building and fires etc. 
 Reeds grow all alongside the roads - not bull rushes but water loving varieties. No very tall trees are evident except the oaks that line the avenues .

The first day here we didn't awake until 11am! The exceptional shutters and quiet of this place is the reason I am guessing. We have had shutters all the way in Europe but these are the real deal!  Stephen explored the village,  I read and rested knees, we explored the highways and by ways - finding a bridge that is said to give the best view over this very flat land - it was over le Canale du Rhone-interesting to see the Etaps laid out - some boats passed by with tourists.This is one way to see the Carmargue.


Then - we went to my happy place - the supermarket in Vauvert. I adore these places. The range, the selection, the variety, the creativity of the merchandise is riveting.Actually, this is a poor description of what these shops are like! I stand in front of meat counters,of fish counters becoming seriously over excited and then... we encounter the deli counters!  As is if that is not enough we find ourselves in front of oils, herbs, dressings, pate, cheeses ( oh dear! I am seriously in paradise now) and of course breads but we usually go to the local Boulangerie (sp?) for these. Stephen was up and out at 7am this morning in hot pursuit of croissant from our local store as we missed out on the 10th - all sold out when he arrived at 11.15!
OK - we stocked up for self catering for 7 nights and did a tiki tour of Vauvert!There, in the middle of a really nice modern French town is a replica of the pantheon! I should have hated it but it is so clever I actually love it - very much cleaner of course - built in nice honey coloured stone and no self aggrandizement in the form of "M A Grippa Fecit " emblases the front archway!

Today 11 July was amazing.
First the washing - as above. 2 hours and 12 minutes to wash! Hmmm - no wonder  we see so many of the French sitting around at cafes - they are waiting for their washing to finish its cycle!
Then off into the Carmague again to see  more white horses, rice paddies etc and evidence of salt. We went through a number a number small French villages en route. All front directly into the street- often with no pavement,all we saw were shuttered. It hard to know which are shops and which are houses. Stephen's comment is that they turn their faces toward their gardens at the other side of the building - not all have room for gardens though.All are terraced houses, until you come out of the old town / village. then appear single dwellings on more land with trees and gardens but all seem to have high fences and or hedges - the privacy seems to be important here.  

We reached the Parc ornithological - where we spent about 2 hours wander around shallow ponds where a huge variety of life exists.
In this parc live the following - we certainly didn't see many of these but what we did blew me away:
beavers, badgers, otters, water rats, red foxes, nutria ( we saw one of these on a path, eating flat tack - its fur was wet so it had evidently been in the water recently. They look like a cross between a beaver and a rat but much bigger than a rat. They were introduced for their fur they have become a pest as they harvest a lot of herbage and eat only about 10% of what they crop). There are also 3types of snakes -  ( I kept a wary eye out for those I can tell you!) and a huge variety of birds. The most evident and spectacular were of course the flamingos - huge white waders with pink tail feathers - the undersides of which are more an orange colour - this is visible when they take off to fly or gesticulate with their wings to intimidate their mates. They spent all their time eating - shrimps who dwell in the muddy bottom of the lakes- grunting or squawking and flapping their wings at each other indignantly . The latter were often about disputes over which shrimp belonged to who! Stephen saw one chasing another and pecking at his / her tail feathers. Their long spindly legs and knobbly knees ( I am relieved as now I am sure I don't have the knobbliest knees in the animal kingdom) are a bight pink. We read that the colour of the flamingos is determined by the amount of shrimp they eat and with less shrimp available in winter their plumage becomes a pater shade of  - white...

We saw several flamingo fly and that is a truly wonderful sight. They are stream lined aeronautical
perfection - Stephen is sure they have inspired aeronautical designs. Hard to explain their passage.

Herons, white although smaller than our NZ Kotuku, and bluish grey,  were another source of wonder and annoyance-  we watched they way they flew, landed - sometimes with comical clumsiness and fought over territory. I watched as one bully heron literally chased an opponent off a perch in a dead tree, through other trees, up into the sky, onto another tree perch - that wasn't a solution and the nasty piece of work continued it's torment over and over again. I am really off that bird!  However, we saw lovely interactions as well as large herons and small birds shared the same rock, and as heron's would vacate a perch when another approached - almost as if to say 'it's your turn now'. There were so many different birds and I can't name them - lack of local knowledge.The hide we visited was huge and allowed us t closer vantage point to view the birds without disturbing them.

Oh yes - and then we met the mud dwelling fish.  Some of them lept into the air - others stirred up the mud  And some just lazed around looking like eels to we kiwis - we finally realised they were some fish like carp - mud suckers.

We also saw Egyptian vultures - I really am not comfortable with those birds eyes and in an aviary a giant owl - in fact 5 of them , 4 of whom were trying to sleep! What beautiful, majestic creatures they are and I ached for their captivity just so people could see them

We also saw a nutria - bought to Europe for its thick fur it is now a pest. I does look like a huge rat  but it was interesting to see it munching on grass beside a small stream, quite oblivious of its human audience. 

OK - a lunch munching local produce and more bird watching.
Then;
We drove down to St Mare de Marie   . This is another nice, modern French town that is bordered by the marshes and also by the sea. I loved their roundabouts - all wide and clean. One has a bull rampant ( they still do have bull fighting here! and we found adverts for the bull versus matador on horse on our windshield) one had light house and he next had ship! ! We parked and walked to the sea - big seas - lots of wind swept waves,not very enticing so we drove again through this amazing countryside where water , lakes, horticulture all walk side by side.

We came to Aigues Morte.

It has a long history and is a gorgeous walled town - the walls of which are all intact. Inside is a pleasant town - not unlike many we have visited - masses of restaurants and shops . The history intrigued me when I saw the statue of this glorious saint  Louis IX  who in 1240  wanted to get rid of the influence of the Italian navy for transporting troops to the Crusades. He  focused on the strategic position of his kingdom. At that time, Marseille belonged to his brother Charles of Anjou, King of Naples, Agde, Count of Toulouse, and Montpellier, and King of Aragon.What a lot of kings running around seeking glory and goodies. Louis IX wanted direct access to the Mediterranean Sea. He obtained the town and the surrounding lands by exchange of properties with the monks of the abbey. Residents were exempt from the salt tax which was previously levied so that they can now take the salt unconstrained.

This was the city from which Louis IX twice departed for the Crusades: the Seventh Crusade in 1248 and again for the Eighth Crusade in 1270 for Tunis where he died of dysentery.town was built originally by the sea. Due to the heavy silting by the Rhone the town is now surrounded by land - albeit some what marshy and is drained. 

We finished the day with a trip to Vauvert and a meal in a very swish restaurant that hides itself in a blank wall, like so many restaurants and shops.


12 July

More time in my happy place! Today we drove to Arles to see the big market. Wow and double wow! The main street of this picturesque town  / city was blocked off and full of produce - the like of which we have never, ever seen! Every type of herb and spice known to man and then some was displayed for purchase by the handful. We thought that Chris and Sheeka would have felt they were in heaven if they could have been with us! As well fresh fruit and vegetables - many unknown to us - were for sale - stall after stall! The fish - well; words won't describe as we saw fish we have never seen before and did not  recognize - of course there were crabs ( some really tiny) , shrimps, gambas(scampi), oysters, mussels, escargots de mer ( sea snails) flounder. Then there were tiny wee fish, medium sized fish, big fish - all shiny and silver and other colours - not describing these well as I lack the prior knowledge and vocabulary!!!Then I saw a box labeled " Soup de Poisson" - a whole heap of sea food and tiny fish. I have been looking at that on menus for several days and never quite got around to ordering it. Now I realize the soup will be all these cooked up in a bowl and I would have to crunch my way through them! I had a lucky escape.

There were stall of nougat - huge slabs in a large variety. there were breads, pizzas, cake, slices, sweets, cheeses ( phew hold.  your nose) we have never seen of, heard of. And so it went on - we arrived around 11am and it was hard initially to get anywhere near the stalls so we decamped and GB was let off the leash to wander the clothing stalls. Bliss. Not all that cheap actually but oh- the clothes are to die for.But - good woman that I am I only bought 2 articles - a top and a dress that will be so cool. as it really is quite hot - 29 - 31 degrees.

At 12.00 some stalls started to go, crowds thinned and we went back to the foodie sections and drooled   and finally lashed out big time to buy 100 grms of the most mouth meltingly beautiful
garlic pesto - this won't last long. It has a  fresh, cool flavour that combines the garlic and a cream of some sort in a clever arrangement.

At this point we went into the old town and wandered the streets, going through the Place de Forum where Van Gogh painted Le Cafe Le Soir and where the ancient Roman Forum was( the centre of religious and secular life in those time)  and where we saw the columns of the Roman Temple which have been incorporated into a medieval building, to the ancient Roman Area - which ranks 20th in size in the Roman Empire - it is being restored at a cost of 107 million Euro!

The layers and layers of ages and civilizations in these cities - clearly evident in Arles, truly is amazing but also makes one reflect on the passage of time, the evolution of human beings socially and spiritually.We then found the Arena ( l'Amphitheatre' ) which Van Gogh also painted . As I read how the arena was used - for gladiatorial combat and how people really enjoyed and demanded to see animals fight to the death when the structure was raised in 1 AD - to the advent of bull fighting ( to the death) and now to the regular contest where the bull fighter confronts the  bull who is  wearing a rosette and white fringes attached to its horn. The object of the encounter is for the bull fighter to capture the rosette using a long pole with scissor shaped blade. The red cape remains as does the death defying leaps to avoid the bulls horns. Apparently this does no harm to the bull and many become as famous as their human adversaries. These bull fights are running currently but I feel no desire to see a proud animal taunted for the glorification of a human being. There is a small bull ring here in Gallician.

So we wandered through old Arles - next stop was the ancient theatre which is also being rebuilt. It originally was a very high, large structure - when you think of the number of people who could be seated it makes you realize just what a large Roman settlement this was in 1st century AD.

More happiness - I bought a  lovely outdoor table cloth to recreate Provence at home! 

We then walked down to Le Jardin Public where Van Gogh also painted - he is immortalized with a caste of his face in a large hunk of rock.The light in Arles was inspirational for VG and he painted even in the gusty mistral winds - lashing the canvas to his easel or kneeling on his canvas and painting horizontally. He invited several of the  post impressionists painters to join him in Arles but Gauguin was the only one  who did so. It is here he and Gauguin quarreled bitterly and subsequently he looped of part of his ear and was hospitalized. The neighbours were fearful and upset by the quarrel and petitioned for him to be committed for one month.

So finally we returned to the main road where we began our wandering and back to the car and drove to our accommodation - stopping to enjoy a large roadside shop - buying fresh produce.

So now to cook  food of Provence in a Provence kitchen  and wash it down with wine de Provence !

Switzerland

2 July

With regret we left our favourite hotel and headed off to Switzerland.  We decided to revisit Verona as our last visit in 2009 was washed out by torrential rain.  This time it was dry, but we opted to park in the free area outside the city walls, forgetting how far it was into the centre leaving us with a long walk. We had another good  look at the exterior of the Roman arena we visited last time and the  We went to "Juliet's house" and balcony amid masses of tourists gawping at Juliet's statue with a high polished right breast from being pawed by hundreds for "good luck".  We paid our respects again to Shakespeare's bust on the inside of and archway into the square.Verona's old town is nice with touches of roman influence.However much has had to be reconstructed after war damage.

The rest of the day was spent on the autostrada until we reached the Swiss border where we opted not to pay the annual motorway tax and confined ourselves to the "free" roads.  The crossing into Switzerland was over the Simplon Pass, an easy climb and long descent with a beautiful alpine valley at the pass itself.  By this time the clouds were rolling in so we didn't see much of the high peaks around us.

We stayed near Brig - a bit of an exercise raising some one at the address ( Hotel Aladdin) we booked into. It appeared closed and deserted.Finally we worked out the notice in the window,and with an address in mind  turned around and found the hotel that dealt with people booked into Hotel Aladdin. Like the story there was magic involved and we were soon whisked into this other, much nicer hotel where we ate dinner in the restaurant. The Switzerland was paying in the soccer world cup. Bertrams should not have been in Switzerland that night. They lost the game - as had Croatia when we were there and - in due course did France when we arrived there! 


photos!


3 July

Today was a quick look at the outside of the castle in Brig, then a drive down a large valley to Lake Geneva.   This area is quite heavily industrialized, but the surprise to us was the acreage of vineyards.  We called into one wine cellar in Yvorne and learned a little about the industry here - the main grape grown is Chasselas, a thin skinned white grape that is also used as a table grape.  The entire production of Swiss wine is consumed within Switzerland which is why we've never heard of it.  The woman who served us offered us 2 whites to try, the one she preferred herself and the one she said the wine waiters offer as being more "snobby", which she indicated with an upturned nose.
When we talked to her about our stay in Brig her reply was 'Brig! Alors they talk with a stone in their mouth!"  This was the second time we had heard that the area of Brig was looked down on by those who spoke Haute Deutsch in Switzerland.

We found our accommodation in Lausanne close to the lake port of L'Orcy and a 3 minute walk to the lake through a park.We are in a third floor apartment with a view to a steep walking pathway which takes you to the shops up above. We walked up and bought a few goods at the local supermarket - as always a fascinating exercise and we bought lovely local meats, cheese, fruit etc. Yumm. We ate our dinner at a Swiss Restaurant on the waterfront of lac Geneva, served by a very over the top waiter who told us every dish we ordered was the specialty of the house and our choice was "Parfect!!" There was a restaurant in the apartment building which served lunches  but you had to order your dinner menu 24 hours before eating and it would be delivered to your accommodation where you could warm it up! Naturally we went to the local restaurants.

4 July

Late start, morning doing laundry and then used our free transport pass to look at the centre of Lausanne.  Every tourist staying in Lausanne accommodation is entitled to a free pass for all buses and the metro during their stay.  Together with an excellent public transport network it is a wonderful idea - if only NZ cities could do the same.

The old town in Lausanne is a very small area around the 12th century cathedral and a 13th century castle/palace and has  character typical of the times and region where it stands.  However the centre of town is built on a ridge with steep side streets and at one point a street bridge with a metro bridge beneath it standing 6 stories above the road below.We had a great view of the city from outside the cathedral.

We walked down to an "English" park with lawns, a variety of trees and an aviary.  There were a number of young people sunbathing on the lawns and others sitting in the shade reading.   A very pleasant area and we were surprised to come across a building marked as the International Olympic Games Committee Headquarters.
The birds were exotic and fascinating - however I ( GB) find aviaries sad places in many ways. This was a hot day and the cages were not large by any means.

One thing that was very noticeable was that there were at least 20 vapour trails in the sky at any one time - obviously this area is on several major ir routes.

This evening we ate again on the waterfront in warm sunny weather, ( Thai this time - along with the midges - no bites but we were glad of the insect repellent GB carries)

We then walked along to a swimming beach where we sat until the sun got down behind some trees.  A number of yachts were out on the lake, but only one had sails up and there wasn't enough breeze to fill them.  There were a number of groups sitting on the grass behind the beach, some lighting fires and small barbecues on the grass, but they were mostly groups of friends rather than families,

4 July

Another late start, then we drove up to Lake Neuchatel, which is a good size and very clear blue with reeds around the area we visited.  The lake is fringed with an area of woodland with blackberries growing along the track walked down.Some were fruiting and some were in flower.

We then headed down to a national park near the French border and found 2 pretty lakes, Lac Brenet and Lac de Joux.  The town of Le Pont sitting between them is attractive and spread out along the
shoreline of Lac de Joux.  While we were there there was some police action as one car headed up to a nearby pass at high speed and another skidded to a stop outside the railway station and set up a road block.  However nothing dramatic happened while we were there.


GB comment - despite the police activity I felt a sense of deep peace at this place. Not many tourists - a sleepy Swiss village with people going about their  business. I would happily return.