A day in Provence

Visiting the south of France in mid July hadn't ever really been part of my plan.  I'm much more a cool weather kind of girl rather than a seeker of mid-30's baking heat.  But as this was the only time I could travel, I decided to take advantage of the fact that the lavender would be in full bloom and do some photo trekking through the Provence region and see if I could capture some of the mythical purple hues on camera.

Provence is a pretty big region and in order to find lavender fields, I was going to have to travel a bit.  I first tried to join a camera tour that was going through the region but they were full. Then I considered doing a day tour - but I risked being taken to lots of places that I didn't want to see and not having enough time at the ones I did. I dithered for awhile on hiring a private guide, but then manned up and booked a car.  How hard could it be?  

The day after Bastille day I headed back to Avignon and picked up a car at the train station.  I've never driven in a foreign country and never driven on the other side of the road, so I was pretty nervous. I paid for extra insurance and a GPS, took a deep breath and hit the road.  

The first 15 mins were pretty scary.  Driving on the other side of the road was fine, but a strange car, different distances to judge, never having used a GPS, traffic, and unfamiliar territory all had to be negotiated.  Luckily it was only about half an hour to my hotel in a distant suburb of Avignon. I was a long way from the walled city, but in hindsite this was a good thing as it didn't have parking problems and it gave me space to practice.  

The next day I slept late and had a leisurly breakfast on the terrace to avoid the morning traffic and took a deep breath, programmed the GPS and set off into the hills.  First stop was Gourds.  I've been to this little town before so I had a sense of where I was as I drove the narrow winding roads.  The French have very lax ideas when it comes to driving speed and keeping to your side of the road. I kept to the speed limit and everyone just overtook me casually around hairpin turns when the mood took them.  The web page I read about driving in France talked about fines for talking on your mobile phone, but I don't think anyone here has read that page because EVERYONE was chatting away with a phone in one hand and a cigarette in the other as they drove at high speed.  Crazy!

My next stop was the Abbay Notre-Dame de Senanque.  The abbey has been in operation since the 1100's and has a small lavender farm around the buildings.  It's postcard pretty with creamy stone buildings, grey stone walls and millions of hazy purpose blossoms that scent the air deliciously.  Warm fresh lavendar is the best smell in the world and I sat among the long lines of purple with the cicadas chirping and bees that were flying from flower to flower and soaked it all in.  I couldn't stop smiling.

I decided to try for another village and set off for Fontane de Vaucluse.  Luckily the GPS gave me pretty good directions and I was more accustomed to the road.  I stopped by the side of the road a few times to photograph cypress trees in long lines and interesting vistas - this is why I got the car!

Halfway to Vaucluse I got hungry so I stopped in a little town called Dieder for luch at a roadside cafe.  The woman serving had no English and my French is poor so I pointed at an item on the salad menu and got a delicious chickpea salad drenched in tangy dressing and olive oil, served with a sardine pate on toasted baguette - yum! And the perfet meal for a hot day (it was mid 30's by this time).  A quick Noisette to end the meal and I was good to go again.

The sun blazed down as I drove along country roads.  There wasn't much traffic thankfully and the classical music on the radio was the perfect accompaniment to the day.  I arrived in Vaucluse and found a cafe where I could get an ice cream by the river and sat and cooled down until I was ready to wander the town.  I visited there last year so I didn't walk up to the waterhole, but wandered amongst the trees, enjoying the shade and the sound of rushing water.

The were still hours of daylight and I didn't want to head back to Avignon too early so I set off into the alps to see if I could find more lavender. An hour later, I came around a bend and found a field of sunflowers!  I pulled off the road immedietly, ignorning the GPS instructions to 'do a u-turn'. I wasn't missing this!

The field stretched along the road and up a slope to a house. I didn't like to step onto someone else's land so I couldn't get to the front of the flowers, but I still got some nice pics of the blaze of yellow and I was happy.  I set off again and was rewarded by a few small lavender farms with scenic backgrops.

Another hour later, I still had another 30kms to my destination and I was starting to droop so I gave up and headed back to Avignon.  I reset the GPS and turned around, hoping the return journey would be a little quicker.  It was - one turn of the wheel and I was suddenly on a tollway!  Woops - not part of the plan.  

Luckily I had read about them so I knew that I had to pick up a ticket on the way in and pay on the way out.  I followed the highway for half an hour and then got off, luckily having enough cash to mean I didn't have to use my credit card (I've read that sometimes foreign cards can be a bit tricky).  I kept off the tollways for the rest of the trip and crawled back to my hotel at 9.45pm.  It was a big day, but I'm so glad I did it - another fear faced and conquered and some nice photos to boot!

Bastille Day

The French Revolution started over breakfast.

Well actually I don't know if that's true. but if any of the revolutionaries had been in the breakfast room of our hotel this morning and seen what we saw, I suspect that it would have.

Some of us arranged to meet at 8am for breakfast so we could see off the people who were leaving before we went out to join celebrations for France's national day.  I arrived in the breakfast room at 8.05am to watch a busload of Eastern European tourists literally tearing the place apart to get breakfast.  People were taking handfulls of breadrolls and croissants at a time and filling their pockets.  Within minutes the entire breakfast bar was picked clean and there was nothing. No. food. left.

We sat down and waited and a girl bought out another basket of bread.  Same deal.  

I got some coffee and we waited again and thankfully found that most of the maurding hoards had eaten their fill, packed their picnic basket for the rest of the week and left.  We felt as though we should apologise on behalf of tourists everywhere for such a spectacle.  

Farewells to Maria and Laura - how ever will we do without you!  Suz and I went to do some laundry and then joined Carly on the walk down to the beach to see what was happening for Bastille Day.  

At first there didn't seem to be anything going on at all so we sat on the beach for an hour or two and soaked up the warm sun, cool breeze, blue, blue ocean and pebbly seats.  When our butts were numb, we walked along the esplanade until we found a  nice cafe for lunch.  It was owned by an expressive Italian who wandered between the tables greeting friends, singing and pronouncing his love for the female sex.  I shared a bowl of mussells and then had grilled salmon and veggies with a very welcome cold beer. At the end of the meal we were approached by the man who had been sitting at the next table, and American from Miami who had apparently been enjoying our conversation.  He was a big, gruff guy who was covered in tattoos and he looked like he'd be at home at a meavy metal gig but he informed us that he was in town to compete in a choral competition.  I do love the people you meet on holidays!

We wandered further down the esplanade, stopping for ice cream and again for coffee before settling in a bar with a bottle of chablis.  At 6pm we walked back to the esplanade to watch the parade of police, soldiers, sailors and other military types.  It wasn't the most exciting parade ever held, but we enjoyed it and the lady standing next to me enjoyed our enthusasism.  When we told her we were 'Australiee' (Australian), she got quite excited and clasped my hand and smiled.

After the parade, we went back to the bar and happened to order the most perfect bottle of rose ever. It was so nice, we had to order another one to check that the first one wasn't a fluke - it wasn't.  We had pizza to soak up the wine and were about to order our third bottle when the waiter said that it was time for the fireworks and that we had to leave now to see them.  We were a little reluctant but he insisted, telling us he would have more wine ready for us when we returned.

He was so right!  The fireworks were amongst the most beautiful I have ever seen.  Set off on boats out in the ocean, the display lit up the night sky with a million twinkling lights.  The soundtrack was beautiful and the gasps and cries of the audience made a fabulous accompaniment.  It was the perfect end to a fabulous day.  

At 11pm we returned to the bar where our bottle of rose was produced.  The streets were pumping and everyone was out enjoying their holiday.  Music played, people danced and chatted and we enjoyed our wine and soaked it all in. It was well after midnight before we finally set off back to the hotel.  

If you ever get the chance to spend Bastille Day in France, I can recommend Nice as the place to do it - just don't go out too early!

Avignon

It's festival time in Avignon.

That means that everywhere you walk you will be approached by a woman in angel wings or a man in drag, or a trio of showgirls or jazz playing quartet - all entreating you to take one of their flyers and come to their evening show.  

In the afternoon things kick up a notch as they close off the Main Street of the walled city and the performers come out in force.  On every corner or spare bit of space you'll find classical guitarists, jazz bands, jugglers, pianists, trumpeters, vaudville performers, schoolgirl choirs.  Its as exciting as it is bewildering.  

Our hotel is across the Rhone river and away from the madness, but close enough to see the giant ferris wheel on the opposite bank and head into town whever we like.  It was quite warm when we arrived, but the Mistral was blowing so strongly that you didn't notice the heat and instead concentrated on keeping your possessions strapped securely and your hair out of your eyes.

We walked into town to get some lunch and took our picnic to a little park to eat in a sheltered corner.  Our picnics have become a favourite group activity.  We head out together to the supermarket and trawl the aisles looking for delicious treats.  People call out as they consider purchases: "shall we get cherries or blueberries?"  "Do you want brie or some of that washed rind?"  "OMG I just found Lindt rasberry ganash - it will go perfectly with a red, can someone pick up a bottle of pinot?"  Lunch isn't a quick snack on the run, its an epic event where everyone sits around companionably, passing cheese and baguettes and pouring bottles of wine.  Between us, we have a packet of serviettes, multipack of wine glasses, a bottle opener and knife for cheese and salami.

Next we walked down to the river to walk out onto the famous Avignon bridge.  I wrote about it on my last visit last year so I won't go into it now except to say that it was WINDY! I was very glad to be wearing trousers.  

Then we climbed up one of the towers to the gardens above. These were closed due to rain last year so I was glad to see them.  The wind was even stronger on the outer edges of the park, but reasonably sheltered once you got in among the trees. We wandered around for a bit and then made our way down the other side of the hill to the Pope's Palace where the group seperated to do our own thing.  Some of us went into the Pope's Palace (see last year's notes) before finding a cafe for a coffee and a sit down.  Then we wandered the streets and watched the street performers till it was time for dinner.  

We ate at a little sidestreet cafe and enjoyed creamy pasta with truffles.  The food was very simple, but absolutely amazing and it was the best truffle pasta I've ever had.  Finished up with Creme Brulle, and a jug of wine and we were all very happy and tired.

Avignon is a charming city and its great to be back. 

It was a bit windy!

Come to my show!