Land of lavender

Day 45 - Gorde to Avignon 

Another beautiful day in Provence as we start with the best coffee for weeks while admiring one of the most beautiful views in the South of France. 

We drove to the Abbaye Notre-Dame de Sénanque, just a few kilometres from Gordes. In the photos it's surrounded by lavender but at this time of year it has all gone.

We made a quick stop at the Village des Bories but the entry was pricey and they seemed a little similar to the dry stone huts we saw in Ireland so we decided to give it a miss. 

Our lunch stop was at the beautiful (we're using that adjective a lot in Provence) Fontaine de Vaucluse. The village is built next to a spring that's depth is not totally known, but has been measured to at least 308 metres. We walked along the river to see the spring but the last 50 metres was closed off due to rock falls.

We drove a little further down the road to L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue a picturesque town with water wheels and ducks based around the river Sorgue that flowed from the spring we'd visited earlier. As we sat by the river eating ice cream we wondered how much longer this superb weather could last. Apparently the town has the best market in the region on Sundays, but we're happy we're here on a Saturday as we're not that keen on dealing with the crowds (or the parking).

We drove on to Avignon and checked in to our hotel right next to the Palace de Papes, which we plan to visit tomorrow. M went exploring, learning that the Avignon Marathon was on the next day - another major event we had no idea was on until we arrived.

Just like the postcards

Day 44 - Aix-En-Provence to Gordes

A sublime day of quintessential Provence villages. Village after village of postcard beautiful limestone walls, roads and buildings with views across the valleys to the next beautiful village.

Our first village was Loumarin where we discovered there was a market on, making Friday the busiest day of the week, and we were very lucky to find a car park right next to the start of the market.

We recognised a few of the stalls from the market in Aix yesterday. We attempted to stop for a coffee but the village was so overwhelmed with visitors we quickly gave up and drove on to Bonnieux. 

By the time we arrived at Bonnieux their smaller market was starting to pack up so it was much quieter. There were stunning views of town and the surrounding countryside, we found a cute place to share a caramelised apple crepe, along with coffees that once again had a bit too much froth. 

A few minutes drive from there was Lacoste (which we could see from Bonnieux). At the very top of the town is the castle of the infamous Marquis de Sade (whose "exuberant" lifestyle gave us the word "sadism"). The castle is in a state of partial ruin but there have been numerous attempts at renovation since the 1950s, including by Pierre Cardin. M walked up to the castle thinking it was the only way to get there, only to find a giant tour bus parked out the front. While M did this K relaxed at a cafe, seeing a blue heeler walk past at one point. We later drove up to the castle so K would also see the ruin. 

We made a quick stop at Pont Julien, an old Roman bridge (over a very dry river) dating from 3BC, then drove on to Rousillon to visit Le Sentier des Ocres (The Ochre Trail).

The short walk over red dust took us past cliffs and formations with beautiful shades of red and orange rock. K wished she had bought a plastic bag so she could scoop up the ochre under her feet and take it home to put in a glaze, luckily though the shops nearby sold ochre kits with lots of different shades, and of course she bought up big.

We pulled in to Gordes, our stop for the night, stopping at the city viewpoint before arriving at our nice quiet apartment for the night. 

We made the two minute drive to the town centre to do some shopping, though parking was problematic, especially when our first attempt was in the mayor's personal space! We found a lovely terrace overlooking the dramatic limestone cliff, it would be difficult to find a more beautiful spot, before heading back for a home cooked meal while overlooking the magnificent view from our apartment.

Everyday is Market Day

Day 43 - Aix-en-Provence

It's been six weeks since we left home and we have a quieter day planned. M walked into Aix and K followed later on the bus. 

There are markets every day in Aix, Thursday being one of the big ones. The main market was on main  pedestrian boulevard of Cours Mirabeau, starting near the central Fontaine de la Rotonde and spilling into the surrounding streets. 

There was a lot of fashion and most of it was of high quality unlike the cheap clothes that are usually sold at markets at home. There were also food, flowers antiques and arts and craft areas so it was a huge market, taking over much of the central city area. 

After the market (which started winding down around 1pm) we spent a couple of hours sitting at an outside cafe making bookings and plans for the next few weeks of travel, I guess we have to come back home sometime, right?

Planning done (for now) we caught the bus to Le Tholonet, as it was easy to get to and looked interesting on paper, but soon after arriving we realised there wasn't much to see on foot so we promptly caught the bus back to Aix again!

Take me away to Marseille

Day 42 - Aix-En-Provence

At 10am it's already 25 degrees and we're on the bus to Marseille, public transport is pretty good around here we've decided to leave the car at the hotel and have a break from driving and parking.

The bus arrived into the back of the Saint Charles station and we exited walking down the famous grand stairs flanked by statues. 

We walked through the city down to the Le Panier area and visited the Vieille Charité, formerly a poor house, and now a small museum with art and artefacts from different cultures. K was chuffed to see a Greek vessel from 600BC that was very similar to one she had purchased at an antiquities auction in Abbotsford last year. She also had other pieces similar to those on display, both originals and copies.

We then walked on towards the port area to admire the Byzantine church before taking the lift to the terrace at the Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilisations where we took in the view over the Medditeranean. We could see Fort Saint-Jean to the left, and Notre-Dame de la Gard in the distance on the hilltop, Vieux-Port (Old Port), Pharo Palace.

We left via a maze of stairs and walkways through Fort Saint-Jean, with great views of the huge marina and port below, to where we could take the bus up the hill to Notre-Dame.

Wandered around the Basilica We enjoyed the great views over the red and cream buildings of Marseille, then wandered around inside the impressive Basilica.  

We finished off our sightseeing for the day by getting the Metro to the stunning Longchamp Palace, which interestingly statues of bulls instead of horses as it's main animals.

K's favourite sauce is bearnaise which is very difficult to get in Australia so whenever we're in Europe she buys a jar to take home. We had booked a restaurant so she was really looking forward to having an authentic French steak with real bearnaise sauce, unfortunately the steak arrived cold, thin, gristly and over cooked. Nothing like steaks back home in Australia, sometimes expectations are just not met.

Wrong bus ... right bus

Day 41 - Sainte-Maxime to Aix-en-Provence

Leaving Sainte-Maxime, we continued to follow the Côte d'Azur, during an extraordinary run of beautiful weather, high twenties in the middle of autumn. We think we've sorted the coffee issue, this morning we ordered a cafe creme which was a little more like a latte, but still not up to the standard of what we can get at home.

We stopped for lunch in the old town of Hyères, then drove to Toulon to see the beautiful Federation Fountain located at the Place de la Liberté, and Fontaine des Trois-Dauphins. The port town with ferries to Corsica and Italy had a Spanish siesta feel about it as the shops closed for two hours in the middle of the day, and there weren't many people walking around in the heat like we were.

Bandol is a pretty beach town where we decided we would make our last beach stop for an ice cream, before heading inland away from the Côte d'Azur and into the Provence region for the next couple of weeks.

After checking in to our hotel in the outskirts of Aix en Provence we decided we'd rely on public transport to get around. The bus stop was close to the hotel and after waiting for a while we decided we were on the wrong side of the road so we dashed to the other side and jumped on a bus only to find we were heading in the wrong direction! We jumped off at the next stop, walked back to the original bus stop and finally caught the right bus to Fontaine de la Rotonde, and one of the loveliest (and liveliest) eating and drinking areas of any city we've been in. 

Big boats and perfect weather

Day 40 - Sainte-Maxime

We caught the ferry to Saint-Tropez straight after coffee. The coffee in France so far has been pretty average, this time our cappuccino was tiny and full of froth.

The ferry to Sainte Tropez was easy and it wasn't long before we were walking past jaw droppingly large boats in the marina. We'd arrived ahead of the crowds so it was still quiet and sleepy. We wandered around the surprisingly small old town and M walked up and around the Citadel overlooking the town then meeting K by the waterfront and small beach. 

After a bit more exploring along the water it was getting quite busy and some larger tour groups were wandering around, so we decided we'd seen enough. On the way back we sat on the roof of the ferry, it was sunny and a nice temperature so we had a beautiful trip back to Sainte-Maxime.

We still had some planning to do so we spent some of the afternoon working out how we'd start heading home. We found that there were direct fights from Kazakhstan to Vietnam so we settled on a route from Bordeaux to Istanbul to Kazakhstan to Hanoi, no flights more than around 6 hours and covering some places we haven't visited yet.

Coastal drive

Day 39 - Nice to Sainte-Maxime

We've enjoyed our stay in Nice (well, most of it) but today it's time to move on and explore more of the French Riviera and southern France. M carted our three suitcases down three flights of stairs, while K ably assisted by holding the door open, then we returned our keys and caught the tram to the airport to collect our rental car.

A car is always a blessing but can also be a curse, it's great to have your own transport but driving on the other side of the road and managing parking in small villages can be tricky, though at least Google maps has taken the stress out of navigation.

We drove along the French Riviera coast road, planning to make various stops along the way but being a Sunday the difficulty of finding a car park near packed beaches meant we kept driving. We eventually spotted a car park at a roadside snack brassiere (with table service!) at Calanque d'Anthéor, where we shared a nice meal of fish and chips by the magnificent railway arches (sorry, forgot to take a photo but it was impressive), across the road from a sandy beach.

We continued along the coast, surprised by the red colour of the rocks along the coast and surrounding hills, which actually reminded us of the Northern Territory.

We arrived at at Sainte-Maxime, our base for the next two nights. Sainte-Maxime is directly across the bay from Saint-Tropez, connected by a 30 minute ferry ride. It's an economical way to see St. Tropez, and it's also a quieter place stay.

We explored the waterfront and the nice town centre, finishing up with a very nice meal at a bistro across the road from the beach while we watched the colourful sunset.

 

So you're telling me it can't be done ... ?

Day 38 - Nice

First task of the day was to buy a new phone, so we headed to Av. Jean Médecin, the main shopping street where M's research had located a couple of places to get a phone. After walking out of one store where the salesman wouldn't let us check the phone model on the box without buying it first (!?), we forked out for a new phone that had dual eSIM capability. 

Shopping done, we walked to the old town to explore Nice, which we hadn't had a chance to do yet. We walked down to Plaza Massena and along the Promenade des Anglais which followed the beach to reach Castle Hill. 

We had planned to take the lift to the castle lookout but after waiting for quite a while in the very hot tunnel we left. K found a seat overlooking the bay while M walked up the stairs to see the views from the top and also briefly explore the parkland around the castle.

We then walked back through the very busy, very touristy old town of Nice (which is kind of like many other large "old towns" we've visited), stopping for an ice cream along the way, then back to our apartment to set up K's phone and get her back online.

We spent quite some time on the phone with Telstra trying to get K's old phone number working again (which is why we'd purchased a dual eSIM phone), but we had to give up ... which was a little frustrating because we knew that what we were asking was possible, even though the "team leader" said it wasn't. It was the weekend though and we were working with the offshore team, so we decided we would try again during Australian business hours when we could get someone local to help us. 

Robbed!

Day 37 -  Nice

Trains on the line towards Monaco stop for an hour in the middle of the day so trying to squeeze on the 11.20am train was a nightmare, luckily we were only going four stops where we would then take a bus up to the hillside village of Éze.  

We had to wait about 40 minutes for the bus and of course by then the waiting crowd and the temperature had increased, so we were squashed onto the bus for half an hour of rolling around tight corners. When we reached the village there already seemed to be thousands of people. We joined the throngs to walk up and down stone steps with small stone dwellings that now functioned as tourist trap shops. 

After a short while exploring we had had enough and joined the line for the bus that would take us back down the mountain. We didn't want to risk another crammed train so we stayed on the bus to the end of the route, arrived at the more sedate and peaceful town of Beaulieu-sur-Mer, which translates to "Beautiful Place on the Sea". Here they had an interesting street art exhibition of very expensive artwork, no prices listed of course.

We then caught the bus for what we thought would be short trip to the next bay and the town of  Villefranche-sur-Mer. Somehow though we ended up in a loop and were taken on a beautiful drive around Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, the second most expensive residential place in the world, after Monaco. 

 

After passing the place where we'd boarded the bus, we finally arrived in Villefranche-sur-Mer to find a relaxed and charming vibe, more like what we'd expected to see on the French Riviera. We did a bit of exploring, finding one of the oldest covered streets in the world, then found a nice spot on the waterfront and stopped for a drink.

We'd had a nice day up until now, we just had to endure one more crowded train trip back to Nice. Up to now we'd been very mindful of our belongings as we knew that pick-pocketing was rife, keeping our hands on our phone in our pockets while in crowded areas. However ... as the train doors opened a large man hurried off the train and barged into K, and during that split second he managed to take her phone which was under her t-shirt and in the front pocket of her shorts, though it was sticking out a little, so we suspect he saw this and took advantage. K realised immediately and yelled "he has my phone" but he had quickly disappeared in the mass of people boarding the train. Up until now in our travel to lots of countries we've been lucky and not been robbed in this way, but not today.

So of course the rest of the afternoon and evening was spent trying to locate and then wipe the phone remotely, securing accounts and contacting the banks and Telstra, and working out where we could get a cheap phone the next day.

All that money doesn't buy you a proper beach!

Day 36 - Nice

We think we have the train system sorted now, using the SNCF app we are able to bypass the queues at the ticket machines. We waited on the platform for the train to Monaco, when it arrived it wasn't that big and it was already packed, which didn't bode well for the rest of the day. We had originally planned to go to Menton first, but decided Monaco which is busier would be better earlier in the day, which ended up being the right call.

The Monte Carlo marina was blocked off with fencing while marquees were being erected for an upcoming yachting festival, but we could still see that the harbour was full of amazing boats. We walked around to take the Bateau Bus Boat which for €1.50 takes you across the harbour in four minutes, giving the cheapest pretend cruise on the Port Hercules harbour. 

Where we arrived there was a cruise ship that was taking people onboard for the commencement of a new journey, it was an "ultra luxury" cruise ship where everyone had a suite and a personal butler. Of course everyone boarding also looked like they were over 70.

We walked along the harbour walls, getting good view of the harbour, ocean and nearby coastline, as well as people swimming and sunbathing in the tiniest "beaches" made of concrete and and rocks. The concrete beach was private, with entry costing €20 per day.

We turned the corner to see the magnificent Oceanographic Museum perched dramatically on the sheer cliffs of the Rock of Monaco (Monaco-Ville). Up until now we had somehow managed to miss the Monaco crowds but as we went up and down in lifts and escalators trying to find the public bus stop to the Monte Carlo Casino we encountered massive tour groups. We finally found the bus waiting at the stop and we took a lovely trip around the bay and up to the casino to join all the hundreds of gawking tourists in front of the beautiful and famous building. 

We'd seen enough of Monaco so caught a quick bite from a bakery before catching the train further east to Menton, which is only around 10km from the Italian border. 

Menton was a nice beach town, busy but nothing like Monaco. We headed down to look at the beach (another pebbly one) then walked into the old city, stopping for a drink and an ice cream before walking back to the station and returning to Nice. Fortunately there were plenty of seats this time and we had some great views of the coast during the journey.