Pretty flamingo

Day 47 - Montpellier

Autumn must finally be arriving as it's the first overcast day we've had since we arrived in France.

Today we decided to visit the Camargue region which is very different terrain to the parts of France we've seen so far. We saw flamingos in the marsh land on the side of the road as we drove to The Maison du Grand Site de France Camargue Gardoise, an eco-landscape with free entry where we could walk around and see flamingos, though from quite a distance. 

We then drove to the nearby town of Aigues-Mortes with it's massive walls for a quick lunch, before heading to Parc Ornithologique du Pont de Gau. 

We had to pay to enter the park, but here the wetland area was full of flamingos, along with herons and other birds, so many of them and we were able to get very close. This park was also a little busier, with a few people with large cameras trying to get that perfect shot. 

Camargue is also famous for their indigenous white horses who have a strong affinity for water and are used by the local cowboys with their black cattle, we saw a lot of these as we drove through the area.

Back in Montpellier we experienced the first real rainfall we've seen in France, thought it only lasted a short time. 

Sure I like potatoes, but this goes too far ....

Day 46 - Montpellier

A relatively quiet day today as we needed to catch up on some washing and make plans and bookings for our final stretch home in a few weeks.

We followed the walking route through Montpellier from the Place de la Comédie through Écusson (the historic centre), Place de la Canourgue (with some dry looking gardens), past the Arc De Triomphe and into the Place de Peyrou, with the grand water tower (Chateau d'Eau) and the Saint Clement aqueduct.

We then spent the afternoon planning and making bookings for our trip through Vietnam, which will be our last stop on the way home. 

Montpellier is very much a university town, with students making up about a quarter of the population, so there are plenty of cheap eating places, quite different to what we've seen in the more touristy towns where it's all about the restaurants and the cafes. Just near where we are staying there is a Thai takeaway, a noodle place, a chicken shop, burgers, about three Indian ("naan") places, and a restaurant that specialises in potatoes. There's also a restaurant called "Entrecote" that only serves one main dish, which always has a line of people waiting to get in, so their steak must be OK.

M decide to try a place called "Naan City", which wasn't too bad, though it was a bit strange seeing carrot and beans in a chicken biryani. 

Roman history day

Day 46 - Avignon to Montpellier

Our hotel is in a fantastic location, just inside the Avignon city walls and right next door to the Palais des Papes (The Palace of the Popes).

The Palace was the centre of the Catholic Church for much of the 14th century, after the papal court was moved there from Rome in 1309, and is one of the largest and most important medieval Gothic buildings in Europe. We walked through the palace rooms, many of them almost empty, though sections of the old artwork still remained in some areas, and up to to the top where there were good views of the town.  

We then walked to Avignon's famous bridge, Pont d’Avignon which dates from the 12th century and now only goes halfway over the river. Across the river we could see the runners finishing the Avignon marathon, the cheering could be heard throughout the old town. Summer temperatures of high twenties continuing this far into autumn would have made it a tough day for a marathon.

We left Avignon to visit Pont Du Gard. We expected to see just another bridge but instead we saw the exceptional surviving section of the Roman aqueduct that carried water to Nîmes. It was built in the 1st century AD and rises almost 50 metres above the river with three tiers of arches, with the water channel running along the very top. We crossed on the lower level, then took the stairs to the top hoping to return back along the aqueduct, but it was closed. It's a popular swimming and kayaking area for the locals, and although the river level was lower than normal we could see lots of people enjoying themselves in the water.

The village of Nîmes was only 25 kilometres down the road and on the way to our destination of Montpellier so we decided to check out the very well preserved Roman amphitheatre built in100AD. It was closed for a private function but it was still impressive from the outside. A few minutes walk away was the Maison Carrée, a Roman temple, and the Jardins de la Fontaine with the Temple of Diana, all impressive examples of Roman architecture.

We arrived in Montpellier and checked in to our apartment for the next three nights. We encountered the owner twice in five minutes, the second time it was as if we had never met before, we didn't think we were that forgettable!

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.