Now comfortably installed at Fairmont Hotel Newport Beach, LA, after the usual waiting around and long flight. We got to LA about 7.30pm and shuttled to hotel – zoomed along freeway at 70-80 miles/hr and fell into bed. Had excellent views of expansive snowy peaks and plateaus of Greenland and Canada as we flew across and then impressive view also of Las Vegas and the Strip as we approached towards LA.
Last day in France
Left St Remy, the birthplace of Nostradamus, after a quick look at the area over the road from our hotel – the clinic where Van Gogh spent time after he mutilated his ear! It is now a tourist area (of course) with highlighted areas around the grounds that may have inspired his various paintings. Also nearby is the Triumphal Arch, built by Caesar to celebrate his defeat of the Greeks and Gauls in 10BC. Such history abounds!
Locks and tolls
We left Toulouse this am after a good time catching up with the Deverell Family and headed back towards Provence via Carcassonne, mostly on the motorway past Narbonne, Beziers and Montpellier. We were entertained for some time at the Canal near Villemoustaussou watching the canal boats navigate the locks. The actual cruising part along the peaceful tree-lined canals looked very inviting – the locks once mastered would be ok too. We watched a smooth operating crew and another who just managed largely by bumping into other vessels!!
Family in Toulouse
We are currently enjoying time in Toulouse with Mark’s cousin Ian, his wife Christine and their sons Jeremie, Stephen, Samuel, Faitala, and Peter. We drove here yesterday stopping to pick up Samuel from Bedarieux where he works at a guitar factory (producing high quality and expensive instruments).
It is nice to be in the city again after all the medieval villages and we are enjoying the musical entertainment as the boys play their instruments together regularly. Jeremie and Stephan have a band called Lady Distortion see www.myspace.com/ladydistortion
More history
Visit to the Pont du Gard today, located between Avignon and Nimes. This structure is the most outstanding part of the remains of an old roman aqueduct built about 19BC to take 20 million litres of spring water daily to the city of Nimes via ditches, tunnels, siphons and bridges. The aqueduct itself, spanning the Gardon River, is made of huge limestone rocks, 3 tiers and 48 metres in height. Water went along the top and the lower 2 levels were for people and traffic at various stages. It fell into disrepair during the middle ages and also some blocks were used for other structures. Again a very impressive structure and engineering feat way before modern times.
Art and History with modern technology
Interesting day yesterday with 2 quite different stops. First, The Cathedrale D’ Images – a multi media slide show with classical music in a huge disused underground quarry, at les Baux en Provence, where bauxite was first discovered in 1822. A different theme is chosen each year and images are projected simultaneously onto various walls, floor and ceiling spaces giving an incredible 3D effect. This years’ theme is Van Gogh. Mark counted about 40 different projectors but quite hard to count in the dark! The space is cavernous and you wander at leisure not sure where to look to see it all at the same time. Show lasts 30 minutes and runs continuously.
The Flamingos (with thoughts of our flamingos Brownie and Nick!)
A highlight at the end of our day yesterday exploring the Camargue area of Provence yesterday, was a visit to the Parc Ornithologique where we saw up close 100’s of flamingos – graceful and beautiful. They made a lot of noise “chattering” and gurgling as they pushed their bills through the water when feeding. Easy to sit and admire. Gorgeous colours as they open their wings and about 5 different breeds and colour variations. We saw a few flying – very streamlined and often in formation. Other birds in the Parc included ducks, egrets, herons, falcon and owl. Of interest too were a kind of beaver (my French was challenged here reading the explanation boards to discover exactly what it was!).
Forests and Mountains
Today, (29th) we have driven through the chasms of the Gorges du Verdon, France’s /Europe’s answer to the U.S. Grand Canyon depending on which guide you read. The Verdon river cuts into striated rock up to 700m deep in places – great views of stark limestone faces, slabs of rock angled in all directions and of course way down… the river – a bit of a trickle at present. Highest road point was 1200m. Photos just don’t do the views justice. There are a few little towns along the way, the best being Castellane at one end with a church perched airily on top of rock and Aiguines (lunch stop) nearer the other end with a beautiful 17th century chateau overlooking Lac de Ste-Croix. Each of the 4 turrets are tiled differently. A bit further on is Moustiers-Ste-Marie (at the end of the lake) – on the edge of a ravine – I climbed a steep path up to a 12th century chapel with stunning views out to the Gorges. Slung between the 2 sides of the ravine is a golden star, renewed the year I was born but said to date back to 13th century. You will need to look hard to see the star in the photo! (Mark had a siesta through all this! to recover from negotiating about 100 hair pin bends in the last two days!)
Along the Italian Riviera to Sospel (France)
Set off today along the Italian Riveria en route to France- through the old port city of Genoa where Christopher Columbus was born. A big port city, lots of old apartment blocks and washing hanging out to dry – how they keep their whites clean is beyond me!
Quite a pretty drive- nice expansive coastal views, yachts out along coast and plenty of marina and impressive homes of course. Not as glitzy as the French Riviera though. Got stuck in a big traffic jam in San Remo – a major motorshow or rally stopover or the like.
The Cinque Terre
The Cinque Terre means 5 lands (Pronounced Ching-qua tear-re)
Today was an outing to these cute little villages that hug tightly to the Italian coast and are largely only accessed by train or boat or hiking the famous track in between them – about 5 hours with varying degrees of difficulty. There are no cars except for little delivery carts – 3 wheels. We took the train from Santa Margherita to the easternmost village Riomaggiore with its brightly coloured houses piled up the steep slopes (no two houses on the same level) and then walked to the next village – Manarola via Via dell’Amore (Lover’s Path) an easy 20 minute stroll. Houses here are all pastel coloured and again crowded up the hill.