Road trip #3

Welcome back to our travels around France.

After we left Hyères, we headed east along the Côte d’Azur along with a squillion huge trucks and semi trailers. It’s obviously a very busy stretch of road, probably the main route between Italy and Spain. Most trucks seem to travel in convoy and have to stick to the same lanes so that was a relief for little Clio when we saw them struggling up the many steep hills and through tunnels on the highway. We were staggered by the number of houses along the way that were built into impossibly steep rocky slopes. Land is at such a premium and a view of the Mediterranean is worth a lot.

Of course we couldn’t go to that part of the world without a visit to Monaco. We didn’t stay long but ogled at the expensive cars and yachts in the harbour.

There were police and security everywhere. We were decidedly under-dressed in our ‘just back from a beach holiday’ attire. Even shop assistants in the high end shops were dressed like they were heading off to their own wedding after work.

After buying an overpriced souvenir near the casino, we then headed off to Provence. Our base here was Saint Remy de Provence, the place where Vincent Van Gogh spent a year in an asylum and cut his ear off. It was also where he produced many of his better known paintings, including Starry Starry Night and The Sunflowers and The Irises.

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The Provence area is full of the prettiest little villages and many were built centuries ago at the very top of steep hills (for protection from invasion). We are always amazed how these places are not museums to just be looked at. They are the homes of 21st century families and have been maintained to keep their character and beauty. Apart from the tv antennas and occasional sighting of a internet connection box on the outside walls, they look pretty much the same as they did when they were built.

One of these villages is Les Baux de Provence, with cobble stone lane ways and the ruins of the chateau-fortress. But one of the main reasons we visited here was to see the Carrièrs Lumières. It’s a combination of digital displays of artwork by famous painters (in this instance it was the work of Gaudi and Dali) put to music (Pink Floyd) in a very cavernous space. Bit hard to imagine but here is a taste.

Next day we travelled a bit further away to Roussillon and visited Le Sentier des Ocres (or the red ochre trail). Basically, it is a disused ochre pigment quarry and is now quite a tourist attraction. You can take a walk around the rocks and try and resist the urge to take hundreds of photos because it is just stunning!

The trail is right near the village of Rouissillon and the houses are all built with the red/orange/pink colour of the ochre. This is one of those places where a photo is everywhere you look. It was hard to pick favourites but we tried….

And just in case there wasn’t enough to fall in love with the place, even the most mundane things have been given a make over…

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We are on the home stretch and only a couple more days before we are back in Cherbourg so stayed tuned for the final instalment of the road trip of a lifetime.

Jusqu’à la prochaine tois (until next time).

L & M