Monaco and Nice

Today we started off with a quick stop in old town Nice, taking a little look around the Promonade les anglais. People have been vacationing here from other parts of Europe since the mid 1700s. Although some of the old town looked inviting to explore, the main part of Nice oceanfront is a 4 mile long strip of hotels in front of which are crowded, rocky (no sand that I saw) beaches. None of that was as appealing as the prospect of Monaco, so we proceeded on our way.

There are three roads between Nice and Monaco - the High, Middle and Low Corniches. The High Corniche runs as you might expect along the top of the seaside cliffs, the Low Corniche mainly along shore, and like Goldilocks, we decided that the Middle Corniche was just right. Actually the Middle is billed as the most scenic, and it did not disappoint, as it wound about the seaside villages overlooking the beautiful blue of the Mediterreanean

Trish and Sophie's initial impressions of Monaco were less than they expected - there were no golden statues on every corner or polished silver streetlights. It was however, a very upscale sea town. The yachts were larger and more numerous than any I had ever seen - dozens of three story luxury ships. We overlooked the main town below from the Palace, it was exciting to see the streets that I had seen watching the Monaco Grand Prix (the most elite auto race in the world) over the years.

Trish and Sophie took a detour to visit the Palace. There were a number of rooms open for viewing, although they noticed that although many of the displays of royal gifts were behind glass, the cases were readily removed for state functions that used these rooms. Pete, Marie, and Noelle went to the Monaco Aquarium, started by King Albert I in the early 1900s, and continued by Jacque Cousteau later on. It's a nice aquarium - not huge - but good displays and a very cool place to escape the afternoon heat of the Riviera. Upstairs they still have many specimens that Albert I brought back from his trips, a hundred years old in their original glass jars.

Later that afternoon I got see my primary goal in visiting Monaco, to see city streets that make up the race course, up close. Much more elevation change than I had expected, and how these drivers go that fast on the narrow streets is beyond me. Given the glitz of the front of the Casino, I can see why watching cars blast through the famous "Casino Square" part of the track has been called something that every Formula 1 fan must see before they die. As I finished my 2 mile walk around the track streets, I met the girls for a relaxing supper in a seaside restaurant, where we watched the comings and goings on the yachts. Although we didn't get back to the hotel until almost 10 that night, Monaco was worth the long day.

Today we are off to Arles, the Provencal city where Van Gogh spent his time in the south of France.


Sophie on the Promenade des le anglais

Nice, miles of stony beachers, umbrellas and people

Sophie and Trish have found just about every Cavalier dog/puppy in France, and Nice was no exception - this was a 3 month old puppy they met in a park

Monaco - yachts and beautiful people - a very nice place to hang out

Trish in front of the Monaco Palace

Marie and Noelle in the Monaco Aquarium

Sophie and Marie in front of the Ascari statue near the start/finish line of the Monaco street race course

Pete take advantage of a Ferrari ride around the Monaco race course - I wish I could say I just struck up a conversation with this guy and got a ride, but actually there was a business there selling rides

The Casino in Monaco, truly one of the most glamorous places in the world, especially at night

One of the tight streets in Monaco - the red and white curbs are there from the race about a month ago - this corner is so tight that they have to specially engineer the front of a Formula One car just to make this particular corner

So much for the spaciousness of the villa - it's back to hotel rooms again this week

Abbey of Semaque

As much I've been enjoying and taking pictures of small little historical buildings here, I finally ran into one I didn't like.

I had been on one of my bike rides around the Luberon hills, and had spent most of the first 15 miles of my ride climbing up. Although it was getting a little hot, that was fine, because all that work would let me have a free ride to the Abbey of Semaque supposedly tucked away in a field of lavender. As I reached to the road to the abbey, I could see it was a nice descent, although oddly enough the sign seemed to indicate that the the road would discontinue in my direction in 2.5 km. I of course ignored the sign, and In my usual topgraphical unpreparedness, rode down to the abbey despite increasing visual evidence that I'd have to climb back out. As I got to the gates amidst cars and tour buses, I realized that the road continuing on was one-way the other way, and I'd have to ride back up the way I came down. This unplanned climb in the heat with short water supplies made me a grumpy, and the freakin' little abbey in the lavendar field got two quick clicks of my camera before I turned around and rode off.

After all that my ride ended with a great descent through the hill town of Gordes, ending up a great ride, and all ended well (27 miles, 2900 feet of climbing).


The blasted Abbey of Semaque - probably a wonderful tourist destination, if one wasn't facing a bike ride out of it's valley

Cassis

Our last few days in the villa we took it slow, lots of swimming and reading and generally relaxing.

Thursday we drove down to Cassis, a town east of Marseille on the Mediterranean. It's a smaller town, with a harbor and a small beach - sort of a mini-Riviera type of place. We went out there because it was projecting to be in the mid-90s in Provence, so we wanted to get out to the ocean. It was cooler there, but the salty humidity made up for it. Unlike most of the inland towns, the sea towns are more colorful, with buildings and shutters of various colors. We were far enough east that the Italian influence was kicking in, and were able to enjoy some of that fabulous gelato that we remembered from Italy a couple years ago.

The most famous physical features of Cassis are the calanques, and the Cap Canaille. A calanque is a Mediterranean version of a fijord, on a smaller scale - a bay surrounded on all sides by steep, rocky shores. Although a couple are walkable, generally people take boats into them, and then picnic, sunbathe, and swim off the shores. Some of the calanques have small beaches near the back, and all of them have beautiful blue water. Marie, Sophie and I took a boat tour of a few of the calanques, and the people hanging out in them were having enough fun that if I came back I'd definitely look into renting a kayak and going back to spend a day in one of them.

On our way out of town, we took the cliffside road along Cap Canaille, a winding Trail-Ridge-Road type of highway. As the highest maritime cliff in Europe (about 1500 feet straight down), the view from the top was spectacular.

One night we took a drive up to Gordes, only a few kilometers away, for supper. Although the mistral winds were blowing strongly that evening, we found a nice little place where I got my first taste of foie gras - a much sweeter taste than I expected, although I couldn't quite get used to the soft texture.

Every morning, Trish or Marie walked out the the boulangerie/patisserie and got us yummy baguettes, croissants and pain au chocolates, which was truly a treat.


The seaside town of Cassis - I love how the tans of the buildings inland change to more colorful buildings on the ocean

A calanque, with a beach in the back of it - looks like a great place to spend a day

Sophie going full out to enjoy a Nutella crepe

The highest maritime cliff in Europe, overlooking Cassis - the road wound above on the top of that cliff

Sophie on the cliffs overlooking Cassis

Pete and gelato "rose" in Cassis

Sophie enjoying breakfast in the villa - it was really a nice house to stay in, and we really relaxed there

The streets of Rousillon, the "Colorado of Provence", because of the ochre rocks, which is reflected in the color of the houses

The ochre cliffs of Rousillon, with the pine trees adding to the Colorado feel

Provence

Our drive over from Carcassonne we visited the Pont du Gard, the second highest existing Roman structure (#1 is the Coliseum in Rome, which is just 6 feet higher). This bridge was part of a 30 mile long aquaduct that carried 9 million gallons of water per day to Nimes. Given that it was built almost 2000 years ago in the middle of the first century, it's condition and scale are remarkable. It was a hot day when we visited, and the water looked extremely inviting - the river was clear and not muddy like the Dordogne and Loire had been.

By the way, speaking of Nimes trivia, the word "denim" comes from Nimes - the people who made that blue jean material were from Nimes, or "d'Nimes" in French.

We spent the night in a really relaxing hotel in Fontvieville, near Arles. This place had everything for kids (and adults), including a nice big pool, and huge sized chess set. Luckily for me - actually for the kids - my baggy American swimsuit is acceptable at hotel pools. If this were a public pool though, I would be forced to adopt the tight European style. We stopped to shop for swimsuits, and I nearly bought one just to embarrass Marie totally.

We've been sticking mainly to bistros, but this hotel had a restaurant so we went a bit more upscale. Trish seems to be grooving on the duck dishes over here. Noelle once again found a way to order plain noodles, even at this fancier eatery.

Saturday we drove towards our villa, with a stop at the Cathedrale d'Images near Les Baux, which turned out to be an unexpectedly amazing experience. Basically this is an old underground stone quarry. Given that nature of the remains of the quarry, with vertical white walls several stories high, they have adapted this space for multimedia shows. In our case, this was on Vincent Van Gogh's paintings. Stepping into this was like stepping right into this paintings. Whole and parts of various paintings were projected on the walls and floor as a soundtrack played (amazing acoustics in this space). The layout of the walls is more interesting than just one big open space, and they used this so that depending on where in this large cavern you stood, you would get a different view of a different set of projections. Beyond that it is tough to describe, but it was a truly special experience for Trish, I and Sophie (not so much for Marie and Noelle, who said it was too cold and vamoosed in just a few minutes).

Since we've been at the villa (arrived Saturday) we've slowed down on the sightseeing a bit to relax and enjoy the place. Although we have really enjoyed the food here, being able to have a small meal at home and not spend 2-3 hours and 90 euros eating supper is sort of a nice change of pace. There's a wonderful bakery just a block or two away were Marie goes to get us our baguettes and other pastries each morning.

We visited the very crowded Sunday market in Isle-sur-la-Sorge, a neat little town formed where the Sorgue River splits into a bunch of different branches, with the effect that you have several small rivers running through town, giving it a slightly Venetian feel.

Monday we took in Avignon. Parts of the town we walked through were a little too urban-feeling for me, probably given the small towns we had been frequenting, but that changed once we got to the main streets with the shops and to the Papal Palace area. The Pope, Clement V from Bordeaux, moved the papacy here for 80 years or so starting from 1350 (actually for the last bunch of those years there were two popes, one in Avignon and one in Rome). The Palace was quite an impressive structure, also a little bare on the inside, so one had to use a combination of audioguide and imagination to figure out what it was like back then. Avignon was Marie's favorite town when she visited France with her school group a year ago, and she enjoyed returning. We of course took in the Bridge at Avignon, the subject of the famous children's song. This was the only bridge over the Rhone during the Middle Ages, which is part of what made it and Avignon so strategically important. Now the part of the bridge that's left goes about 2/3 of the way across the river. Music boxes with the tune are omnipresent at gift shops and it takes a minimum of 12 hours to get the tune out of your head.

I got the chance to take the bike out the last couple of days. Despite the same narrow roads as other parts of France, there are a few more bikes on the road and there is generally lighter traffic, so it's a little less worrisome. Oddly enough I find the really small roads - the bi-directional 1 1/4 lane jobs - feel safer than the 2 lane roads, because cars cannot try and get by a bike and a car going the other way at the same time - it's just too narrow, even if the bike wasn't there. Not so the case on the two laners, where some drivers have no problem trying to fit themselves, a car going the the other way, and yours truly on a bike on the same road, despite a total lack of shoulder. Still, the peaceful rides through the vineyards, up country roads and into the hills makes it worth it. Like hiking, cycling is a way to really get a feel for the land - the sounds, the temperatures, the elevation changes, the details, that one zips by in a car.

We'll be doing a few other day trips this week, but we're not sure what those will be yet - we're just taking it easy.



Pete at the Pont du Gard - the water actually ran over the bridge in a tunnel at the very top of the bridge

Trish and Sophie at the Pont du Gard

Noelle and Marie watch the cute and stupid boys cliff-dive into the river at the Pont du Gard. Some people have actually jumped from the bridge into the river, but it's windy enough that belly flops happen, and from that height that's very bad news.

The Cathedrale d'Images, amazing multimedia show inside an old stone quarry

The girls at an external part of the Cathedrale d'Images quarry, just to give you the sense of scale of the place

The town of Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, with the branches of the river running all through town and multitudes of riverside restaurants - also the biggest market in Provence on Sunday mornings

Marie and Noelle on the carousel in Avignon

Marie and Sophie inside the Papal Palace - the main chapelle

Sophie, Marie, and Tarrence the elephant on the Bridge at Avignon - this isn't the best place to bring little kids as those railings behind the girls are all that's between them and a 30 foot drop into the Rhone River. Europe, the land without lawyers. Although you need to be on guard a bit more here, it's refreshing to be in a place where you're expected to use common sense and not be protected from every possible harm.

Pete and the girls cooling off in the pool in the yard of the villa

The one and only actual bike lane I've seen in France, about 2 km worth on the climb into Gordes, Provence.

Carcassonne

Before we left Beynac, we took time to tour the chateau/castle above the city. It was nicely laid out, with flicking oil lamps in some locations to give you that medieval feel. I walked up there a few times during our days in Beynac, and it was a very nice workout to start the day.

After driving down south for three hours, we've spent the last two days and three nights in the walled city of Carcassonne. Our hotel here has tons of room, a nice pool, and it's right across the street from the main gate of the city.

Carcassonne was a key city in this area of the world for hundreds of years. It was a center for the Cathars, a Christian group that diverged from the Pope in believing that material things were evil, holding animal life and human life as equally sacred (and were thus vegetarians), and in reincarnation. During the early to mid 13th century, the Pope wanted to make the point that Rome was Christianity, and he called a crusade against the Cathars. This dovetailed nicely with the king of France wanting to consolidate his grip on southern France, and during the crusade thousands of Cathars were killed and many of the rest chased into hiding. Carcassonne was one of the cities where the Cathars had been tolerated, and the French ended up booting everyone out of the city, and they took over. Carcassonne remained important up until the time the border with Spain was moved farther south, when it lost it's relevance.

Still, it's an amazing sight, especially at night. During the day, the middle of the city is filled with tourists browsing the many tourist shops and restaurants. However, the areas between the inner and outer walls remains quite uncrowded and impressive to walk through. It's at dusk and night though when the city really comes alive - not with people, because most of the tourists are gone - but walking the ramparts and city at night, with the lights playing off all the old towers, is really an experience that can take you back hundreds of years.

Trish and I imbibed in a local dish, cassoulet, which is a white bean stew in which they mix in duck, or pork and usually a sausage of some kind. You can make it from scratch, or local grocery stores sell it in cans ready to just heat up and eat. It got thumbs up from both of us.

Today we also took a drive down to a mountain top fortress of Peyrepertuse. We took the scenic route, which led us to almost 2 hours of driving down some beautiful river valley, but on a 1 1/2 lane two-way road the whole way. I'm glad Trish was driving because I would have been worn out. Peyrepertuse itself is on the very top of a foothill of the Pyrenees (imagine a stone castle on top of one of the Flatirons outside of Boulder and you can get a feel), one of several fortresses that dominated the area. These are so high up that you can see the ocean 40 miles away from on top. They are so ridiculously secure on their mountain tops that nobody tried to storm them. Personally, if I was battling against I would have just ignored them - I'm not sure what the defenders could have done stuck on their mountains, even if they were secure. Still, they were definitely a statement that could be seen from a long distance - "we are here and you aren't kicking us out." As I told Trish though, as I stood in the ramparts looking down the cliff, I could not help but picture myself as the French Taunter from "Monty Python and the Holy Grail."

Friday we are off towards Provence, to see France's #2 tourist spot (after Paris), the Pont du Gard Roman aquaduct.



Sophie exploring the Beynac castle

Sophie's elephant Tarrence watches the drive from the dashboard

Sophie and Noelle try the carousel outside of the Carcassonne city gates

Playing the board game "Carcassonne" in Carcassonne - we brought it with us just so we could say we did that

Pete and Sophie with Carcassonne in the background

Marie and one of the hotel dogs - this was the older one, and they also had a younger chocolate lab and a very cute cat all of whom loved scratches and pets from the girls

Example of one of the French roads, lined with trees

The fortress city of Carcassonne, with the main castle seen on the right, and both inner and outer walls visible

The girl walk the lices ("lists" in English), the area between the inner and outer wall on a beautifully warm summer night. In olden times they would have markets, fairs or jousts in the lices.

Sophie and Marie after a particularly good dinner

Trish and Noelle enjoying dinner on a particularly picturesque place (like piazza in in Italy) in Carcassonne

Noelle and gargoyle - which is which?

Sophie looking out from a castle window onto the roofs of Carcassonne - those slate conic roofs are actually from the 1800s, when Carcassonne was completely restored

Trish and Sophie on the Carcassonne ramparts

The fortress of Peyrepertuse, on top of a mountain

Pete, in Peyrepertuse, after having trudged up the trail from the visitor center

Pete at the top part of Peyrepertuse, with the lower section in the background and the Pyrenees foothills in the background - this castle was not restored, and so you had to have some imagination to figure out what it originally looked like

Trish sits at a ledge in Peyrepertuse reading the map and looking out towards the ocean 40 miles way