22nd May- A Final Fling in France

Our room at the Hotel Med was certainly interesting; it opened onto the street, but the windows, shutters and curtains blocked off most of the external night noises. The internal noises were something else and in the morning, more entertaining than we had expected.

Since our plane did not leave until the afternoon, we checked our luggage and walked to the old city and the busy port. The sun was shining as we passed through the Saturday book market and another popular fruit and veg market, both set up in plazas under umbrellas - very nice. Many photos later, a paddle in the Mediterranean Sea was a most pleasing final touch to our trip. The Airport bus carried us and many others along the front Promenade to the airport and after checking our luggage in to Emirates we had a most relaxed luncheon - duo salmon salad with a glass of rose.

Having taxied to the take off runway, one passenger became very agitated and we returned to the terminal to offload her and her luggage - this took some time, but we had bought a book each and I had my cards; just another traveller's tale!

20th May By Train to Nice!

In the fast train to Nice, we were pleased to find our seats were upstairs facing backwards - in fast trains your eyes get really tired watching things whizzing past. We passed through Marseilles and stopped at Toulon and Cannes. After St Raphael, the trip was along the coast with some beautiful views of rocky coast, sparkling water in pretty bays and lots of water craft.
We pulled our cases to the Berlioz Hotel, not too far from the station in Nice, only to be told we would be moved to a different hotel the next day, due to painting works.
Not wanting to waste a moment, we walked around town in the early afternoon then took a little tourist train on a sightseeing tour - the commentary was good and it gave us an opportunity to choose where we would like to go later.
21st May
After a complimentary breakfast, our hotel host drove us to the Hotel Med, just one block from La Promenade Anglaise and the beautiful, though stony, beach. After storing our luggage until the room became available, we went off to find a local bus to Eze, a village in the hills where there is a perfume factory and a famous garden "Le Jardin Exotique".
The road climbed up the steep hills after the port and we proceeded towards Monaco. The spectacular views were just as we had seen in photos - incredible mansions, chateaux and huge yachts.
At Eze we followed others towards a winding hill path on the sea side of the road and we continued up towards the medieval village of Eze. It was built then fortified at the top of a rocky mount overlooking the sea and the coast in both directions. The "Jardin" was at the very top, surrounding what's left of fortress ruins; it is unexpectedly, a huge collection of succulents and cacti. As we climbed through the village, every twisting lane and stairway was another photo; there were campanula growing from the rocky walls, huge urns by doorways, heavy timber and iron doors surrounded by flush stonework and staircases of rock polished by centuries of wear.

19th May Glorious Avignon

There are several self guided walks around Avignon and we chose one that would lead us through different quarters of the town through narrow, winding, cobbled streets lined with tall buildings (3-5 storeys) and many tiny "places" where maybe 5 streets meet at very sharp angles.

We were particularly interested in the street that follows a canal for about 1 km - it was the place where fabrics were dyed in the early days of Avignon. It used to be outside the city walls (very smelly occupation), but later the city walls were moved to take in the area. There had been 14 waterwheels along this strech of canal and we saw 4 still rolling with the fast moving water.

In the afternoon, we visited the Musee de Petit Palace, situated on the grand 'place' at the side of the Palais des Papes. I was astounded by the beautiful art works from 1300 - 1500 - religious paintings, icons etc. Only one room showed architectural features from the times - bosses and fine scultures of saints, The other 15 rooms all held paintings, even a few frescoes lent by The Louvre.

18th May - Day trip to Arles - a Van Gogh experience

Our coach delivered us from the train station at Avignon to a circular lawn with big shade trees, Place Lamartine, outside the the old city walls of Arles, the gateway is guarded by 2 circular pillars that have the great spaces where the draw bridge was attached. The street ahead of us was narrow and lined with cafes, bars and nice souvenir shops, many with fabric articles - tableware etc. The Roman amphitheatre is in the centre of the town and, as in Nimes, is now used for bull fighting!

Our self guided walk to places where Van Gogh painted, took us past many interesting places, so we really saw much of Arles. At each stop there was a good sized pedestal set where Van Gogh must have stood his easel and a copy of the particular painting was on each one. Fantastic. Lunch was yummy provencal pork at an outdoor restaurant under shady plane trees in the Place de Forum, where Van Gogh painted Cafe Terrace at Night. We loved Arles as a place to visit - it had a good atmosphere.

We saw other Roman ruins, Renaissance and classical architecture, lots of lovely curving, narrow streets with high houses protected by coloured shutters.

That evening, back in Avignon, Irene suggested we should take advantage of the terrace outside our 5th floor room, so, the French doors not yielding to our key, I handed 2 chairs out through the window and we sat out in style - our access being through a door down the hall!

At about 9pm, as it was becoming dark, we went out to see the beautifully lit Pont d'Avignon.

17t May The Charm of Avignon; Nimes, Uzes & Pont du Gard

On our first day in Avignon, Monday, we visited the Palace des Papes, a most photogenic structure with towers, turrets and spires, twisting staircases right up to the ramparts, fascinating halls, chapels, tiles, tapestries and remnants of ancient frescoes.
Wandering around nearby streets to the Pont d'Avignon we sang the old ditty "Sur le pont, d'Avignon..." then ate lunch in the Place d'Horloge, the tourist area of a hundred umbrellas right outside our hotel door.

At 2:30 we were met by our tour leader for an excursion to Nimes, Uzes and Pont du Gard (Irene's dream destination). The Mercedes vehicle held 8 passengers, 4 English, 2 New Zealanders and us, very good.
Our first stop in Nimes was at an ancient Roman hall, beautifully lazer cleaned for the film Gladiator, then on to the Roman arena which was, along with the whole city, being prepared for a bull fighting festival the following weekend! Built in the 1st Century, it is an amazing feat of engineering; I felt the atmosphere of the place so I was pleased I could focus on the engineering rather than its use!

Uzes is a beautiful medieval town with clean, cobbled, twisting, narrow, hilly streets opening on to a big, flat, open square shaded by huge plane trees and cooled by the presence of a fountain. Many houses were 4-5 storey with shutters closed, waiting for their Parisian owners to return for holidays.

Finally to Pont du Gard, the aquaduct carrying water from the spring at Uzes, 50 km to Nimes. Irene was ecstatic to walk across it and she made the most of every moment there.

16th May Farewell Ferme de Tayac - Best B&B

A short walk to the station and our single diesel carriage train arrived for the pretty trip through forests interspersed with agricultural strips and stopping at eight towns on the way to Agen on the main route from Bordeaux to the Mediterranean Sea. We found a window seat each so we both had unrestricted views. I can't help myself, lovely scallops for lunch in the buffet de gare with a glass of Bergerac red, what a life! Then a big train to Narbonne through Toulouse and Carcassonne. On this leg of our journey we had our first and only sight of the snowy Pyrenees.
Once again we were unimpressed by the steps required to negotiate the platforms at French stations, ramps are rare and lifts or escalators pretty well unheard of!
The train to Avignon was a smart new machine with 9 stops before the terminus and we again were able to choose window seats opposite each other - the very best way to travel through new country, rubbernecking out of each other's window as well as our own!
We pulled our cases through the walled city of Avignon to our hotel right in the middle of the outdoor restaurant area, fantastic. I had selected it for its central position and because it was in sight (standing on tiptoe at our window) of the Palace des Papes, a beautiful ancient palace used when the Popes moved out of Rome for a century or two.

15th May Last day in Les Eyzies

The Prehistory Museum under the cliffs in town has a combination of ancient and modern buildings with an interactive exhibition of paleontology incorporating archeological samples, art and detailed history of the Perigord area. After some enthralling hours there, we walked over the bridge and watched kayakers enjoying the river; I had hoped to do the same, but we ran out of time.

Later in the afternoon, since it was light until 9 pm, we chose a marked walk up the Vezere to find seven lookouts from medieval times. These 'towers' were actually natural clifftop points from where visiting or attacking craft could be seen for miles and the settlements along the river could be warned by messages from tower to tower. There was actually an ancient, cobbled and walled road through the forest to the few lookouts we had time to find and I imagined the necessary traffic from early days, laden carts, people travelling to markets and from village to village, another contrasting environment and a very evocative place to find near our lovely base at Ferme de Tayac.

Along the way I found 3 tiny white orchid plants of 2 different types, so I photgraphed them for my friend Anne near Melbourne who has been excited to find many species on their land at Grantville.

Chatting with our hosts at the b&b, Mike suggested a different restaurant, the Auberge de Musee, where we again enjoyed a delicious meal, a fitting conclusion to our experiences in Les Eyzies de Tayac.

Continuing a Day with Ann & Albert

We were all thrilled with the experience of Roche St Christophe and from there Albert drove to Montignac where we walked around this old town further up the Vezere River. Then our generous friends provided a picnic lunch at St Leon sur Vezere; Ann found a tranquil spot behind a cemetery, near a walnut tree in a field of wild flowers and they produced baguette, yummy pestos, hazelnut tart, orange, iced tea and coffee!!!. ... a Belgian step ahead of a jug of wine, a hunk of cheese and thee. The hilly cliff country had excited us, the green forests that we travelled through refreshed us and the wild flowers charmed us.
Arriving back at Les Eyzies we said goodbye to Ann and Albert and we all expressed the hope that we may meet again, Albert explained how convenient Gent is to travellers in Europe and Great Britain - I look forward to following his advice - I will certainly continue my connection with these wonderful people and I anticipate reading Albert's online books about ethical environment.
Dinner that evening in Les Eyzies again took us to Restaurant Chateaubriant (not ...d) with Mal (his wife Margie was too ill to join us), Maureen and Deb from Oregon. Mal took a delicious pot of soup home to Margie and the rest of us enjoyed walking back to Ferme de Tayac to a card game of 500, well done Deb! Mal provided a bottle of red for our added enjoyment.

14th May Village in the Cliff - Roche St Christophe

Ann and Albert picked us up at the ancient church and we drove to Roche St Christophe, a cliff within which a village was created within 5 ledges. Steps were cut into cliff faces to caves and ledges under overhanging cliffs - people lived in houses and worked businesses in these open faced caves that they walled and worked in, fortified by a draw bridge at the only entrance on the cliff face. We saw blacksmiths' and butcher shops, a chapel and homes. The inhabitants guarded the village from lookouts to the Versere River immedicately below. This is an amazing place where, standing alone, I could imagine the sounds and smells of the people who lived there. A few areas have been recreated as they had been - food shop, smithy, armoury and there were winches and wheels to lift heavy weights from the river and the land below.

From the cliff faces we could see cyclists in yellow lycra riding in groups crossing the old bridge across the Verzere while we talked about the complexity of life within these cliffs; there were windows cut from caves we could not enter and dressed models were placed at work, on watch and even in a small prison cell.