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Published: October 17th 2011
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Hi All
Finally found the time to write the next bit - it is hard work being on holidays! For our overnight stay in Provence we headed to Moustiers-Sainte-Marie via Gordes, both very pretty towns. Gordes is a monument in stone - walls, houses, with some very nice houses and gardens perched on cliffs that we noticed were propped up underneath with massive pillars. I don’t think I would feel secure living in those, though the views would be magnificent. Then onto Moustiers which is built into a cliff wall with a monastery perched above it - a good climb that really got the heart rate going! We had one of our nicest meals here (fine dining). Moustiers-Sainte-Marie is very close to the Verdon Gorges, known here in France as Europe’s Grand Canyon. The gorge really is quite magnificent, but I have problems with little roads, mad French drivers coming the other way and a 600metre drop straight out of my window. (Why do we always seem to go around gorges with my side on the edge?) The photos don’t really do justice to how spectacular this gorge is.
The next day we decided to head to St
Tropez for a quick look - we did plan on going to Eze which apparently has magnificent views over the Mediterranean but distance / time is different here. 200kms can equal 4 hours. So we headed to St Maxime, a town just east of St Tropez and drove along the coast for a bit. Quite pretty with beaches that are raked everyday (probably to remove the 2 tonne of cigarette butts!) and a very holiday feel about the place. Sean dipped his feet into the Mediterranean which was quite warm - he conveniently parked the car near some topless bathers. He couldn’t see the beach when he pulled up - must have been that radar vision that men seem to have!
We then headed back to Uzes which took nearly 2 hours longer than usual due to a bad truck accident that had blocked lanes on both sides of the motorway. We realised during the crawl that our GPS tells us things like this - we will be experts on the GPS just before the trip is finished.
Avignon is a short drive from Uzes, so that was the next place to visit. Long sections of the wall
surrounding the old city are still in place, separating the new from the old. We checked out the Popes Palace, quite interesting, as we didn’t realise the Pope wasn’t always in the Vatican - a number of Popes during the 1300’s and 1400’s resided here. I move through quicker than Sean so went and had my usual café crème in the square overlooking the Palace. It was interesting sitting there people watching - I do feel very frumpy here. French women are so slim - all ages - it is unusual to see a chubby person.
The next visit was Nîmes, which has a very well preserved Roman ampitheatre, built around 70 AD. They still use it today for bullfighting and concerts. This really was the only impressive thing we found in Nîmes.
The next day trip was to Grotte La Cocoliere, a one kilometre long cave - just one branch of 30km of tunnels. Fantastic reflections in just a couple of centimetres of water but unfortunately no photos allowed.
We also wanted to see the Millau viaduct, an architectural masterpiece (bridge) that spans around 1.6km over a valley. Enroute to this were a number of picturesque
little villages along the Gorge du Tarn (yes, another gorge). This gorge was probably our favourite, as the villages along the river were very pretty, the weather was perfect, and the autumn colours were everywhere. A nice slow day, with lunch at a lovely restaurant in Saint-Enimie with the waiter telling us October is normally très pluie (lots of rain).
For our last day in Uzes we decided to head to the Luberon region in Provence, with the first stop in a village called Menerbes, made famous by Peter Mayle’s book ‘A Year in Provence’. Very nice town, with great views, but it seemed to have a deserted, almost sterile feel about it. Not sure if it was just settling down after a busy tourist season, but it seemed almost too cute. Hard to explain. We then headed to Rousillon, a town famed for its many coloured houses due to the ochre found in the nearby cliffs. We found this town had a lot more atmosphere, had a nice lunch here (yes, my hips are getting bigger!) and wandered around. We have found some towns are just total tourist freakshows, while some towns seem to get the balance just
right. Rousillon was one that, whilst touristy, seemed more ‘tasteful’. We have been lucky as the most popular places are a lot less crowded, being October. After a full day’s driving we arrived back in Uzes, ready to leave early the next morning so Sean could watch the Rugby (France and Wales) at our next point of call, a little village called Léran close to the Pyrenees. We ended up in a bar/café eating croissants, drinking coffee surrounded by excited French men watching France win in a town called Laroque d’Olmes Good atmosphere, and, although we did get a few curious looks, they were all friendly and polite. Sean should have worn his Wallabies Rugby jumper.
Although Uzes was a good base to visit a large amount of places, we were not that impressed with the town and surrounds. We were probably on the more busier side, and the roundabouts have so much visual pollution (one roundabout has at least 15 advertising signs) it just spoilt it. Strolling around the inner streets was better, and the other side of town seems a bit more upmarket, but there is a lot of new buildings mixed with old that don’t really
‘gel’. The tiny village we are in at the moment is more to our taste, and it is only a few kilometres to bigger towns, such as Mirepoix, but I will talk about that next time.
I still haven't had a decent steak. The last steak I bought at the butchers for BBQing was so tough I couldn’t swallow after much chewing, so it will be the last steak I buy (restaurants included). So the next best option is buying the delicious looking paella cooked in enormous woks at the markets, along with garlic mushrooms and roasted potatoes. Cheaper than restaurants and I don’t have to cook!
Thanks for the comments Maz, Pamela and Julie. I did try sea snails in my last restaurant meal - totally tasteless and chewy, and not sure about the frogs legs. May give them a go.
We are off to Carcassone tomorrow (today - just noticed the time). Then, as I think Wednesday will be our first rainy day, might go shopping in Toulouse. It is a hard life!
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