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Published: September 28th 2022
This morning was my last breakfast in France.
We forgot to buy milk yesterday, so muesli with water and Nescafé Instant coffee . Very French, not.
It’s 9.46am, and we’re driving through small villages with serious speed humps every 200 metres, and large gated villas with German Shepherd dogs patrolling the gates as the welcoming committee.
Lush bowling (?) greens dominate the drive through the village and are being attended to by volunteers; it’s always volunteers, right ?
The hillsides are covered in grapevines and olive trees, and the trees are starting to turn vivid yellow, orange, and red as autumn overtakes summer.
We just snatched a ticket from yet another toll station, and dodging the speed humps, roundabouts and rough country roads always justifies the fee . The highways are smooth, high speed, and have a culture of slow vehicles and trucks keeping to the right unless overtaking.
There’s none of these Volvo hat drivers we have in Australia, sitting just below the speed limit in the overtaking lane , resisting the aggression of the car behind , so close they can’t see the headlights. No one gets past them.
The tolls are
An Aux Original
The first street we walked down had old posters and pictures of born and bred locals. They looked like really old pictures up until about the 1970squite high and our drive from Tours to Levignac brought up about 75€ in tolls, $A 113.
The parking places in Aux de Provence are tight. At Level 7 there is meant to be 47 spots available, but with larger SUVs sitting in the middle of 2 spots, the figure is likely to be much less. We squeezed into a spot, wit the large Audi next to us sitting diagonally across our line. The owner came back while we were there and threw us a dirty look. She was going to have to climb across her seats to get behind the wheel, but who’s fault is that.
The lift in the carpark opened just behind the Cathedral of Our Saviour, so that was the first stop. Other than beautiful frescos and classic gothic architecture, a major feature is the ring of marble and granite columns dating back to the first century. I still can’t believe they don’t have any areas roped off. The Roman baptismal font is roped off, but that’s just a safety measure as it’s at ground level, like a walk in pool. And it was plumbed for water in Roman times. This baptism area also
has remnants of some 14th century frescos depicting St Francis of Assisi and St. Clare of Assisi.They we’re concealed under a layer of render applied in later years.Century artwork depicting St Francis of Assisi and St Clare of Assisi.
Aix de Provence is one of the prettiest cities we have visited, but we have stuck to the Old Town, and like many of these places, that could be where the pretty starts to drop away. That’s not a criticism, it’s just a fact that people flock to the historical sites.
Founded in 122BC., it was the capital of the Roman Provençe and has maintained its popularity as it averages over 300 sunny days a year. It is fertile land and encouraged settlements to form in the region.
The region of Provence is renowned for its vast scented fields of violet coloured lavender, but the season has passed, so we missed that, and also the crowds it attracts in the European holiday season, August.
Huey, the God of Weather has been unseasonably kind to us, and other than an afternoon of rain on the day we arrived here, it’s been sunshine all the way. The popularity of
the South of France is largely due to its warmer sunny seasons, and people who come from the north and Eastern European countries, pay big money to enjoy a month away from the cold, the snow, and the ‘I’m sick of this weather’ depressed state of mind that can accompany it.
The majority of the Australian population are fortunate enough to treat a trip to the coast on a warm day as a day trip; not expensive and probably not appreciated as the privilege it is.
Today we visited some art galleries, had numerous people watching sessions, with a coffee, in some of the many green plazas in the city. It is the city of Paul Cezanne, and the fading painted sign is still on a building, advertising his father’s hat shop. As the sign says, he was retail and wholesale. At the time he probably would have preferred his lazy son to help out in the business, instead of disappearing into the hills with his easel and paints. He’ll never amount to anything !
I think that all of us have enjoyed our company, and raised voices only occasionally occurred when I was explaining to Tim
Clock On The Cathedral
Still correct to the minute. Not sure if they have daylight saving though. when he was wrong. These are the times Sue is quietest. It was rare.
The changing climate, different foods, and the slowly changes in the landscape and crops never allowed boredom to set in , and we’ve gone from coats and jackets to T-shirts and shorts in 12 days.
I think travelling through France has definitely reflected the influence of the Roman settlement and the villages and architecture remind me of Italy. Culturally, I would be a brave man to suggest they are similar, but they do share an appreciation of good food and wine, are very proud and parochial about their regions and specialties, and fiercely compete when competing in sports, or indeed Bull Festivals.
Travelling to the Carmargue wetlands down near the coast, and witnessing the Festival of the Bulls, it’s apparent Spain has influenced this area, and the traditional dress, music and dancing reflect that history. I think if one aspect of our visit was a favourite for me, it was the drive to the coast, and following up with the festival even though we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into.
Tonight we are eating salads and cold meats we
bought in the markets in Aux, and Sue and Tim will share a bottle of wine.It’s already started by the look of it.
Tomorrow we bid France goodbye, and drive to Geneva in Switzerland, where we’ll look at the lake, and if all goes well, I’ll install a dishwasher. I hope Mete is ready for the call-out fee. It’s been raining there, but I’m sure as we approach, the clouds will part. Catch up then for a short post.
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