PROVENCE - ONE AMAZING SCENE AFTER ANOTHER
We hatched a plan to hire a car again for a few days to get away and see some of the country as well as get away from the boat yard to try and make the time go quicker.
We headed to Arles where we have been shopping before for boring hardware and supplies but we hadn't looked any further around the town. So we were pretty surprised by the Roman Amphitheatre we found in the middle of the city. It was pretty impressive and made a great background to our lunch stop.
We had to drop into the Public Notary office in Arles to confirm an appointment for the following day and then we drove towards the Luberon valley passing through Saint Remy-de-Provence and then to our Airbnb at a farm house looking towards the small hill top village of Menerbes.
We drove on to the next village of Bonnieux to get some supplies and drove into the top of the town and fell into the view and just had to stop for an early dinner and drink to admire the view.
The next day we had to meander back to Arles for our appointment so set off early to find somewhere for breakfast. Along the way Tony veered off (to get away from a car) onto a side road and I saw a sign to Gorde, I knew I had read about the village but in all honesty couldn't remember what was special about it.
Just a small side note: Tony is doing a fantastic job driving a manual car on the "right" but incorrect side of the road and when you are a tourist you tend to drive slightly slower and less confidently but, it seems like every driver thinks they are Ayrton Senna and think that the small country roads are race tracks. It's made for some funny times for me listening to Tony swearing and cursing!!!
So, driving up the hill towards the village of Gorde and catching the first glimpse of the town through the trees was just spectacular. We found a park and then walked away from the town centre so we could get the view from the road. We came, we saw and we left just as the first tourist buses were pulling into town.
After returning to Arles for our appointment we had an amazing lunch which I think was the first truly "French" meal we had had.
Closer to where we were staying was the village of Roussillion which is situated in an area where the soil is a real ochre colour. Apart from the landscape showing the red/orange coloured soil, the village was just so delightful. I know that there are so many villages all over Europe that are equally as pretty and we are just not used to the "oldness" of everything but they are just so beautiful.
Dinner that night was spent in a hilltop restaurant in Menerbes looking back to our farmhouse Airbnb.
Saturday was "Market Day" in Apt. My excitement at experiencing a traditional French market was only equaled by Tony's dread!! The old part of Apt had stalls set up along all the streets in the centre. There was everything from fruits & Vege's to cheese, charcuterie, seafood and anything you could possible expect to see on a stall. I was very restrained and only bought a hat, a dress and some apricots. Tony was planted in a central place listening to some music whilst I ventured down all the small alleys.
Our next Airbnb was chosen that morning and was close (not as close as I thought) to the next days adventure to Moustiers-Saint-Marie considered to be one of the "most beautiful villages in France"
We enjoyed a lovely drive through a valley and then up a hill/mountain to a huge plateau with big areas of lavender farms and wheat crops yet you could still see the drop off area where the plateau ended and the valley began. There were motorbikes on the roads eveywhere so good to know the industry is thriving in Europe.
Moustiers was another beautiful village set against towering limestone rocks. After finding a park at the very top of the village we walked down and wandered around before walking back up to more stairs that climbed up to a church in the clouds. You just look at it in awe and wonder how on earth they built this all those years ago.
And so the adventure was over and we were driving back to the boat yard and to our home Phantomas.
We headed to Arles where we have been shopping before for boring hardware and supplies but we hadn't looked any further around the town. So we were pretty surprised by the Roman Amphitheatre we found in the middle of the city. It was pretty impressive and made a great background to our lunch stop.
We had to drop into the Public Notary office in Arles to confirm an appointment for the following day and then we drove towards the Luberon valley passing through Saint Remy-de-Provence and then to our Airbnb at a farm house looking towards the small hill top village of Menerbes.
We drove on to the next village of Bonnieux to get some supplies and drove into the top of the town and fell into the view and just had to stop for an early dinner and drink to admire the view.The next day we had to meander back to Arles for our appointment so set off early to find somewhere for breakfast. Along the way Tony veered off (to get away from a car) onto a side road and I saw a sign to Gorde, I knew I had read about the village but in all honesty couldn't remember what was special about it.
Just a small side note: Tony is doing a fantastic job driving a manual car on the "right" but incorrect side of the road and when you are a tourist you tend to drive slightly slower and less confidently but, it seems like every driver thinks they are Ayrton Senna and think that the small country roads are race tracks. It's made for some funny times for me listening to Tony swearing and cursing!!!
So, driving up the hill towards the village of Gorde and catching the first glimpse of the town through the trees was just spectacular. We found a park and then walked away from the town centre so we could get the view from the road. We came, we saw and we left just as the first tourist buses were pulling into town.
After returning to Arles for our appointment we had an amazing lunch which I think was the first truly "French" meal we had had.
Closer to where we were staying was the village of Roussillion which is situated in an area where the soil is a real ochre colour. Apart from the landscape showing the red/orange coloured soil, the village was just so delightful. I know that there are so many villages all over Europe that are equally as pretty and we are just not used to the "oldness" of everything but they are just so beautiful.
Dinner that night was spent in a hilltop restaurant in Menerbes looking back to our farmhouse Airbnb.
Saturday was "Market Day" in Apt. My excitement at experiencing a traditional French market was only equaled by Tony's dread!! The old part of Apt had stalls set up along all the streets in the centre. There was everything from fruits & Vege's to cheese, charcuterie, seafood and anything you could possible expect to see on a stall. I was very restrained and only bought a hat, a dress and some apricots. Tony was planted in a central place listening to some music whilst I ventured down all the small alleys.
Our next Airbnb was chosen that morning and was close (not as close as I thought) to the next days adventure to Moustiers-Saint-Marie considered to be one of the "most beautiful villages in France"
We enjoyed a lovely drive through a valley and then up a hill/mountain to a huge plateau with big areas of lavender farms and wheat crops yet you could still see the drop off area where the plateau ended and the valley began. There were motorbikes on the roads eveywhere so good to know the industry is thriving in Europe.
Moustiers was another beautiful village set against towering limestone rocks. After finding a park at the very top of the village we walked down and wandered around before walking back up to more stairs that climbed up to a church in the clouds. You just look at it in awe and wonder how on earth they built this all those years ago.
And so the adventure was over and we were driving back to the boat yard and to our home Phantomas.