Whew! What a busy week this has been. Dan and I ventured to Salon de Provance one day. We found out how to take the bus, which cost 1.5 Euro for a one way voyage. What was exciting there? We saw a great museum in a chateau. The museum was a military museum and had some pretty cool displays, including rifles that were five feet long! One display featured a document signed by Napoleon.
Also in Salon there is a soap factory. I know, that's not very exciting. But this is a well known factory and we joined a tour of older people. We learned how soap was made and cut and packaged. Of course, we bought soap also.
We also saw and heard the French Air Force Red Arrows, an acrobatic flying squad. They practiced over town in the morning and in the afternoon. You could hear them coming, but it was impossible to get pictures because they are so fast. We could see the pilots head outlined….that is how close they were to the ground.
Julia, my Swiss daughter, came Friday. We went to the cafe, I introduced her to Marcel, we all had wine and watched the 5:30 traffic jam. Then we went to Chez Jerome for take out pizza and I introduced her to him. Saturday morning we saw Chez Jerome making pizzas as Chez Marcel. When Dan and I went to ask him how this was, Marcel came over and joined the talk, referring to Dan and I as friends. It was kind of cool being in a partially understood conversation with two locals.
We all piled in the rented car and I drove to a winery, where we met Marie, owner of the place. They bottle 100,000 bottles a year of red, white and rose. We sampled, we bought, we left. Actually, Dan and I had already met Marie and she invited us out to the cave to sample and buy wine. We spent an hour with her and we were sorry to go.
But Pont de Gard called. This is the remains of a Roman aqueduct from 2,000 years ago. Dan was just a kid when they built it! This is the last standing complete remnant of an aqueduct that brought needed water to Nimes during the Roman age. Dan always taught it in history and has always dreamed of seeing it…and now he has. We even have pictures to prove it!
Les Baux then called. This hilltop castle dates from around 1,000. It was ordered destroyed in 1300 and the ruins are spectacular. From high atop a rocky mesa, the castle commanded a wide view of the plain below. We climbed up and down, got put in stocks for being bad Americans, and were amazed by the beauty.
Sunday we went to L'Isle de la Sorge, the "Venice of Provance." This was market day and there was also an antique sale and flea market. The city of bridges was overwhelmed by buyers and sellers. Julia bought two weird shaped lights….and after a great lunch in a perfect setting, got back in her car and went home to Switzerland.
Dan and I continued to Aix en Provence, the city of fountains, and spent about two hours roaming the streets and taking pictures of fountains.
Now we are tired.
I apologize for the long post…..but we are limited by our lack of wifi. We are going to Julia's on Thursday for my birthday and will have more exciting updates, including why it took us so long to get home.
Cheers
From the top: Dan with his new bar of soap in Salon de Provence....Linda should be getting this in the mail sometime next week: Pont du Gard and two guys almost as old; part of the castle as it is today and as it was 1300we were imprisoned by the local gendarme for violating sweater codes; one of the bridges in L'Isle de la Sorgue; the fountain in DeGaulle square in Aix en Provance
No comments:
Post a Comment