Around Provence

Provence covers an area about 300 kilometres by 150 kilometres, along the Mediterranean coast and inland along the Rhone River to the French Alps.  The Rhone River forms a delta at its mouth known as the Camargue.  The Camargue is a marshy wetland that is home to a variety of birds, including the flamingo.  Salt and rice are produced there, and Black bulls and white horses are raised.  The horses are used for herding and the bulls are raised for bullfights and also for their meat.  We saw hundreds of flamingos and there were yellow wild irises in bloom in many of the ditches and canals.  Luckily it was a bit early (and cool) for the mosquitos for which the Camargue is also renowned.

Flamingos

We saw many people in motor homes in Provence and there are lots of campgrounds.  The motorhomes are mainly small, since they have to navigate the winding roads and the narrow village streets.  VW Westfalia vans are common and there are many campers built on a van chassis similar to our Mercedes Sprinter.

Wild Irises

The spring flowers were in full bloom and we saw fields with thousands of red poppies all over Provence. Vineyards were beginning to leaf and many of the fruit trees were already finished blooming and were beginning to set fruit.  We were able to buy early cherries at a roadside stand near one orchard toward the end of our trip.

The grape vines beginning to leaf

Olive groves are common in Provence and many farmers who grow grapes for wine also have olive trees for oil.  The lavender was just beginning to grow and in a few places was starting to make flower heads.  We hope to return to see it in blossom some time.

View of vineyards and olive groves

We did a drive along the Ardeche Gorge on one of the cloudy and rainy days we had during our trip.

Ardeche Gorges

We also had some hot weather and hiked in the Dentelles de Montmirail on one of the hot days.

Dentelles de Montmirail

Kathy on the hike of the Dentelles

Evanna at the highest point on the trail

One of the most beautiful things in Provence is the rows of plane trees lining many of the small highways.  The trees are very old and very large.  They make a beautiful alley to drive through.

Plane trees through the car window

Vaison la Romaine, a medieval town, with irises and cypress trees which are common throughout Provence

Marvellous Markets

Every day there is a market within driving distance from wherever you are in Provence.  We went to the market in 6 different communities during our three weeks of travel.  Here are some scenes from the markets where we shopped.

Herbes de Provence includes a large selection of more exotic spices to cater to the large immigrant populations.

Sausage is a big seller in the markets.

 Macarons in many flavours in the market in Arles

Huge pans of freshly cooked Paella were sold in most markets

The chèvre was very tasty and sold everywhere.

Evanna enjoyed the olives, Kathy - not so much.

Local strawberries were available though not cheap.

The ribbed tomatoes are called coeur de boeuf.

Dried lavender - the lavender blooms in late June so we were too early to see it in blossom.

Nougat is made everywhere in Provence since its ingredients-honey, eggs and nuts are abundant - we ate a lot of very good nougat. We did not lose weight in France!

Along the Cote d'Azur

We left the mountains for the coast again, this time to the section of coast between Cannes and Marseilles. We stayed a couple of nights in the area of St.Tropez (but not in pricey St. Tropez itself!), and then two nights in Cassis. The first picture is a typical village cafe and boulangerie, this one in the village of Giens where we went on market day.

The next picture is the waterfront at Cassis. We took a boat ride along the coast where there are calanques (similar to fjords) cut into the limestone cliffs.

The third picture is a street in Cassis. This looks very calm but when we arrived there on May day, a holiday in Europe, the town was crowded with people from all the near by cities. We were relieved to see them all leave that evening!

Fourth is a picture of us with the town of Cassis behind us and the highest cliffs in France in the background. The previous day we did a scenic drive along the top of the cliffs and a few short hikes up there as well. The last photo is of our hike to have lunch up on the cliff. We had many tasty goodies from the market in Giens.

 

Grand Canyon du Verdon

After a few days along the coast we moved inland to Moustiers-Ste-Marie, which is at the western end of the Verdon Canyon. We stayed in a very comfortable bed and breakfast just outside the town and did the Canyon drive from there. The first picture is of us on a short hike in the canyon. The road goes along the top of the cliff behind us and we had driven part way down and then hiked the rest of the way to the river.

The next picture is a view of part of Moustiers from above the town, and the third picture is a view of Moustiers and the surrounding countryside from the chapel high up on the mountain above the town. It is a very beautiful spot and we could have stayed there longer, but there is so much more of Provence to see!