Another Tiny Village and Gorges du Verdon

The next day of traveling brought more beautiful sights. We were told we were going to the Gorges du Verdon which is comparable to the Grand Canyon. We had breakfast and boarded the bus nice and early. Well, breakfast turned out to be the wrong idea for the journey that we embarked on. It makes sense to sit and think about it, but I didn't think about it before we left. Talk about some twisting and turning and extremely narrow roads with steep drops on the other side in order to get to this Grand Canyon place! And, we're talking about being on a bus with all of this! We often had to try and pull right up next to the rocky cliff in order to let cars get passed us who were coming from the other direction. I have never been so impressed with the abilities of the bus driver until today. And, like all vehicles in France, he was driving a manual transmission bus, through narrow roads and up hills. After my summer of learning to drive a stick shift I had great respect for our driver. I didn't get sick, but it would have been completely understandable.

We made a stop at this village first because, as I found out when we got there, we took the long route on our way to the Gorges. Long route? Oh yes, total traveling time 3 hours on a bus. And, it wasn't the three hours that got old, but the winding, twisting, turning roads. In hindsight I should have taken a video of this drive. Incredible! Anyway, this first village was very lovely. Here's a picture from up above.

Aren't the roofs just glorious? Such a beautiful old french town. The reason that it's from above can be better understood from the picture below. There is a tiny church set atop a hill. Legend/rumor/what have you says that one of the Knights of Templar was traveling and settled here, or left and then returned here, or sought out this place, I'm not entirely sure. I suppose that's why it's a legend. Regardless, there's a cute little church at the top of a hill, which you have to go on a massive climb to find. After three hours on a bus, I say bring it on!

Well, the route wasn't exactly well marked. I figured if we just kept moving uphill we would have found the route to get there. Well, we ended up on the wrong trail. It was a warm-up I told the others, feeling partly responsible for being so headstrong that "yes, we're moving up hill, of course this route is correct!" I took a picture on our way back to the correct route of this lovely little stream with giraffes! Not real ones, but still charming nevertheless!

And so began our climb up the stairs. Yes, look below. We climb all of those stairs! There were quite a few. I would have counted, if it weren't for the fact I was preoccupied with making sure I could still catch my breath and not die on the slippery 400 year old stone steps. The slippery steps became even more problematic coming back down the hill. I was wearing flip flops because we were going to a lake in the middle of the gorge. I was not properly outfitted for an intense climb. My flip flops plus slippery steps almost equaled a broken tail bone, sprained ankle, or a fractured skull - yes it was that treacherous. But, countless visitors to this area, doing this same climb for how many years? Yes, they had been well worn. However, I write to you just fine. Tail bone, skull, and the rest of my body doing well and in tact. It was a great trek.

Here we have a lovely picture of the church from the inside. In part I was kind of disappointed. All that walking and climbing steps for this? However, the more I thought about what it would have been like to have built this church, getting all the rocks up such a trek I only did once, and actually constructing this? Yes, it became rapidly more incredible.

And yes, as with every church I enter that has an organ, I will be taking a picture, and it will be on this website. No matter how seemingly insignificant of an instrument. So here we go, organ no. 1!


Another myth/rumor/legend about this Night of Templar concerns this star in the picture below. Hopefully you can see the little spec in the upper left hand corner. It's a star that is hung across the two mountains (well, French people call them hills, coming from the Midwest, they're mountains...). Across two mountains! One man strung this star out as he said he would when he returned/settled or something. I can't even imagine how this was done, but way to go!

After the long trek, we made it back down in time to get on the bus and head to the Gorge. I took a picture of this water well. It's much bigger than the little spout that was at St. Paul de Vence, but I'm sure this was their only source of water back in the day. It was also my source of water to rehydrate after the trek. I joked and said that if I got sick from this fountain, then I wanted pictorial proof of what it looked like and where it was. Thankfully I did not get sick, but it still makes a great picture and it was the first public water I drank in France. And I lived to tell about it!

From this lovely village we boarded the bus and made our way to the Gorges du Verdon. As you can already see from the picture below it was yet another gorgeous place. This is actually a man made lake. They put a damn further up stream and what transpired from that was a lake. No salt water, no real sea life, just crystal clear water, great sunshine, and boats moving along. We sat here and had lunch and then had a few hours to relax, burn, and swim the width of the lake. It was so relaxing, especially after an excruciating (well, that's a bit strong) hike up to the church.

While we were swimming and tanning, there were parasailers who were landing on the beach. It was fun to watch them. Even more exciting was when a helicopter landed on the beach. We were all convinced something must have gone horribly wrong. After all, with the winding roads it's doubtful an ambulence would have done much good. The helicopter landed, and the proceeded to leave and head towards the mountain that was right near by, then come back and landed again, and repeated the same procedure for a second time. In the end, we're not entirely sure what happened. We speculated that it was training for pilots learning how to land along the winding roads. Oh, how I do love France.

From there, we made our way back to the college. Here's a picture out the bus window. While it's hard to see, the connection between the Grand Canyon and here made much more sense than just the man made lake. It's a far reaching area of canyons and lakes. It was a beautiful day to look out over it. I was hopeful we would have stopped to take pictures, but alas, this is what we're left with.

We did however make a stop at this lovely bridge and otherwise scenic area.

Most notable about this bridge is that you can go bunge-jumping off the bridge! For the small fee of 150 euros. My question, or problem with that fee, is I would need someone to pay me at least that much to jump, and some people actually willing pay that and jump off a bridge. Do you see how much of a drop there is? Are you kidding me? Well, to each there own. We did get to see someone jump off, and you can see the person if you look at the tiny spec in the upper left hand corner of the picture. My stomach filped as I watched them, I wonder how they're doing after...

This was the other place we stopped which was just a little ways up the road from the bridge. Very senic, very impressive, and the marvels of the world continue to amaze me. These large, rock mountain things are so fascinating when you see them in person because it looks like someone just tore off a chunck of rock from it. There's not steady incline, just heavily jagged rock. Incredible. I don't understand how glaciers work but I sure can and do appreciate the asthetics of it all.

While most of us got out and enjoyed the view, there were those who were too exhausted from the beach to wake up and get off the bus. So, for a final end to this post here's a group picture in front of another incredible part of France.

Deux Villages Perches

Literally, Two Perched Villages. On day 2 of being in France we took a trip to two different perched villages: St. Paul de Vence and Le Village Medieval. Both of these villages date back to 14th and 15th centuries. They are built into and atop these hills as a means of protection - hence perched. Sitting up so high the "enemy" as it were would be marching up hill, thus proving easy targets, and from inside the fortified city as like most cities in France, the streets are very narrow, meaning invaders could only march two to four across, and sitting atop the hill it made it easier to pick them off as the tried to invade.

The first perched village: St. Paul de Vence:

Yes, indeed. Beautiful. History like I never have known. I'm speechless still looking at these pictures and realizing how long these places have been in existence, and how beautiful they still are today. I'm thankful that the villages have been kept up nicely but it does come at a cost. This village in particular. It has become a rather large tourist trap. Many boutiques, art galleries, restaurants, etc. There was even a wedding later that day in the chapel! People can even live in these villages. It was actually quite something. When I was leaving, there was a car pulling out of the village. No, not just a car, but a extremely lovely black Ferrari convertible! Yes, I would imagine if you have the funds to live in such a village, you have the funds to drive Ferrari. Either that, or there has to be some rule set by the village that you have to drive a nice car to live there. Either way, the commercialization of the village does not diminish the beauty which is this city.

As you walk in, if you turn around at the main entrance, you will see the statue below. Yup, a little tiny statue of St. Paul who as protected the city dwellers for the past 5 centuries. And, although I didn't get a picture of it, right next to the entrance was a little, bubbling water fountain. This was their only source of water. What? Yes, this tiny little spout of water was what the inhabitants of the day used for drinking, cooking, bathing, whatever they used water for, that was their supply. As I am trying to fully immerse myself in French culture by not showering every day and having a difficult time with it at that, I cannot fathom how infrequently they showered with this tiny spout of water. But it wasn't like it was just this group of people. In fact, frequent bathing is a relatively recent thing. One that the present day people of French still have not figured out. I only dwell on it because it was even more realistic seeing this single source of water.

Now, enough about hygiene and onto another topic which the French need no education about: WINE! There is a tiny little vineyard right at the foot of the city. I'm sure this more recent than it is old, but I do love wineries, and wine, so I had to take a picture. Landscape like this is something so new to me, having grown up in the Midwest, so I find even more beauty in it.

This is a picture of the church tower. If you look at the first picture of the village from a distance, this is the tall bell tower that you can see. Yes, religion has long been a center of French culture. Have I mentioned that we won't have school on November 1st? All Saints Day? Yes, welcome to France. Labor Day? What's that? Second tier religious holidays like All Saints Day, no one will be working. And we'll be returning from Paris that weekend. I'm hopeful the trains will still run...

And here we are inside the church. See the flowers? While they make lovely decorations, they are for the wedding happening two hours later. The best part was the handwritten sign on the flowers telling you not to touch them. And yes, it was in french, and yes, I understood it!


Here we have a picture of the tiny "streets" in this village. I suppose they didn't have to worry about cars back in the day, but you can barely pass someone on these streets. And, if you have two people taking there sweet time walking in front of you, well, you might as well just sit and enjoy the beauty of the architecture that is around you because you can forget about passing them. That, and the French don't like being told to move along or that they're moving too slowly. Both of which are implied should you try and pass them... Not first hand knowledge of this, and hopefully I won't have any horror stories of being yelled at in french to share.

And a final picture of this city. One of the other perks to having it be a now commercialized city is there were some great pieces of art work "hanging" around the village. This was my favorite:

We now move to the smaller village: Village Medieval.

Incredible, no? I cannot even imagine what building these cities must have been like! I can't imagine what a nightmare it'd be with today's progress in engineering. Then subtract that and 500 years, and they still build a city that looks like that? Brilliant.

This had more opportunities for photo shots with me in the picture due in part to traveling this city with others, rather than exploring it on my own like the first city. This first shot is from the city looking out. Yes, good luck to any invader who thought they might actually invade this city. That's a bridge you see in the background. And, if you can't tell, I was gripping that bar for dear life as it was a straight drop down over that edge! Look at the picture above again to better understand.

This second one is of a very picturesque door in the village. Some one's front door, to be exact. Thankfully they didn't come out while Maddy was taking the picture. Though, we did receive some strange looks from others who happened to be walking by at that moment. It's a great door, and other than looking a little like a senior picture (well, they both do) is a great shot. I thank Maddy entirely for this one!

And one final shot. This was a lovely garden tucked away in the city. It was a wonderful day of sight seeing. It was all so surreal and sublime.

Cannes: A walking tour

I have been in France for almost an entire month.  It's been such an amazing time and also so busy.  About two weeks ago my computer crashed.  I've been using friends' computers and the computer lab to keep up correspondence, but that's made it difficult to write this blog.  There is so much to say, but let's take things still one day at a time.

On our first full day at the college, we took a walking tour of Cannes.  Below are some pictures.  A general discretion on all pictures: they do not do justice to the beauty which is France and this place.   

Our first stop on this tour was the library.  Our tour guide spoke only in French, and after still trying to get over jet lag, and still working on remembering my French, I think missed most of the information on the tour.  Regardless, it's a beautiful building, which unfortunately I haven't been to since this first day.  It's on a long "to do" list for this short time I'm here.

After that, we continued our walk towards the center of town.  The College is about a solid 20 minute walk to the center of town where you can find the local Monoprix (like a Target), churches, a plethora of restaurants, and local watering holes...  Along the way there was some really cool art work painted on the side of the buildings.  Cannes is home to the infamous Cannes Film Festival held in the spring.  Yes, missing the film festival and also missing the beautiful fall colors of Minnesota.  I think they should move this program to the spring.  Also note the store visible in this first picture - Leader Price.  It's a grocery store that's about 10 minutes from the College.  It's a great place to go for 3 french baguettes for 1 euro, a small wheel of cheese, and a nice bottle of beaujolais for 2.15 euro.  Now that's a french meal and economy shopping!  Now that's Leader Price! -  I should really go into marketing.  

The streets are just like they are in pictures.  Surprise!  However, to see them in reality is so wonderful.  So, I took pictures to further pass them.  This first picture is of the beginning of the main road through Cannes.   If you look closely at the very first building on the bottom left, it's a restaurant called Jonathan's.  I've not eaten there yet, and I'm not sure what they serve, but it is a definite requirement for me before leaving.  After all, it's my name and it's spelled correctly!  Also, across from Jonathan's is the building with the second mural on it (the picture right above this).  Just trying to help give you bearings for what it's worth! 

I had mentioned the Cannes Film Festival earlier.  The films are shown in the Palais.  The first picture is of the building from up on a hill.  Also notice the hug yachts that all privately owned, as well as Cannes' beautiful coast line.  The second is of the stairs that many famous movie stars have walked on.  

One of the highlights of our trip into town was seeing the Market that occurs every Saturday morning both in Cannes, but also in Nice as I later learned.  It was the first time I cried being in Cannes.  It surpassed being surreal to simply being beautiful.  Fresh flowers, fresh vegetables, fresh fruit, fresh olives, fresh seafood... well, everything but the smell of seafood.  It was so beautiful.  The space is covered and is spans about the space of an entire square city block.  Simply beautiful.  

While the seafood didn't smell great, seeing swordfish heads was definitely a first for me!

And finally, spices!  It removed the smell of fish from my nose, which caused me to love them even more.

Eventually we had to leave, though I think I could have stayed in that market until it closed.  I wanted to buy something, but was far too afraid of my French, and was not going to be the ignorant American who excepts all to speak English.  So, I enjoyed with my eyes and nose and walked through the market with a tear of joy in my eye and a huge grin on my face. 

As we continued to walk around Cannes, we found this statue of Lord Brougham. I received a translation from a friend of mine who knows french better than I do and apparently this man was sent away from his original home because he had some illness.  He settled in what was Cannes and then invited all his rich friends to come and live here.  I'm assuming he was better by the time they showed up, though I'm not entirely sure how that worked.  Consequently, there is a statue and with a small pond in front of him near the heart of the town.  The crows who sit on his head certainly add a lovely touch to it all.  Either way, Way to go Lord Brougham!  Oh, if you could only know how great Cannes has become! 

It was a great morning walk, and it has continued to be a great city to discover.  I leave you with a final shot of the city from higher up: