Roman ruins, bull games, the Mediterranean, lavender, medieval hilltop cities, and sunflowers...Provence!

Where do I start?  The days have been very busy since we left our quiet house in the country!  We are now settled into a beautiful old home in Bordeaux for 2 weeks...but I will come back to that.

Provence was wonderful.  As we are trying to do in each place that we visit, we attempted to get a flavor for the area that we were in.  No, not just in food (but that too) but natural beauty, culture and tradition.  We spent a day seeing Aix en Provence and Arles.  Both are very old and interesting cities.  Unfortunately it was raining when were in Aix en Provence, and so we did not spend very much time there.  Just enough time to find a woman who spoke enough English to help us understand why the chocolate in France is supposed to be so good.  Of course, we ended up buying a small bag!  The shortest and best description that I can give to you is that it is simply "pure."  That is all.  There was not a whole lot more to the sales pitch.  However, as you might know, that is all that I need to hear.  I love it!

In Arles, there is a tradition to see "bull games."  At these "games," we occupied the same seats that fans have used for nearly 2000 years in the Roman Arena.  As I mentioned earlier, the bulls are not hurt in these games.  Rather, it is the "razeteurs" who risk getting injured.  In fact, there were several paramedics sitting directly in front of us.  The razeteur attempts to remove the "concarde" (ribbon) from the bulls horns, and has 15 minutes to do so.  Throughout the 15 minutes, local businessmen "encourage" the razeteur by shouting out how much they will pay for the condarde.  It was extremely entertaining to watch, especially when we knew that the bull would not suffer.  In fact, it seemed to be having fun trying to gorge one of the razeteur's and chase them over the walls of the ring!

Yes, the bulls actually do this!  Just like you would imagine!

One razeteur attempts to snare the concarde from the bull

This bull almost got this razeteur!

In Marseille, we visited the most beautiful cliffs/water...Les Calanques.  It was a bit of a hike to get down to the water, but the reward at the end was tremendous!  The view on the way was arguably one of the best views on the way down to a body of water that I have had!  It reminded me so much of what we would do in Kauai or in the Caribbean!  

Once we got to the bottom, we were able to swim in the Mediterranean.  The water was several shades of aqua and completely clear!  Unfortunately and surprisingly for me, it was quite cold...but I got over it.  I had to.  It was just too beautiful.  We swam out to a rock/mountain/island and were able to join in the sport of jumping into the salty water!  From there, we saw another beach and were able to swim and float over to it on some rafts that we had bought at the market.  This one was even more beautiful (although Soren had a hard time focusing because there were a few topless women) and we just basked in the sun and soaked up the beauty of this magnificent place.  We were very lucky to go to the beach this day because it turned out to be so beautiful and warm.  It was a huge difference from the day before when we were in the grey clouds and rain!

The middle point on the way down to the water!  Yikes!

We are almost there!  

Yahoo!

Rachel and I just taking in all of the beauty!

We went to the beach on the left bottom corner of this picture, and to the right middle of this picture.   People jumped from this middle rock and landed in the water where you see the white mark!

Like Makenna!

So beautiful!

After the long, hot, uphill climb back to the car we all agreed that we should travel just 10 minutes to the beaches that are much more well known, and certainly more accessible to the general public.  Cassis.  This was a beautiful little beach town with a lot of shops and plenty of "glaceries."  We felt that we had earned this ice cream!  It did not disappoint!  (Actually none of them have!)

The following day, we travelled up to Luberon in search of the lavender fields and hilltop towns that I was so hoping to see!  Europe had a unusually hot spring, which has greatly effected the production of many of their vines, fruits, vegetables, and yes...lavender.  We saw field after field that would have been lavender, but was now just a mere memory after having been harvested!  I was starting to lose hope.  On the road up to the hilltop city of Roussillon, we finally found some!  Ohhhhhh, the smell!  And it looked just as I had imagined it to look!  After picking a little sprig (I am thinking that we weren't supposed to, but I just couldn't help it!) we headed up to the hilltop city of Roussillon.

Rousillon

Roussillon sits on the world's largest known ochre deposit.  That makes this entire town and the landscape surrounding it a deep red clay color!  The Grand Canyon or Bryce Canyon would look a pale pink in comparison to this!  It made a picturesque hilltop spot to sit in the shade and have a picnic.  After taking in the panoramic view of the villages below, and what was left of lavender fields, then walking the streets of this red city, we got in the car and headed to the incredible walled city of Carcassonne.

Rachel in front of our door in Carcassonne

A real drawbridge!

Walking in the moat!

The walled city at night...

Sitting on top of the city wall!

I have never been so awed as we approached this perfectly preserved city complete with a moat and a draw bridge!  Unbelievable!  The wall surrounding the city is all still there and is in tact!  This was a world of towers, turrets, and cobblestones!  Here, we had no problem imagining what life must have been like so many years ago!  Jeff and I had dinner above a Roman (of course...blah blah blah!  :)) amphitheater where they were having a symphony performance!  Such luck!  Afterwords, we took a short walk around the city to see it lit up in it's glory.  I am not sure words can do this city justice.  I will simply leave you with a few images.  Those probably won't do it justice either.  Oh well.  You will just have to come and see if for yourselves!

During the 3 hour drive to get here, I have never seen so many sunflowers!  They literally carpeted the valleys on all sides of us!  Perhaps some of you know this, but I was thrilled to learn that they actually turn with the sun all day long!  Amazing!  The word for sunflower in French is turnesol.  Turn in the sun!  The 3 hour drive turned into 4 with country roads, stops for sunflower pictures and a quick stop into a boulangerie.  I don't care.  It was worth every moment.

Sunflowers facing us...

Sunflowers facing away from us...

Each day, I am just amazed at how much there is to "soak in."  There is a lot of time to do this, as the days are so long!  I thought that they might "shorten" up a bit after we left Burgundy, but that is not the case.  We have definately fallen in step with some of the French ways.  Lazy days, picnics, fresh outdoor markets, and late dinners.  For someone who wants so much to immerse myself in the culture and all that it has to offer and teach me, these long days are both an opportunity and a blessing!

Last night we arrived in Bordeaux.  We are staying in the home of friends that we met in California last summer.  If the "Glotin Family" were in the dictionary, the definition would be gracious, kind, warm, inviting hosts.  They have literally moved out of their home so that we could move in for 2 weeks!  Their home is beautiful.  A three story home in the city that reminds us so far, of "little Paris."  The house is full of windows and reminds me of a victorian style home that you might find in San Fransisco.  (They said that a lot of people tell them that)  They have a small but green and flowery yard that backs up to a park with no shortage of large, full, green trees.  

They have 3 daughters and a cat.  Their oldest daughter was not able to be here to greet us last night, and their youngest was not supposed to be here either.  She was spending a few days with her cousin in the country home of her cousin's grandparents.  When she learned that we would be arriving last night however, she insisted that her parents come and pick her and her cousin up so that they could both be here!  Unreal.  They are so kind, and the kids had a great time re-connecting last night.  Makenna and Astrid (the middle daughter) have been "facebooking" a little over the past year so they had a little more to connect on.

Soren has discovered that he loves loves loves cats.  So, he could not be happier when he was given the privilege of taking care of "Misty."  He followed this poor feline around all night!  I am sure that if they had said it was ok (and if Jeff's allergies weren't what they are), he would have had the little beast sleeping with him!  No sooner had his eyes opened this morning, that he was downstairs looking for Misty!

Well, that is all for now.  I know that it is a lot.  This blog has turned into a travel journal for me.  I cannot help it!  Hopefully, you can just enjoy the pictures if you choose not to endure my longwinded accounts of our journeys!