A weekend in Provence October 22-24, 2010

After our visit to Monte Carlo, we drove along the coast through Nice, lunched at Antibes on the beach, then to Cannes where we rejoined the autoroute to Avignon. The countryside was far more mountainous than we had expected...where were all the fields of lavender and sunflowers that I associate with Provence?!?
We spent two nights at the quaint Hotel d'Europe in the Place Crillon, established in 1799. http://www.heurope.com/















Our room looked out onto the front courtyard














A Sunday morning bird bath!



















Narrow streets within the walls of old Avignon



















The old plane trees in the Place de l'Horloge














The entry to a restaurant inside a pretty courtyard














There are the colours of Provence!



















City Hall in the Place de l'Horloge














An old-fashioned merry-go-round, typical of small towns in Europe














Now, forgive my ignorance of French geography, but I only just realised that the Rhone River flows right through Avignon lending its name to the famous Cotes du Rhone wines of the area!














The Palais des Papes and the huge courtyard (le cours d'Honneu), built during the 14th century and intended as a fortified palace for the pope. Seven French-born Popes invested huge sums of money in building and decorating this, the largest Gothic palace in the world.































Roman ruins














OK everyone sing along now:
Sur le pont d'Avignon, l'on y danse, l'on y danse,
Sur le pont d'Avignon, l'on y danse tout en rond!

Below is the famous Pont St-Benezet, originally a 900 m wooden structure. All but four of its 22 spans were washed away in the mid 1600's.
















The famous bridge is only half there at present: it is believed to have been started in 1177 when Benezet, a pastor from Ardeche, was told in three visions to span the Rhone at any cost! Originally, the bridge straddled the island of Barthelasse, the largest island in a European river!














Getting back to wine country...not only did we discover on this trip that the Cote-du-Rhone wines were so close to Barcelona (four hours' drive), but Pat's favourite, Chateauneuf-du-Pape is located a mere 12 km to the north of Avignon! Guess where we headed after breakfast and a visit to a local wine shop for some good advice! Below are some of the Domaines/Caves we visited...there are dozens more in a small radius around the small village of CDP. Wines produced in the following villages can also be labelled as CDP wines: Caderousse, Jonquieres, Courthezon, Bedarrides and Sorgues. Likely there are "no bad wines"!


























































Scenes from the village of Chateauneuf-du-Pape




















The Church














Pat went in for a haircut "chez Philippe", cheaper than in Spain!




















The ruins of the "Chateau neuf du Pape" (the Pope's new castle)














A view of the village, Rhone River and surrounding countryside of CDP














The wine we brought back home is wonderful and is aging in our cellar below the house, aka The Garage!
No more travelling for awhile...back again soon! Hasta luego!

Monte Carlo October 20-22, 2010

A business trip to Monte Carlo for Pat turned into a first-time visit for me! We drove (about 6 hours) along the Mediterranean on the autoroutes from our home in Spain to the Marriott Hotel right on the border of France and Monaco, where we spent two nights. Crossing the Pyrenees into France is always my favourite part of this route-the mountains are so austere and rugged. Once through the pass, the land opens up into rolling hills, vineyards and "les etangs" along the sea where mussels, oysters and clams are farmed. New windmills catch the strong winds which blow from the Med (la mistral).
Below is a view of the Marriott Hotel (right side) overlooking one of the many marinas in the Monte Carlo area.














A few minutes walk towards downtown leads you through this lovely rose garden named after the late Princess Grace.




























High on a crag overlooking the sea is the Palais du Prince, the flag signifying that Prince Albert was in residence at the time. I toured the State Apartments (sorry, no photos allowed) then the Musee des Souvenirs Napoleoniens (interesting personal effects of the Emperor himself). Afterwards I caught The Changing of the Guard at precisely 11:55 a.m., a popular event with the many tourists who lined the route.





























































Construction cranes loom everywhere in this affluent city of the rich and famous!














The densely populated areas reminded me of Singapore...without hills and rocks!














In the harbour were two cruise ships for the day: the Cunard's new Queen Victoria and Oceania's Nautica. Some of the passengers joined me on a half-hour trolley ride around the city.




























The 1875 Romanesque-Byzantine Cathedrale de Monaco was oddly locked over the noon hour. It is where the late Prince Rainier and Princess Grace are buried.



















A stately home down the street from the Cathedral.














The famous Casino de Monte Carlo which costs 10 Euros just to go inside to look! (No, I didn't gamble...)














Now, when I grow up, I want to look like one of these: (our 26 ft. Wellcraft on Grand Lake)





































































Wow! Who needs to go on a cruise when you can own your own luxury yacht?!? These boats were registered anywhere from London, England and Douglas on the Isle of Man to Georgetown in the Cayman Islands. Dream on...

Hasta luego!

Two nights in the Catalunya Pyrenees October 10-12, 2010

Before and after our adventure crushing grapes in the Penedes, we spent two nights at this delightful inn, Osteria Ibai in Sant Pere des Ribes (http://www.ibaiosteria.com/eng/ibai.htm). We had a marvellous meal there on Friday night and simple but delicious buffet breakfasts each morning. A quaint spot for some peaceful R&R!

































View of the village from our room at sunrise!















From Sant Pere des Ribes we headed northwest to Lleida then along the provincial border of Aragon to Vielha in the Catalunya Pyrenees. It was raining off and on so the scenery wasn't as spectacular as we had hoped, however occasionally the clouds lifted and permitted a view of pretty dark stone houses with black slate roofs, green meadows and cows grazing. We spent two nights at the Parador Vielha (http://www.spainparador.com/Parador-Vielha.htm) over the national holiday. Below is the view from our room:














The outdoor pool at the parador (a little too chilly to indulge this time!)














A short drive up the valley to hike to some waterfalls on Sunday





























Pat with some oblivious cows!



























































































Notice the fall colours in the mountains...not quite as spectacular as in Eastern Canada, but pretty nonetheless!



































































OK girls, this is a road, not a cow path!














Back to the hotel for a 4 p.m. massage followed by a facial for me and some water treatments for Pat! Heavenly...

We arrived back home on Tuesday afternoon to find a water pipe below our kitchen sink had burst resulting in about 1-2" of water throughout much of the house...BOO! I hate floods! (Direct quote from Jen who has had a few in their basement in Montreal!) Now nearly a week later, we are still without hot water or heat (although we don't quite need that...yet!) and I am getting cabin fever waiting around for servicemen to fix things! Manana...

Hasta luego...