Canoeing the Gard

This morning, we drove northwest to Collias, and canoed downstream to Remoulins.  The Gard River is quite lovely, and we went through a few rapids on the way.  However, the primary reason that anyone canoes or kayaks this stretch of the Gard is to experience the three-tiered Roman aqueduct, Pont du Gard, from a different perspective.

Upstream of the Pont du Gard, the river cuts through some pretty scenery, and the only sounds that we heard were fabulously complex bird calls and rushing water.  And then, coming around a bend you can see the top of the Pont in the distance.

Downstream, looking back at the Pont du Gard, the structure seems quite amazing.

What a great way to spend the day.  And the weather was mild, so that made the trip even nicer.  We highly recommend this adventure.

Look at the walls

I was thinking about which photos to post today, and I found one that said it all.  All be it in French, but it's message was perfect.  "Regarde les murs" means look at the walls.  So here is what I've been seeing on walls lately.

A wall in Arles

Arles

Arles

A wall in Gordes

This was technically on a corner of two walls, but I'm sharing it because it is old and interesting.

Arles

Embracing art should never be limited to flat walls.  So I'm closing with a sculpture that graces the Jardin de Ete (Summer Garden), just below the Roman theatre.

Arles

Our secret to eating big lunches

Today, as we have often done here in France, we had a sizable lunch.

Grilled shrimp for Bori, cod and veggies with Aioli sauce for me

However, prior to sitting down to lunch, we spent 3 hours out cycling along the dike roads in the Camargue.  So, after three hours of cycling over 30 kilometers, in the sun, we likely burned more calories than we consumed.

We encountered small numbers of interesting ducks (i.e., a pair of common shelducks with 9 ducklings) and shorebirds (i.e., spotted redshank), lots of little egrets, and were close to quite a few flamingoes.

Egrets

Flamingoes

This is probably our last trip to the Mediterranean for this season, so we bid it adieu.

The Mediterranean at Stes. Maries de la Mer

Two churches

Today is dimanche, Sunday, so I decided to walk to two nearby churches to take photos.  The first is a church that I had never seen before.  I found it on a map, in the Roquette district of Arles, and had to follow several short, narrow, winding roads carefully to find it.  It is called Eglise Saint-Cesaire.  I spied it's tower from behind, and continued walking until I was facing the front of the church.  It appears that this church is not as vibrant as it might have been in the past.  Construction on this gothic structure began in 1450.

The tower

The front of the church

This is the only view that I could get with the tower and the front of the church

The other church is quite famous, is located on a major square, and is on every historical walking tour of Arles.  L'Eglise de Saint-Trophime dates back to the 12th century.  It is located on the Place de la Republique.  This church is quite vibrant with regular services, and lots of tourists streaming through. The carvings around the giant doors to this church are incredibly intricate.

Carvings around the door

After dinner walk

Last night was quite pleasant for an after dinner stroll.  The sun was setting, and turning some of the building tops orange hues.

Top of the Hotel de Ville in sunset light

A piece of the historic city wall in sunset light, next to the Rhone

We walked down to the Grand Rhone, just as the sun was disappearing.

The Rhone, looking west at the sunset

The Rhone, looking north towards the river cruise boats

A beach holiday

We headed back to Le Grau du Roi to cycle yesterday.  It was 10 or 15 degrees warmer than on our visit a week ago.  And it was a national holiday.  It seemed like virtually everyone decided to spend their holiday at the beach.  As we were cycling, we could see long lines of cars waiting their turn at traffic circles leading to the beach.

Le Grau du Roi is where the Canal St. Louis meets the Mediterranean Sea.

The canal, as seen from the west jetty

Rive droite (the right bank)

Rive gauche (the left bank) as seen from the west jetty

A week ago, a chilly wind was blowing sand across empty beaches.  What a difference a week makes!

Plage Rive Gauche (left bank beach)

More sights from Luberon

After leaving Village des Bories, we drove up to Gordes, which is a very picturesque hill town.  To quote our Rick Steves guidebook:  In the 1960's Gordes was a virtual ghost town of derelict buildings ... Today Gordes is renovated top to bottom and filled with people who live in a world without calluses.

Gordes from the SW and below

View from the SE and below

We parked below the town and walked up the hill to see what it looked like from the top.

A view up from the top of Gordes

After a stop at a café, for something to drink, we continued on to Roussillon for lunch.  Roussillon is most famous for the high quality ochre (iron oxide) deposits upon which it sits (Mont Rouge = Red Mountain).  It is a charming looking village, where almost all the buildings are shades of ochre.

Ochre deposit

Ochre cliffs

Ochre-colored buildings

Street scene

Village des Bories

Of course, with a name like this, how could we resist.  Today we traveled north to the Luberon region and stopped to visit this "village" of stone buildings.  These date back to the 17th century.  The most recent were built in the 19th century.  They were restored in the 1960's.

Bori and des Bories

Bories are stone buildings, built without mortar.  The dry-stone buildings resulted from farmers clearing their land of stones to create more arable land, and then using the abundant stones to make huts:  for storing farming equipment and some farm animals, as well as seasonal housing.

Bori touring the Village des Bories

Based on the number of dry-stone walls we saw today, there must have been a lot of stones in the soil in the area.

Dry-stone wall