Wednesday, November 11, 2009

A Photographic Diary of My Trip: More Provence Countryside and Avignon

More pictures of the French countryside!
The village of Gordes, taken from a panoramic point


The surrounding countryside


The village is protected by these stone walls, a unique architectural signature of the region.


Driving on the way to Les Baux (which unfortunately I did not take many great pictures - maybe it was a long day and I got tired?) our tour guide stopped by this sunflower field.


There was a wedding at Les Baux (it would be an amazing place to have a wedding - the village is so quaint, and they have wonderful shops there that look old-fashioned but sell gourmet luxuries like regional olive and truffle oil, fine wines, and traditional candies). I bought a pack of nougat candies and "olives" - chocolates that look like olives.

Sad story about the olives though - they survived the entire trip, I was amazed that they didn't melt in the sweltering heat of Morocco - and when I got back home, I decided to give them as a gift to my aunt. So my parents drive up to LA to meet up with my aunt, and at the end of a long day of shopping and eating I pull out the candies from my bag and they were horribly melted to an unrecognizable state. I kept them in my bag and tried to stay indoors as much as possible, but I guess it was just too hot (it turned out to be one of the hottest days of the summer).

The tour ended with the Pont du Gard, a Roman aqueduct


Back in Avignon, here is the main square where all the restaurants are



I had a totally surreal, Amelie-esque moment when my friends and I dined at the outdoor patio of one of these restaurants and the wind was blowing really hard. It reminded me of the scene with the dancing tableware. You could hear the whistling of the wind and the clinking of glassware, and I also remember there was a man strumming Gypsy Kings tunes for tips.

The next day, our last day, we ran around Avignon trying to see all the sights. We packed away lunch at the food market in the morning, had a picnic on the hillside watching the river, took in the vistas at Rocher des Doms, and toured the Papal Palace.

Here is the courtyard in front of the Palais des Papes, where the popes used to live


The architecture is stunning, these pictures really capture the dramatics



The views from one of the towers



And then it was time to say goodbye to Avignon. But it wasn't so easy, we accidently missed our train to Lyon, where we were supposed to catch a flight to Morocco. Thankfully, everything got sorted out in the end.

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