Our good friends Gabi and Philipp came to visit as well in August (I know, I’m nearing 2 months behind in my posts … working to rectify).
We went to some of the cool sites in the area. One of the first was to the beautiful city of Les Baux de Provence. Officially, it’s one of the most beautiful cities in France. Although it used to be the home to lords of the region from the 14th – 17th century, today it’s just for tourism.
This is sort of a random picture from the vantage point of our picnic site.
At the Château, there was a demonstration of medieval weapons. These ladies were expert demonstrators for the trebuchet that was manned by women during middle age sieges.
The women ran forward and up and out went the ball.
The big one, which threw a rock about 100 meters.
Anna and X hanging out on the plateau in front of the Château.
Here is a nice before and after image.
In spite of bleak weather, it was still very pretty.
This is a view of the city, with its less than 30 full time residents.
The four in front of the château.
One last one of the château.
We also went to visit our favorite ice cream place … Miramas le Vieux. If you’re interested in going, the place is called Le Quillé. Delicious, but the best part is definitely the setting and view.
A view of the quaint wine town of Gigondas.
A view from the city of Vaison la Romaine, in the Vaucluse department. The mountain in the background is Mont Ventoux. We’ll get back to that in a little bit.
Here’s a better view of the city.
Gabi and Philipp standing in front of the Roman bridge built in the 1st century.
Not too bad for 2,000 years old, huh?
Anna caught me, yet again, taking a picture. Surprising, isn’t it? I never do that…
This is what I was shooting. Mont Ventoux with a pretty valley, full of vineyards. That was our next destination. It’s often a stop or through point on the Tour de France … 14 times to be specific. More than half of those have been after the riders rode 150-200 kilometers before climbing the mountain. Driving up to the summit gave me more appreciation for their level of fitness.
It almost felt like we were in the clouds on top … after the 22 kilometer climb and greater than 7% gradient. Oh and that’s Philipp in the reflection.
Our starting elevation was about 300 meters.
It’s a little tough to see, but if you look close, Philipp’s hood is fuzzy. That’s because it was literally whipping in the wind. I’m not sure what the exact velocity of the wind was, but I’d guess around 90-100 kilometers/hour. As the name implies (venteux=windy in French), it’s often a bit breezy. Apparently, it’s over 90 kilometers per hour 240 days of the year.
A view from the summit. The colors were gorgeous and the sandy soil was brilliant.
A little winding road, way back down in the valley.
One of the weather/communication stations on the summit.
Well, that covers our day. Not too bad. Next up will be Avignon and the Calanques.
Until then…
–Jim