Arles and the Camargue

Back in July before leaving for a month in the U.S., I went on a great camping trip with friends outside of a city in the south of France called Martigues.  Our camping spot was right along the Mediterranean in the path of the hot, summer sun and strong Mistral wind.  After the holiday weekend, everyone was planning to return to Grenoble, but since I was on summer break, I decided to continue travelling so I found myself in Arles for a few days on my way back. With 3 days/ nights in Arles, I discovered that there was really a lot to see and do.  I really enjoyed my time there...  Let me tell you about some of the highlights.

Ancient Roman Theatre in Arles

The Monuments and Museums

Arles is home to a plethora of Roman monuments including an arena, ancient theatre, forum and more.  Our tickets included a free tour of the arena, and this was my favorite stop.  I learned that the arena was home to gladiators and the such, but was also filled with houses at one point before being restored to the arena you see today.  The monuments and museums are really the big TO DO of Arles, as there is so much to see.  I'd suggest buying the tourist pass which lets you into a selection of historical places.

Le Cloître St Trophime

Bull Race/ Run (La Course Camarguaise)

It is tradition in Arles to show off the strength and intelligence of the local bulls.  Bulls are raised on farms and in the wild in the Camargue, a natural park.  On the evening that I arrived, there was a Course Camarguaise which the tourism office suggested I see since it is known as the local sport.  The race begins with the "runners" entering the arena dressed in all white.  Soon a bull is let in with them.  The goal is for the runners to take a trinket from between the bulls horns.  Sometimes they run towards the bull, and there is a lot of jumping out of the arena as the angry bull charges.  The bulls are not harmed physically in any way, though I was a bit uncomfortable to see how frustrated they became.  One bull kept jumping out of the center arena into the surrounding circle to escape the center area. Despite this, the spectators (a significant number of locals and what seemed to be family members of the runners) were enjoying themselves and kept ooh-ing and ah-ing as the performance went on.  An interesting fact is that for each bull race, one local farmer is selected to bring his bulls for the night's festivities.

City of the Camargue

Arles sits at the very northern tip of the Camargue, which is a park which is a UNESCO designated natural reserve.  It is famous for its wild white horses, bulls, and pink flamingoes.  With an hour bus ride, you can go to Saintes Marie de la Mer, a tourist village along the Med coast with nice beaches and opportunities for horse riding.  I spent a day here, and while it was very touristy, enjoyed myself and the beautiful scenery.

Van Gogh

After getting burnt out in Paris, Vincent Van Gogh came to the south of France to recover.  Although he ended up admitting himself to a psych hospital, he spent part of his southern journey in Arles where he painted many of his famous works.  It is considered one of his most productive periods.  One work called "Night Café" shows a café in Arles lit up in the evening. There is a small museum and walk you can do to discover more about Van Gogh's relationship with Arles, but I thought it was simply cool to have the understanding that I was walking in the footsteps of a great artist whose works inspire me.

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Eat: Jardin des Arts - There were many delicious restaurants in Arles, but this was my favorite with it's homemade ravioli filled with two kinds of fish, wrapped in squid ink pasta dough, and covered in a salmon and tomato sauce.  They didn't have any starters, which was a bit odd, but there main dishes and desserts were all that much better.

Do: Go to the tourist office and buy a tourist pass to visit the monuments and museums.  You can visit up to 5 places and save lots of money compared to individual tickets. I ended up only visiting 4 places because I ran out of time, but it was still very worth it.

Tourist Trinkets: Salt from the Camargue, Lavender products, Soap from Marseille

One Night in Avignon

My friend Katie and I took a short, one-night getaway to explore a new city.  We chose to check out Avignon. Avignon is most famous for the Palais des Papes (Popes' Palace), the Pont d'Avignon (Avignon Bridge) and its location in the Provence region of France.

During our two days, we made a point to explore and learn about this unique and beautiful city.  The Palais des Papes was a highlight.  We learned about the phases of construction of the palace starting in 1335 as well as the 9 popes that took up residence there.  7 of these popes claimed allegiance to Italy, which is as we all know where the Vatican is located today.  Yet 2 of the popes residing in Avignon were involved in the Great Western Schism (1378 - 1417) where they claimed Avignon to be the center of the true papacy.  During this time, there were two popes, one in Italy and the other in France.  Today, the palace is no longer a formal residence of the pope and has turned into a museum as well as a large theatre venue for an annual festival.  It is the biggest Gothic palace in all of Europe and approximately the size of 4 Gothic cathedrals.  Quite the impressive building!

We were also excited to visit the Pont d'Avignon which we did on day two.  "Sur le Pont d'Avignon" is a famous song that talks about dancing on the bridge... we made sure to sing and dance our way along during our audio tour. 

Besides these huge landmarks, we also visited the city, walked little winding streets, treated ourselves to a delicious three course dinner with wine, and checked out a couple art museums.  I brought back some little lavender souvenirs, including lavender essential oil and a small pillow stuffed with dried lavender.  It was a special purchase made while exploring the streets.  We came upon a small shop owned by a kind man and he told us about where his lavender came from and that his wife hand-sewed all the little pillows.  It was nice to buy from a little local couple, rather than the big, touristy lavender stores.

A couple suggestions for a nice stay:

Stay on a budget: Pop' Hostel. This hostel was really convenient in town, cheap, clean and they let us leave our bags for the day after check out.

Eat: Le Coude a Coude. Inexpensive three course dinner along a small street in the pedestrian area.  Everything was made fresh! We found it via TripAdvisor and it did not disappoint. I would love to go again.

Visit: Le Palais des Papes, le Pont d'Avignon

Walk: Rue des Teinturiers.  A picturesque, cobblestone street along a small waterway once used for the textile industry.  We found a delicious homemade ice cream place here.

Getting there: We travelled to Avignon from Grenoble via Ouibus and back via train.  Both were convenient options.

Séjour in Sète

After the Perpignan wedding, I wasn't in any hurry to return to Grenoble as I don't have much work at this point in the year, so I decided to spend a couple nights somewhere new.  After consulting a map, I randomly chose the city of  Sète.  This turned out to be a wonderful choice. While I didn't know much about Sète before going, it's quite well known for a few things.  

Canals

Sète is sort of a Venice of France.  There are canals throughout this port city.  It's very pretty to walk along the canals and see the boats.  I spent both nights having dinner at restaurants along the canals.  Being along the coast, seafood was the perfect choice and during my two days in Sète, I ate fish soup, stuffed mussels (a specialty of the city), little fried fishes, seafood pasta, and moules-frites.  There were some very affordable restaurants with three course menus for about 16 euros.

Beaches

A short bus ride away from the port and town center are some really excellent beaches.  I tried two.  I think I had perfect timing before tourist season really picked up and I found the beaches to be not too crazy.  I also really liked that the sandy beaches had a gentle incline into the water.  I went quite far in, all the while being able to touch the bottom.

Oysters

Sète has an interesting location.  The city is a major port and is on the Mediterranean.  However, a short stretch of land separates the Mediterranean and a very large lagoon (L'etang de Thau).  It is in this lagoon where fishermen farm oysters, and it is very important for the economy of the region.

Those are the oyster beds you see in the distance.  This pic was taken from a hill overlooking Sète.

Jousting

Yep, I said jousting.  This is a local tradition that takes place during the weekends throughout the summer and culminates in a six day festival in August.  Participants are on two boats and wearing all white.  There are ten people rowing, two musicians, one guide, and about five jousters per boat.  The boats row toward each other and the jousters try to knock each other off into the water with their lance.  They also carry heavy wooden shields to protect themselves. Each festival day ends in a victor who hopes to later win the ultimate St Louis Festival in August.

The fishermen row the boats parallel to each other and the musicians play a type of flute and drums.

The jousters face off.

The loser  gets knocked into the water!

French Wedding

Yesterday, I came home from a mini vacation to the south.  I was invited to attend a wedding in Perpignan, so I went there for a quick two night stay.  It was very nice to be back to a place I considered home for a little while, and I enjoyed walking the familiar streets.  However, most of my short time there was spent with wedding preparations and at the wedding and reception.  It was interesting to see some of the differences between French and American weddings. Let me tell you about some of the differences.

1.  The Ceremony

All French wedding ceremonies must take place at city hall.  An additional church wedding is optional, but everything must go through the government basically.  The ceremony is quite short, and it's only the couple at the front of the room (the wedding party just hangs out on the side or in the seats).  The mayor (or a representative if they aren't available) thanks people for coming and reads some laws that the couple agrees to, they sign a paper along with four witnesses, and it's basically done!  The couple exchanged rings, kissed, and walked out to the crowd where we threw confetti at the newlyweds.

The ceremony at City Hall with the mayor

2.  The Cake

The traditional French wedding cake is nothing like the tiered, frosting-covered version we see in the US.  Instead, it's a tower of profiteroles.  It was great!

Just Married!

3. The Party

The French see a wedding as an excuse to throw a big party.  We drove to a cute venue in another village for the reception.  The party started outside on the patio, with little appetizers circling around such as cured ham being cut directly off the leg, calamari, mini burgers, and oysters.  There was music, places to sit and chat or a space to dance and a nice grassy area that made for good pictures.  Eventually, people moved to sit down for even more food and drink with seafood and other meats being BBQed right on the patio.  The couple revealed their cake and everyone was served three profiteroles from the tower along with a glass of champagne.  At this point it was getting quite late, and the DJ moved inside so as to not disturb the neighbors.  I was surprised how many people were still around at this point, old and young.  I finally left around 4:30 AM, but there was still a good crowd hanging out.

The evening venue

The next morning came much too early, and I was off to a two night stay in a town called Sète before returning to Grenoble.  I really loved Sète, and that's coming up next...

Mesa Verde and Canyons of the Ancients

Hello kind readers!

As you may have noticed, I'm catching up on a few blog posts.  I recently took almost a year's worth of pictures off my camera and found some gems hidden in the more than 1,000 unseen pictures.  There are a few events and places I'd like to share with you even though it was a while ago now, so let's continue! Next up is southwestern Colorado.

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During the winter, I took the long journey home, traveling more than 24 hours from Grenoble to Denver to go home for the holidays.  I've been realizing more and more how much I love being home with family during this time of year.  It is truly a special time.

After the festivities of Christmas, and before welcoming in the New Year, my family and I drove to southwestern Colorado for an adventurous getaway.  Our main destinations: Mesa Verde National Park, Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, and Wolf Creek Ski Resort.

Mesa Verde is best-known for its cliff dwellings where the Ancestral Pueblo people built villages into the sides of steep cliffs.  These people called this area home between AD 600 to 1300, and then seemed to disappear, leaving little to no clue where an entire people could have gone.  The national park protects and continues to study these cliff dwellings and various archeological sites.

I found this area to be very interesting, marveling at the thought of climbing a cliff to go home.  With the help of the archeologists and the park, the cliff dwellings are kept in quite good conditions.  While not able to enter the cliff dwellings in winter, we saw them from afar and even had a hike along a snowy road where we saw wild horses and observed the aftermath of a forest fire.

Next up was Canyons of the Ancients National Monument where we went for a muddy day hike.  The area is protected by the Bureau of Land Management and includes hiking trails and one of the highest concentrations of archeological sites in the U.S.  We took a long hiking loop across red rocks, through muddy pits, and with incredible views of rock formations and reaching landscapes.

Coming to the end of our getaway, we brought in the New Year with some powder at Wolf Creek, a nice little ski resort that wasn't too crowded and quite affordable, and a few hours of hot springs on our way home.  

It was a fun adventure to an area I had never been.  I learned more about the history of my home state and continue to be fascinated by its beauty, history, and culture.  I would absolutely recommend this area to any visitors wanted to know more about southwestern Colorado.

Mesa Verde Cliff Palace

A view into the dwellings

Wild horses in Mesa Verde

Hiking in Canyons of the Ancients

Rock formations in Canyons of the Ancients

Yes it was winter, as you can see in this shot taken on the drive home.

Annecy: Retour des Alpages

Annecy is a cute and relatively well-known town about an hour and a half train ride from Grenoble.  It sits along the edge of Lake Annecy in the mountains and is known for its little, colorful houses lining tight streets and winding canals.  Every fall, the town holds a celebration called 'Retour des Alpages' or 'Back from the Alpine Pastures' where the local farmers and herdsmen bring their animals down from the summer pastures located high in the mountains.  The town celebrates with a parade of animals, people dressed in tradition costume, song, and dance.  It's a festive and popular parade with people packed together along the streets throughout the parade route in town.  Besides the parade, there are also plenty of market stands to pick up local and handmade goods, as well as sample the delicious, local fare.  During the fall, the tradition potato and cheese dishes like tartiflette and raclette come out. There are also yummy sausages called diot, roasted chestnuts, and plenty of vin chaud or mulled wine. 

Here's a sampling of pictures from my second time at the Retour des Alpages in October 2016.