Our first stop of the trip was Aix-en-Provence, the birthplace of Paul Cézanne and Emile Zola. It's located not too far north of Marseilles. The city is beautiful (as most cities in France are) and filled with lots of tree lined plazas with outdoor cafés and fountains. One of the first things that I did was a hike up a hill to the north of the city to see the famous Mt. Sainte-Victoire that Cézanne painted over and over again. The views from up there were incredible. The mountain just appears out of the rolling landscape. They had reproductions of his paintings in the little park on the hill so that you can really see how he interpreted the landscape from up there. On my way down from the park, I stopped to visit Cézanne's atelier (studio) which has been preserved to look exactly like it did when he used it. It's easy to see why Cézanne chose to live most of his life in Aix. The sunlight hitting the old yellow buildings and flickering through the trees really does make the whole town feel like a painting.
On day 2 of our trip, we went to the Calanques, a national park located on the Mediterranean coast between Marseilles and Cassis. The park is a hiker's dream. It's filled with mountains and cliffs that descend into the sea. Sounds really ugly right? We spent the day descending down to the water and hiking back up again to take in the views from above. Some sections were much more challenging than others and it was by no means an easy hike. It reminded me a bit of rock scrambling in Mohonk (for those of you who know what I'm talking about.) Any time that I hike in France it makes me a bit homesick just because that's such a family-oriented activity for us. Can't wait to hike with the Hatabi nation this summer. Did I really just say that? Oy. But anyway, it was definitely the highlight of the trip. I am always amazed by the diversity of landscapes that can be found in a country the size of Texas and the views that we saw in the Calanques were no exception. It was beyond beautiful.
Our next stop was the town of Gordes, an old medieval city built on a hillside overlooking the rolling hills of the valley. Before exploring the town itself, we journeyed into one of the surrounding valleys to visit the Abbaye de Sénanque, a monastery built in the 12th century that is still used to this day. The Provence region is known for growing lavender and surrounding the abbey were fields and fields of the plant. While the plants weren't yet in bloom, they had a lavender-ish color that was truly beautiful. The abbey was also gorgeous and the history was very interesting. We spent the afternoon exploring the city of Gordes. There wasn't too much to do in the city itself so we took in the views, ate some ice cream, and relaxed in our lovely surroundings. I mean after all, we don't have that much time left to enjoy the French joie de vivre.
Our last day of the trip was spent exploring the town of Roussillon and its famous Sentier des Ocres, a natural rock formation that looks a bit like the Grand Canyon, though on a much much smaller scale. The ground and rocks in the park are all orangey-yellow and instead of dirt, the ground is covered with a sandy substance. It's leftover from when the area was covered by the ocean millions of years ago. It's another incredible french landscape that is so not what you picture when you think of France. After exploring the natural landscape, we explored the "urban" landscape ( I use that term very lightly) of the town itself. All of the buildings are the same color as the rock formations. With the tiny winding streets, colorful buildings, and awesome views of the surrounding area, the town was quite picturesque.
After a lovely couple of days together, we headed back to Toulouse with a few more freckles and lots of fun memories from our last Dickinson trip of the year.
Home in TWO WEEKS.
Hatabi shout-out!!! See you soon Cuz!!
ReplyDeleteLove,
Man Who Hops aka The Hopper