Posting Updates July 1, 2015

Posting Updates July 1, 2015

Hello everyone! I had another banner day recently, thanks to all of you, where I had 40 views in one day! Thank you! My highest, so far, was 60 views in 1 day! I didn't know I even knew that many people! Again, thank you!

So, tomorrow I hope to get my posting done about my trip to Barcelona. Fabulous, by the way! Then Thursday I leave on a 9-day cruise on MSC Opera and here is where I am going:

1. Milan, Italy, viewing the town and Expo 2015
2. Venice, Italy. This is where my cruise leaves from but I am going a day early to sightsee a little. I am going on a boat tour for 2 hours. To, "see what I can see"
3. My first port of call is: Bari, Italy.
4. Then Piraeus, Greece
5. Then Constanta, Romania
6. Then Sochi, Russia (where the winter Olympic games were held)
7. Then Istanbul, Turkey (where I already have been but this is my dropping off point)
8. Then I am flying to Lisbon, Portugal
9. Then, we will see from there. But this is what you have to look forward to. So far.

Take care all! I hope you are all having a remarkable day!

Provence, France - Roussillon, June 20, 2015 (I had my very first lavender ice cream here!)

Provence, France  Roussillon, June 20, 2015 (I had my very first lavender ice cream here!)

 

So, this is the last of the 3 villages I visited in Provence today. I had a hard time picking out a photo that I liked to showcase this town. The defining feature of this town doesn't show up so much in this photo. This town, Roussillon, in on a hill and can be seen from a distance.

Also, Roussillon is built on red rock.

and the houses are multi-colored unlike Gordes where the houses are all cream colored.

Each town has it's own unique feel and character. 

 

That's what makes it so interesting to walk through these towns!

 

These are trellises that are built over many of the patios here. During the winter there is nothing on top. But during the summer, they have beautiful grape leaves. And a lot of French people love to eat "Al Fresco" (outside). Great food, a beautiful environment, a great view and great conversation. Sounds good to me! 

This was a little nook on the side of a house that the owners
"beautified". Beauty and art everywhere you look!

 

And, here is the view from up here. Pretty spectacular, isn't it?

Just a little more beauty that I captured here.

 

Sorry, 2 more photos!

 

I have taken over 4,000 photos on this trip and now you see why. Breathtaking beauty!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Provence, France - Abbey of Senanque, June 20, 2015 (One of the things they produce here is lavender oil. I bought some!)

Provence, France - Abbey of Senanque, June 20, 2015 (One of the things they produce here is lavender oil. I bought some!)

Ok, so I have to say that I am pretty proud of how this photo turned out. But I cannot take all the credit! Benoit (my tour guide) told me exactly where to stand and exactly where to put my camera to get this shot. I took another shot of this abbey but the lavender field doesn't show up very well.

 

So this is what you see as you are coming down the canyon to this abbey. There are only 50 monks that live here now. It used to be more heavily populated.  They grow all their own food and, they grow lavender to sell. A bigger picture of the hills around this abbey shows that their are vineyards and gardens for the crops that they grow. I bought some lavender oil that was produced here.  Heck, how many times am I going to get lavender oil from the Abbey of Senanque?

 

 

So here's my less than perfect photo of the Abbey. Now you know why I showed the other one first. The lavender doesn't show up near as well in this photo.  The monks put up signs along the edge of the lavender saying to beware of the snakes and scorpions.  I asked Benoit if there was really snakes and scorpions. He said, "nah, but it used to help keep the tourists from picking the lavender." He said some tourists would come out of here with armfuls of it!

 

 

 

 

 

Provence, France - Gordes, June 20, 2015 (I learned about the varied tastes of many differnt olive oils and bought 3 very different types here)

Provence, France - Gordes, June 20, 2015 (I learned about the varied tastes of many different olive oils and bought 3 very different types here)

 

This is Gordes. It is over 2,000 years old. When we stopped to take pictures coming into the city, this site took my breath away. It was magnificient! I cannot show you how incredible this view is in 2 dimensions. You need to be there. The Romans occupied this area at one time.

 

 

The homes in this town are all one color. That creamy beige color. Also, the homes in this area are multi-million dollar homes.

 

The views up here on the hill are spectacular! This area is known for its "Le Mistral" or, the winds. It is windy a lot so the air is clear, and fresh, a lot! A very desirable place to live.

 

Here is an olive grove growing by the side of the road.

 

There are also beautiful landscaped yards along the way.





I think I mentioned in a former post that I went on a tour of Provence when I was in Avignon. There are 4 directions to travel outside of Avignon, and I went to the east. There are 3 villages that I visited and Gordes is one of them.

This is a well where they used to draw water for home use. If you look closely, you can see 2 metal rails coming out from the fountain to the wall of the fountain. These were used because the vessels to carry the water were very heavy so the person gathering water could rest the vessel on the rails while filling it up. 



Here is my wonderful tour guide, Benoit Vincent of Avignon-PrestigeTours (Avignon-prestigetour.com).

He knew exactly what sights I wanted to see,

where to take the best pictures,

where to taste and purchase the best olive oil. I tasted 3 kinds of olive oil. They all had completely different tastes and uses. I only knew of one taste and one use for olive oil before!

 

Benoit really knew his trade and I was very grateful to have him guide me through this beautiful and amazing countryside!

 

 
 
 

Avignon, France, June 19 - 20, 2015 (2 restaurants included, Le Forum and L'Essentiel - a Michelin Star restaurant)

Avignon, France, June 19 - 20, 2015

What a wonderful 2 days! I took a taxi into Avignon from the nearby town where I was staying (Monfarvet), and stopped right in front of The Pope's Palace. Well, really, I stopped by a restaurant called The Pope's Palace Restaurant which is right next to the large plaza where the Palace is. The Pope's Palace is surrounded by a large city wall. Inside there are blocks and blocks of shops, restaurants, and hotels and things. The walled compound is a city in itself. The outside of the walled city, is the modern city of Avignon.

I only had a few hours before I have a guided tour of Provence so I bought my tickets for the Pope's Palace, took a ride on "The Little Train" and met my driver to take me back to my apartment. On The Little Train I met a lady from Sebastopol, California. She is in France for a month. Mostly traveling with friends but today on her own and tomorrow on to another destination.

Each time I visit a new city I like to get my bearings. To do this I like to take the on-off tour buses because they cover the most territory the fastest. Well, Avignon has their own "mini-train" that takes around the center part of town. It lasts 45 minutes.

It reminds me of a Disneyland ride. It goes slow and winds itself through the tiny streets of the inner city. I took many pictures, some of which you can see the printing on the top of the glass of the mini-train. Oh, well. I took the shot anyway.

Again, there is a big plaza connected to the Pope's Palace as well as restaurants. Today there was an accordion player entertaining us who had a little tip cup in front of where he positioned himself.

There was also a "silver" man who sprayed himself in silver paint and posed like a statute and a guy dressed up like a bumble bee standing in an alcove on the side of a building. I tipped the accordion player and the bumble bee today.

There is a great lookout up a ramp on the side of the Palace. You can see the Rhone River and the partial Bridge of Avignon from there.

The heart of this city basically dates back to the time that the pope's inhabited this city - around 1400 but the city has an older history too. They called this city "The Second Rome" as I think, around 10 - 12 popes lived here. When I did the tour it was interesting the way they did their bookkeeping. Only the Pope, his aide and a bookkeeper knew where the money was hidden. It was hid under the floor stones in one of the chambers in the Palace. I think they said the money was discovered, or maybe it was just the chambers, in 1989.

Notice the faces in the windows of people looking out at you. Isn't that funny! They have that on several buildings in town. 

I walked around the city a bit, found a vendor from Peru that sold rings and I bought one nice one and I cute, very inexpensive one that had stars on it. Probably will be a gift.

Then I looked for a place for lunch. I found a restaurant in one of the main boulevards called "Le Forum". I sat "al fresco" out on the patio and ate and watched the world go by.

 I had a vegetarian lasagna with salad that was wonderful! I could tell that the spinach that they used was fresh and it was made with a becamel sauce. Yum! Then for dessert I had a type of bread/cake with candied fruit in it with a sauce. It was the restaurant's original recipe and a favorite.

Then I headed back to my hotel to meet my tour guide.

Saturday, June 20, 2015 - Avignon again

I was told about a restaurant in Avignon, by my guide Bernoit, (more about him later) called L'Essentiel. I made lunch reservations for there for today. But, I needed help finding the place. So, I went back to the booth where I bought the rings.

Today it was the son and his girlfriend that were manning the booth. I showed them the ring that I bought there the day before and ask if I could pay them to give me directions. The boyfriend, Daniel, immediately got out his GPS and tried to find it. Then the girlfriend, Lala, came over and also tried to figure it out (and she is a native!)

Anyway, Lala said she would be happy to walk with me and help me find it. How nice! We found it but I was about 1/2 hour early so we parted ways and I hung out and walked the nearby streets to see what this part of the city held. This was actually the upscale neighborhood of town. I looked in one shop window and there was a Prima Ballerina tutu! It was a ballet products shop! They had toe shoes, ballet slippers, all kinds of colors of leotards, leg warmers, various carrying bags, cute hair pins, and actually perfume and regular shoes. What a fun store!

 

I love how they take ancient architecture and enhance it with modern features.

Then I went to lunch. The Restaurant, again, is called L'Essentiel. The hostest led me outside to a table where they were serving all of their guests "al fresco" for lunch.




There were 2 price options to get a full meal or you can order a la carte. I ordered the meal so that I could taste an assortment of things.

 

The first course was a breadstick with like toasted mushrooms and herbs on it. It was delicious! Also with this course was a poached egg on top of a type of blended or mixed white fish with herbs. Very unusual and very delicious also!

 

The second course was a type of white fish steak topped with blended lobster, a stick of baby zucchini and herbs.

I watched the other diner's faces as they were served this dessert. What a bit of fantasy and tantalizing tastes! All of these desserts were made from raspberries! The one on the left was like a fruit soup with a surprise frozen delight in the broth.  The one in the middle was like a pudding with chocolate on the bottom. The one on the right, cotton candy with raspberry crumble underneath. Suberb! As the French would call it.  

Then I had mint tea. I loved this teapot. It is very heavy. Everything about presentation and sensory delight. It was wonderful!

 I took pictures of the door after I left because, I believe I said this on a former blog but maybe not, all the stickers on the door are endorsements of this particular establishment. So, here are the stickers on this door.

When I left the restaurant I started to walk and right away I saw Lala and her boyfriend. They were waiting for me! Lala wanted to have her picture taken with me! I guess because I was an American and she hadn't met too many of those. 
 
So, we took several pictures together. Then 3 of us visited for a while. Especially about the differences between here and in America.

 
Lala had never been in a cathedral before and there was one right behind us so we went in.
 
Then we walked to a patisserie to pick up some eclairs for her dad because tomorrow is Father's Day in France. Then we walked Dan to his bike and we said goodbye after exchanging contact info. Oh, I think I forgot to say. We actually are living in the exact same apartment complex in Montfavet!!! They are on the 3rd floor and I am on the 1st floor! Isn't that cool!