Lavender
fields were
beautiful as expected.
But we were not
ready for
such a breathtaking fragrance, one that our
beautiful tulip fields in the Netherlands
simply can’t
offer.
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Cote d'azur? - It’s glamorous
Nice, festival Croisette
in Cannes, Monaco
with its casinos, cabriolets and ladies
wearing pearls and diamonds. The provincial South?
- Lavender, soap and vineyards.
When you go to a trip armed
only by your stereotypes it definitely says a lot of unflattering
things about you as a traveler but promises you some exciting
discoveries. And all of this is truth. But not all truth.
The South of France in
the summer will burn
you to the ground if you are so unlucky
to have white
skin and red hair. But you can always deceive the South
of France acting like a
vampire in exile (which means hiding from
sun whenever it is possible). You
also can rent an
apartment with astonishing
view on bay with
yachts, buy a
bottle of wine and enjoy your night sitting
on the terrace delicately
lightened with candles. You keep
dreaming about
the sun and beach? Weird.
When the
storm rages outside the window it's a
proper time for a
vampire in exile to leave the house and go for a walk. For instance,
to pay a visit
the Villa
Ephrussi de Rothschild.
The Baroness took this amazing piece of land straight out from under
the nose of the Belgian king. Then she
acted like a true
perfectionist
replacing an indecent number of architects, made
a garden which was a miracle itself in that
days spending
even more indecent amount of money. Just
for living
here a couple of months a year. In the
winter! (What a clever woman.)
But if a
vampire dares to catch some sun
she will be
rewarded not only with a sunstroke, but with some
beautiful views. When
you look at these pics you get it why these places have such a well
known azure fame.
You
can see some weird stuff on the beach.
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All
shades of azure.
|
Even if
you are not a glamorous lady with a dog there
is nice in Nice. It is very cozy. There
are delicious pies with caramelized onion
and anchovies, incredibly beautiful alley Camus (it
looks like all the residents of the city
spend time here)
and an excellent Chagall museum.
I can
imagine it is not so easy to confess you are a captain of this ship.
|
If you
want to feel the true power
of the luxury accumulated on
an area of two
square kilometers you need to visit
Monaco. Honestly
I do not know how Grace Kelly survived here. Anyway
the Oceanarium
here is
something.
The name
of this fish is simply
Grace Kelly. It
got it because it
was lucky enough to have
the proper dots -
just like famous Grace's
dress she wore
in one of Hitchcock's films had.
|
Mad bees
is swimming!
|
To see
Monaco and die from pain in your eyes.
|
Seagull on the roof of the Oceanarium in Monaco. |
I guess she sends her greetings to well-fed herring thieves from the Netherlands! |
Cautious tourists in Monaco take a look at Monte Carlo casino but go not farther than the lobby.
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First of all Cannes is the Croisette and the festival palace. Also it was remembered by the delicious apple crumble: ("How don’t you know what it is? - the waiter said with surprise. - I do not even know how to explain this.") and cinematographic murals.
Anyway the most beautiful thing in Provence is provincial Provence. Villages competing with each other in perfectionism for the careless attention of the traveler. Mountains, vineyards and olive trees. Yachts, ships, boats. And lavender. Lots of lavender. There are even their own Big Canyon, a mountain lake and small fjords which the French for some reason call calanques.
If you go to Saint-Remy-de-Provence where Van Gogh spent a whole year at a local psychiatric clinic it's easy to figure out why he painted a hundred and fifty oil paintings for the year and a hundred more drawings and watercolors. We were thinking that to go mad in Provence is at least stylishly and were surprised to learn that the psychiatric clinic in Saint-Remy is still working.
If you go to Saint-Remy-de-Provence where Van Gogh spent a whole year at a local psychiatric clinic it's easy to figure out why he painted a hundred and fifty oil paintings for the year and a hundred more drawings and watercolors. We were thinking that to go mad in Provence is at least stylishly and were surprised to learn that the psychiatric clinic in Saint-Remy is still working.
This
is Aix-en-Provence
where Van Gogh wandered a little as
well. We liked
these shaggy fountains a
lot.
|
When
you on such a road you want just
keep moving.
|
Van
Gogh languished behind these walls.
|
And
here he was walking. Do you recognize the trees?
|
The
triumph of perfectionism you can see in
Les
Baux-de-Provence. Its
population is
only 465 people who mostly spend their time
cleaning of houses and paving stones with brushes and soap I
guess.
|
When
we’ve been in Cassis we enjoyed
a car hiking. You
just ride through
the mountains from one viewing site to another and admire the views.
I love it!
|
Here
they are, the French fjords!
|
The Verdon Gorge. |
The
Papal Palace in Avignon was built without
any
worries
about space.
The dimensions of the halls are indecent.
|
How
good it feels
to hide in these walls from the unmerciful
sun!
|
Of course, it does. Only in my case not in the summer. I would like to come back to Cassis in the spring and get to Calanques National Park (it was closed in those days we have been there because of the threat of fire and we could only admire its view from the boat). I might be even visit the Castle of If where the darling Dantes turned into a cruel avenger Oldboy. And, of course, take a chance to walk along the pedestrian route in the Verdon Gorge. In a word we have a lot to do ladies and gentlemen.
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