France Super Star. A trip around Provence and Camargue

From Racconigi to Colle di Tenda ..... arriving in Aix en Provence via the Esterel, visit the City 'and visit to the Camargue, the beautiful region of France. Last day in Marseille and islets in front of the City ', back in traffic, rain and fatigue ......

 

Let's go....

We started in the first sunny Saturday afternoon in the car at a time of Aix en Provence on the Col de Tenda and down 'to the Esterel, the trip went well and the traffic was not excessive. We arrived in town 'in the evening and spent the evening and stay at home from a friend who would arrive the next day. I immediately could see some of the things that I kind france, france is the first ..... dirty streets, houses, squares, all immersed in the dirt more 'insidious, is probably not a people that wishes to be cleaned or the City ', or staff as the people are strange NANNY'. The bathroom is divided by their area between shower and sink and toilet, for the record, the toilet is enclosed in a tiny room where I would argue that it is not the best for obvious reasons I think we can imagine. The people running barefoot in the house and even at the bar taking away some of the shoes support your feet to the ground ...... no comment!
Apart from this', our real vacation began on Sunday with a visit to Aix.

Aix, ancient but young city....

Alarm early and after a healthy shower we started walking from the residential area at a time the center of Aix. After twenty minutes we arrive in the center and we dive into all this' you need to visit and photograph in Aix ........
We arrive at the square's central fountain that from the beginning of a course mirabeau, place in history and walks in the open air, is always one of the most popular and lively city. The course is along the central and has local shops and on the one hand and on the street, many tourists strolling on the course so 'as in the rest of the city'. The city 'from the 100 fountains ..... actually fountains everywhere .....
THE ROUND:
The Rotunda was built in 1860, this great fontanaè dominated by 3 statues representing Justice (facing the course Mirabeau), Agriculture (to Marseille) and the Fine Arts (to Avignon)
LE COURS MIRABEAU
old course for coaches, is the axis of conjunction between the Mazarin district to the south and the ancient commercial city in the north. This "road" is adorned with trees, fountains, cafes and elegant private residences antiche.Tre fountains adorn the course:
LA FONTAINE DES NEUF CANONS
LA FONTAINE D'EAU CHAUDE
muscosa that, fed by spring
LA FONTAINE DU ROI RENÉ
(XIX century), the work of David d'Angers. The statue shows the king with a bunch of grapes in his hand, it was him to Muscat in Provence. From there we gathered while walking in front of the house where mori 'the famous and popular Paul Cezanne ..... A capatina at the Palace of Justice and the market square with flowers, a beautiful and colorful. Here 'a stop for a coffee that cost us salatissimo.
The ancient city:
It is the oldest part of Old Town, a tangle of semi-pedestrian streets very animated and full of shops.
LE PALAIS DE JUSTICE
is built over the palace of the sovereign Conti. In the sixteenth century, the palace housed the Parliament, the Court of Auditors, the Office of Finance and the Government. Demolished at the end of the eighteenth century, the site of a new building was constructed according to the draft Ledoux.
From here we pass at the back where other buildings are modern court. Walk walk arrive in the historic center, beautiful, lively and famous. People are having fun and happy to run the streets and squares inspired by sounds, people, dehurs room ... there's the sun and Tourism is full. The square of the town hall is full of beauty to see, inside the town hall .... the bell, the market for vegetables, shops and local .....
Go back and find LE PASSAGE AGARD
ancient convent of the Carmelites, connecting the Course Mirabeau to the Palace of Justice. Be observed even coffee "Les Deux Garçons", frequented by Cézanne and his friends, the chapel the offertory, the ancient chapel of the convent of the Carmelites. For lunch we go into a huge square in the vicinity of City Hall where there are restaurants with more than appendages dehors, carini, people began to stop for lunch break and after a tour of all the menu 'choose an externally attached small restaurant at the square with menu 'classic of the day:
rare steak, egg, the eye of beef, salad and chips .... water, coffee: 40 euros .... W la france!
Ongoing Mirabeau dehors we sit in a bar for crepes.
The day is hot and we continue to arrive in LA PLACE DE L'Archevêché
at the bottom of the square stands the Palazzo dell'Arcivescovado, ancient residence of the archbishops of Aix, decorated with a beautiful Regency style door. In this building, during the month of July each year, held the International Festival of Lyric Art. Near Le Musée des tapisseries
located on the 1st floor of the Palace, in the apartments gala brings together a rich collection of tapestries and objects
furniture dating from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
The beautiful and imposing Cathedral St SAUVEUR,
where are all the architectural styles from the V to the seventeenth century, from its Roman foundations to the Merovingian baptistery, the cloister of the twelfth century to the famous triptych of Buisson Ardent Nicolas Froment and its carved wooden doors of the sixteenth century. Opposite the cathedral is the University Square, where the old power law gave way at the Institute of Political Studies.
The natural history museum is closed and we do a look up at the spa of Aix:
LES THERMES Sextius
are flanked by the Torre Tourreluque (XIV century). The present building stands on the foundations of the ancient Roman baths of the sixth. Excavations have unearthed a Roman swimming pool that you can see at the new spa complex. The place is beautiful and ideal for photos, we head to return again to the central course to make a trip on the train.
The train takes us roughly the same places where gia 'we had been walking during the day but we enjoy the view as you sit comfortably with headphone guide into Italian. We pass the PLACE DES QUATRE DAUPHINS
which dominates the pretty fountain of the Four Dolphins, built by Rambot, and the Hotel de
Boisgelin, by Rambot and Pavillon, adorned by an imposing facade with a Doric frieze.
At the end of the tour we head home via the new business district being built where there are shops and restaurants ready to open.
Met by the long ride in that beautiful and ancient city of Provence, the university and full of young, old palaces and with plenty to photograph .... arriving exhausted at home in the neighborhood just outside the center.

Camargue... wonderful Camargue!!!

In the early morning wake-up time of the famous and beautiful French region of Camargue ..... By the way begin to see just lawns, farms of horses walking, forests, rice fields ...... enviable farm with riding stables and restaurants Destination of the place .... Saintes Maries de la Mer, citta 'typical and characteristic heart of the Camargue, node and tourist attraction for those who want to immerse themselves in a small and sunny spain marina, very much accoglinte and cheerful.
We arrive and the country is full of people in a sunny morning where people are in a festive mood and the atmosphere is buzzing. Parking at the port and soon the book will ship by Tourism noon to navigate a piece of the Mediterranean, the Rhone dive, admire the beauty and nature of a wild and beautiful land that includes animals in the wild and the green water to come an important and vital river. We are, waiting, in the fairytale village, colors, smells, people and sun ..... perfect mix! The village of Saintes Maries de la Mer, the land of hospitality, tradition and pilgrimage, was built between the sky and sea, where the Rhone spans the Mediterranean. Place of legend, his bank received, at the dawn of Christianity, Marie Jacob, Marie Salomé and their servant Sarah, Christians fleeing persecution from Palestine on a boat without a rudder. The village offers visitors an image of the church alter and protector, and promises a tour full of emotion always in a new light.
Shadow of its Roman tower, the visitor wanderer in the streets in pavé on the trail of pilgrims. From the roof of the church, look for something to hunt, nose and hair in the wind, you let the big win by emotion spaces, scenes of future discoveries and warm encounters with men and women farmers who travel by horse pastures for bulls for which suggests a glorious future. From the village, his steps lead him to the dunes, beaches of fine sand, the vast expanses of reeds and herds. Lover of nature and the great outdoors, find pleasure in walking and riding, enjoy the dance of the birds, gave all'inebrio shipping skid and moved by the great winds.
The village of Saintes Maries de la Mer raises capital for those who allow themselves to be fascinated by the Camargue, surrounded by its wild beauty, its culture and its traditions alive and real. Two rows on the region of Camargue:
The Camargue is an island located between the branches of the Rhone embanked, dall'apporto formed of sand, pebbles and silt deposited by streams. This is a strange fusion of land, river and sea that gives hospitality to the great outdoors intramezzati by wild marshes, tufts and salicornia saladelle fields surrounding the pond and Vaccarès that make this region an area of exception. Far from the beaten paths, is revealed as a wild beauty, a soul and an incomparable discreet poetry that gave birth to the genius of Mistral and has inspired many artists and writers. Melancholic in an immense expanse torn, all born and perish without stopping all the dull sound of the waves that bathe its sunny shores. Country still in continuous conflict, which evokes a serenity that you are not ever given him and is part of visions of exoticism thanks to the play of light and various limitless horizons that reveal an intense life beyond the pleasure of your eyes. The trip at sea and then on the river and see places situazini dream, the river flows and impetuous life to hectares and hectares of land where they graze freely and Vivona horses and bulls together, sharing the space and the nature of that enchanted place. Seile standing on the boat shooting at least 100 photos of bulls, horses, horses, birds, and banks typically houses on the river with fishing nets raised. The day is warm and the sun beats urgiamo back ..... At lunchtime and in a typical restaurant in the center with an outdoor taste of bull meat, vegetables, paella is cooked in huge pans placed in the outdoor restaurant, in front tourists as a tourist attraction ....... Soon after we visit the famous roof of the church and the view from up there 'is breathtaking. The church of the village built near the mouth of the Petit Rhône, the Church of Saintes Maries de la Mer was an important strategic position. Since the time of its construction, the raging pirates on the coast and should defend itself from invasion. The church dominates the villaggio.Si is a real fortress. The roof is surrounded by a walkway patrol, with slits and piombatoi and served as a warning tower. The choir el'abside are surmounted by a semicircle to keep that encloses the old hall the guard called "upper chapel." It served as a refuge for the population and there is also a well of fresh water.
Two words about animals typical Camargues:
Camargue of horse: It is characterized by small size, skeletal and coarse limbs, head heavy, and is recognized as adults from her mantle gray almost white. Thus, the foal is born brown, sometimes black, and only 4-5 years to its mantle becomes white. A rustic without equal, the Camargue horses living in semi-freedom in the marshes and ponds in the summer and winter. The herds are composed of a number of mares and one stallion, births occur from April to July in full freedom. At the age of one year, the colt is a branded fire from its own and separate from the mother. In three years, was arrested for being trained, a delicate operation, this, that requires great patience on the part of the guardian who must put the horse, day by day, more and more at ease. Is increased with the reins of support, freeing thus the right hand of the knight. In most cases, the herds are trained only males while the mares are bred only for reproduction. The Race Horse Camargue is recognized officially by the Stations of the National Horse mounts since 1978.
The bulls of the Camargue: Conditional from where he lives, the bull of the Camargue is a rustic animal breeding. The Camargue cattle live in flocks called "manade" and their breeding ground and the trail is composed of expanses of marsh and territories from natural areas. Its size is slender, not exceeding 1m30, and the head is thin. His mantle is still very dark. The horns are the most typical characteristic of the breed because they run vertically towards the sky, forming, especially in females, a perfect pound.
The bull of the Camargue has never been tamed and the preservation of the breed is only due to its attitudes to games and travel. Rustic and sturdy, his farm is now operated by 120 farmers who gather about 15,000 head. The breeding of the bull, such as the Camargue horse, is an extensive farming.
It is only in the late 90s that the flesh of the bull has become one of the few beef that benefits from the Denomination of Controlled Origin. It lives in herds, in semi-freedom on land not suitable for cultivation on which grow only rushes, salicornia, triangle ... which is their only nourishment. As the colt, a calf will be branded a fire (railway) at the age of 1 year.
Afternoon for two hours Camargues corrida, beautiful and exciting, with young men who are behind an angry bull to take a nock

Marseille yes, Marseille not...

The last day of our stay we wake up French with Nuvoloni gray and cool ..... arietta depart for Marseille in the morning and having parked in an underground parking fee go to the port. No comment on the port ...... Feast day, many people around, the fish market ..... stalls with fresh fish, give off a nauseating smell and you can admire the giant crabs, live lobsters, tuna, rays, turbot, sea bream and redfish on display. Do tickets for the islands of Marseille, and we await the ship. Pending I realize how dirty, dangerous and "French" that place. Pause for ten minutes and washed arriving vessels inside throwing into the sea attached to bay of rotten fish and then galleggera 'giving off a smell of suicide! Seagulls are the only happy meal ready. We embark upon seeing all sorts of people, tramps, faces little wandering recommended to the port. The ship stops at the first island where an imposing medieval castle towers from the top of the hill of rock. We shall continue to come to the beautiful island of seond Marseille. In the journey we see the cathedral of Marseilles, beautiful and imposing, the harbor with cruise ships and merchant port.
The second island of the Frioul is a small paradise on earth, dotted with white Rocky Mediterranean vegetation, sea blue and green rocks from a cliff into the water. We arrive and take a coffee 'in a bar, an island is inhabited and the marina is nice, a little' of clubs stretching them close to dehors colored. We are in the center dell'isoletta to see breathtaking views. While strolling the island vaguely reminds me of croatia the rocky and rough. We find a passage between two high rocks and opens before us the vision of marine bays. Climb up the hill and the view at each step becomes more 'beautiful, for a walk acollina bare rock but with bunker dating back to the war and colorful flowers. Looking Jun 'the sea is clear and some tourist boats are moored nell'insenatura natural. Someone swimming despite the cold air and clouds. the bays and the colors of the sea are to photograph, we walk for an hour and return in June 'lunch we decide to return to Marseilles with the ship of 13:30. In Marseilles descend from the ship with a rain that we only allow to run by choosing a restaurant in a hurry and sloppy bruttina center near the port which has in the meantime, emptied by tourists in the morning. The city 'of Marseilles is dirty and desolate in the day and enter the restaurant for lunch. The city is the capital of southern France and its port is the first and most 'important of the whole state. The cuisine is based on fresh fish dishes and this restaurant in the fish soup was excellent according to all ..... The famous buillabaisse Marseille, made with various types of fresh fish. After lunch we have not hesitated to go from a town 'that perhaps deserved a visit more' depth, but it was so 'sad, desolate, dirty and rainy that we have taken the trip to italy in the afternoon came after code and a code home at ten in the evening.
La Provence, the Camargue, are places that deserve a little 'time and a lot' of photos, satisfied by the beauty of francs, and the sun that had now taken me about the photos of the holiday.