Day 3: Les Baux

Day 3 took us out of Cassis again to the village of Les Baux.  A medieval town and ruined castle.

Here is Jonas posing for the obligatory picture in stocks.

This picture does not do the castle justice (although this was the main part of it).  It was really huge.  It was built on top of, into, and out of the rocks.

A group of school children in costume.  Sometimes I think European children must be a little complacent about the amazing opportunities Europe offers what with growing up with castles in their backyards.  It does my heart good to see them learning about and appreciating their history like this. 

The restaurant where we ate lunch. 

I love this pic.  I love the windows, but perhaps most of all, I love that there are no other tourists in my picture.  :)

Amazing.

Yes, Mike bought the boys swords.  What I love best about this pic is the people watching the father give his sons swords.  The couple sitting down had been observing the boys while Mike went in to purchase the swords.   The couple over Mike's shoulder seem amused also by the situation.  We seem to receive amused smiles by folks who observe our young family fairly often.  

What could be better than swords at a castle?

Mike and Judith.

Family pic at the end of walk down from the castle and through the town.  With our swords.

At the entrance (upon leaving).

There was a wide open space on the cliffs behind the castle.  There was a large area that was a sloping slab of rock.  This slab was apparently used to facilitate the collection of rainwater.  Brilliant!

It was so windy.  The temperature wasn't too cold, but between the overcast skies, and the wind (especially on the unprotected cliffs) we were a little chilly.  As you can see, we were not dressed for anything other than sunny and warm weather.  June in southern France.  Who knew?

Catapults.  We saw a demonstration a little later.  We also saw a pretty cool battering ram. 



Day 2: Nimes and Pont du Gard

After a day of relaxing around Cassis, we decided to get in the car again and drive about an hour and a half to Nimes (pronounced "Neem"). 

Roman influence is so apparent in Provence and it's no wonder--I had to keep telling myself I was in France and not Italy.  The climate, landscape, and vegetation are all very similar to central Italy.  That's probably why the Romans felt so at home here and made lasting impressions.

This was the Arena of Nimes.  According to Rick Steves, it is the best perserved Arena of the Roman world.  In the Dark Ages, it was bricked up and made a fortress.  Then in the 1200s it became a housing community where about 700 people lived, complete with streets, plumbing, and gardens on the top level.  Only in 1809 did Napolean kick the people out and make it a historic monument.  

Today it hosts bullfights and concerts (Elton John).  In the winter an inflateable dome can cover about half the arena with seating for 7,000 people.   

 Jonas if front of a bullfighter statue.  Ezra refused to pose for the picture.  He is under the cape.

 

Judith and Daddy at the restaraunt where we had lunch.  I had a Caprese salad with fried eggpant.  Mmm.

This was on our guided walk through town.  The crocodile and palm tree were emblems of Roman Nimes.  It was a favorite retirement home for Roman officers who conqured Egypt.  (Croc=Egypt, Palm=Victory).

This is Maison Carree.  It is one of the most complete and beautiful buildings surviving from the Roman Empire. 

Ezra jumping off some ruins near the temple.  He is always jumping off something these days...

Mike and I at Maison Carree.

Ezra and Jonas on the front steps.

 Fountain Garden.  In 1735, the city needed to build a canal through the town to power the mills and provide water for the indigo dyes for the fabric serge de Nimes (denim).  The canal expanded to include this Versailles-like park just 50 yrs after Versailles was built.  It has special significance to the people because they were grand and beautiful, but most importantly PUBLIC.  

Mike was annoyed that I made him come to this out-of-the-way, little spot tucked back in a neighborhood.  It was interesting to me because it was the end of the 30 mile long, Pont du Gard aquaduct.  This is one of only 2 known distribution tanks still in existence (the other is in Pompeii).  The lower holes were routed through stone and lead pipes to neighborhood wells in squares around the city.  The higher holes which were wet only when there was lots of water to be had, went to homes of the wealthy, public baths, and ornamental fountains.  Fascinating.  :)

The kids and I at the Pont du Gard aquaduct.   It is the second tallest Roman structure.  Rome's Colosseum is 6 ft higher.  The main arch of the bridge is 80ft; the largest Roman arch ever built.  Ninety percent of this 30 mile aquaduct is underground.  The water made the trip in 24 hours with a drop of only 40 feet.

We stopped at a road side stand on the way and got some Provencal cherries.  Yummy!  Jonas is feeding some to Mike.  Yes, Mike likes cherries.  Who knew?!

The best part for the kids was the opportunity to play in the river! 

Judith and Mommy!



Jonas' 3rd bday and Father's Day

Jonas' 3rd birthday is June 12 so we decided to celebrate it 2 weeks early so Mike could be with us.  He's been gone for 8 1/2 of the past 12 months.  But who's counting?  :)  He has missed a lot of birthday celebrations in the last year plus (including his own...twice).

Jonas with his presents.

Opening presents.  And pretty happy about it.

The new balance bike.



After blowing out the candles.



Celebrating Father's Day.  Ezra made him the sweetest thing at school.

Mike and the kiddos.

Ezra, Judith, Jonas.



Cassis, France

Mike was able to take a week off from work and stay with us at an apartment in Cassis, France (pronounced Cass-ee).  It was about an 8 1/2 hour drive for us, but the kids were so excited to see Daddy, that the drive down went pretty smoothly.  (I had a little help from Mr.DVD Player as well.)  We arrived around dinner time on Saturday evening so we settled into the apartment, took a quick walk to the beach to have a look-see, and ordered some pizza.

We spent Sunday morning at the beach and then after naps we took a boat ride to visit the Calanques (pronounced Kah-lahnk). 

This is the beach we went to.  Our apartment was just about a block and a half away from the port.  It was just a few minutes walk to the local boulangerie (bakery for breakfast), market, park, and BEACH.

 

This is the highest cliff on the French Coast.

Jonas enjoying the boat ride.  Ezra, not so much at first.  For some reason, he didn't like the particular boat that we took.  He liked all the other boats, but not the one we happened to be riding on.  You never know with that kid.  He finally settled down enough to enjoy it.

The Calanque are fjords (inlets carved out by glaciers) along the coast between Cassis and Marseille (about 20 km).  It is a national park.  There are beaches, but you can only get to them by foot (except for the port).  I kept trying to get Mike to hike to one of them, but he maintained that he was sure we would lose one or more children over the cliffs along the way.  So our view of these awesome beaches was from the boat.

A fish in the crystal clear water.  Some springs right of the coast keep the water particularly clear here (as well as particularly chilly--as you'll see in the pics of Ezra and Mike in the water at the beach in a later blog).

And afterward, play time at the park.