Gordes: a classic hilltop village Well, we wanted to see what all the fuss was about! Gordes on Market day was alive with food, drink, jewellery, every sort of trinket and bauble AND and a great Eritean cappuchino! Tony rated it amongst his 5 best ever. In some ways these places have not changed for hundreds of years- but then you see a satellite dish or an internet cafe.... Debbie is shown here being consoled by Rhonda because she wasn't allowed to buy a white top, or a white backpack (I think) St Remy en Provence was our next destination. Brigitte (or was that Bridget?) our GPS lady from South Africa proved up to the task of a very complicated run through the countryside. Funny, it didn't look so tricky on the map! She had a bad habit of telling us to turn at a roundabout when she actually meant to go straight through! There were some terse words spoken, on both sides. There was a market day in the town (how surprising) and we bought cheese (see below), nougat, fruit (one of ...
His name was Anders. He has a small boat 🚣♀️, in which we toured a little of Stockholm’s famous archipelago. More than 20000 islands of all shapes and sizes, some inhabited, others not. We stepped ashore on one small island which had one farming family on it, running sheep and fishing for a number of generations. Incredibly, this part of the world is slowly rising out of the sea, in response to millions of years of ice having covered it, up to 3 or 4 kilometres thick, subsequently melting and releasing the downwards pressure. A good response to rising sea levels 🌊?
Pernes-les-Fontaines was our 'home town'- it wasn't until the last day that we realized we hadn't explored this medieval gem. It is famous for its 32 fountains, most of which we saw, and its very impressive bike musem, which was an unexpected delight! (Well for the boys in the group anyway) Debbie was looking for the all-white lycra outfits on display... The view from the church tower was very impressive- what looked like flat featureless countryside turned out to be anything but! Our 'gite' proved to be my masterstroke- I held firm despite Rhonda's concerns that it was too old, too far away, too good to be true, etc. Always trust your gut instincts and go with the first thing you see! We will always have fond memories of this place, its very stylish owner, Aude, and the swimming pool. Our last meal in Pernes- as usual Debbie got the best meal again (and the best wine as well).
Mais oui!!
ReplyDelete