Road trip!
We headed north towards the ‘Gorges de Verdon’, the ‘Grand Canyon’ of France. The drive isn’t long, maybe an hour & 20 minutes and takes us through some new country with different landscapes.
A short distance north of Aix we finally get a chance to see some of the famous lavender fields. Unfortunately, the season is well past so we miss the glorious blooms but it’s easy to see how magnificent the views must be. The fields are massive and stretch for miles across the terrain. It’s hard to believe anything can grow in the soil as it looks to be nothing but rock. Nature finds a way.
Soon the foothills of the Alps come into view and the villages that dot the route are ancient, small, and seemingly stuck into the hillsides. We would have liked to linger in some but parking is a real challenge (always at the bottom of a long walk up a hill to any of the village centers) and we have a full day of driving.
The canyon itself is spectacular. We took a circular route, following the southern crest in the morning, then finishing up with the northern leg. Fortunately, not much traffic. We’ve read about terrible jams during the high season on the narrow roads, but for us it’s only a few cars and even fewer buses (whew)!
We ended up back in Aix in the early evening and started working on cleaning out the fridge. Cheese, bread, & vin. Not too bad!
D.
Today we venture northeast to the high country. Our target route is along the Grand Canyon of France located in the Alps de Haute Provence. An interesting drive (Thank You Dick for driving!) through many small villages and mountain roads. It is a beautiful day for a road trip.
We pass through an area that is prime lavender growing fields. The lavender blooms in late June through early August so we are well past the bloom and harvest, and the crowds. We do see several large fields with smaller plants that have a few blooms. I make Dick stop so I can pick some. The aroma is very intense.
The small perched villages are very nice, but have limited parking, mostly below the village with a long uphill climb. We do luck out when we get to Aiguines and manage to park and do some walking. The streets are typical hilltop village, slightly wider than one small lane. After we park the car, a truck pulls up to a right-angled corner in the street and parks. He has traffic in both directions in a conundrum for a good 30 minutes. Quite entertaining to watch. We finally need to move on and I need to direct Dick through – truck on one side, building on the other. He does a magnificent job and we proceed on down the road.
We make the turn and proceed back along the canyon on the droite bank (right bank). We find a nice scenic spot and pull over to enjoy our ham and cheese on baguette, with fresh grapes and a bottle of water.
We finish with some wine and cheese back at the house. We have a full day for tomorrow as well.
M.