6.26.2013

Au Revoir, Avignon

Avignon Carousel
Our last night in Avignon was spent walking the streets, stopping at a hole in the wall restaurant for kebob take away, having a picnic under a tree in one of the squares and playing on the carousel.  That's Avignon---beautiful, calm, relaxed.  We loved every second of it!!


Provence: A Few Images













Provence: Roman Amphitheater in Orange, France

We couldn't get enough of ancient Roman ruins so we found another one-- the Théâtre Antique d'Orange.  The theater was built early in the 1st century and is one of the best preserved of all Roman theaters. The majority of entertainment was mime, pantomime, poetry readings and comedy.   Today the theater is still used for all kinds of events--dance, opera, rock concerts, musicals,  etc.  Cool.





We finished our tour of the amphitheater at a charming little "salon" with some light french food + nutella crepe Delicious!




6.24.2013

The Camergue Horses

The Camergue horse is an ancient breed indigenous to the Camargue area in southern France--the marshes and wetlands of the Rhone delta.  It is considered one of the oldest breeds of horses in the world.  The horses are born brown but turn white as they age.  

Given M's love of horses, visiting this area was a no-brainer.  This was M's first horse ride and ARose's first pony ride.  I've never seen M so excited when she saw us pulling over at the horse stables.  She was so relaxed on that horse!  (I wish I could say the same for me:-))  After the ride she said this was the best day of her life.  So sweet!!  For the last 3 years all she has talked about is living on a farm when she gets older with her best buddies with horses and all sorts of other animals.  ARose was excited about the pony ride too.  She lasted about 10 minutes:-)








Abruzzo: Lost Pics from Capestrano, Italy

I stumbled upon these lost photos from a day trip we took a few days ago.  We visited the town of Capestrano.  We didn't realize at the time but unfortunately this small mountain village was hit really hard by the earthquake 4 years ago.  And, like most things in Italy, the rebuild and approval to reopen takes TIME and not to mention money.  It was a bit sad to see the town in such a state.  On the bright side, progress is being made so hopefully they will be up for tourist soon.  The people were so kind to us, talking with us about the town.  We ate some gelato and had the castle all to ourselves.  I am not sure if we were supposed to but we climbed up the watch tower where we were treated with gorgeous views of the rolling hills and valleys.

A perfect day!










6.23.2013

Our Day in Nice: The Market and Beach










Lavender Fields


We have arrived in Provence!!

Southern France: Gorges du Verdon

We rented another car for our travels from Nice to Avignon and took in the sights.  Below are some images of our sights and frolics along the way. I've used the words "stunning" and "breathtaking" over and over again on this trip.    This ride was one of the most picturesque of our trip.  It is one of my favorite so far (and that's against some strong competition).  Awesome!  Only wish we had more time to play in the lake!


The Verdon River Canyon

View of the river from above

A waterfall 

Paddle boat excursion

Jumpers....not us!


Another stunning view

Good thing we had a small car