Saturday, October 4, 2014

September 16 - Arles to Nice

How we thought we had time to go to Avignon completely escapes me. But you have to give Frosty credit. He tried. Once in town, the narrow streets were a snarl of traffic; There was no place to park; and we quickly realized anything we wanted to see was going to require some dedicated time. I managed to slip out of the car for this photo while Frosty reset the GPS.

We were on our  way to the Alps of Provence to see Mont Ventoux, made famous by Tour de France.

First, a trip to the grocery store and a stop at the local watering hole. We met two very nice guys from Belgium. Frosty had quite a time talking to them about bike racing.

Almost to the top of the mountain. They call this the Moonscape. Humm wonder why?








Lots of tiny alpine flowers.
And the view . . . 
View from the top.

A bit farther down.

And father down still.

From the mountain, we took the back roads. Oh, my did we ever see some beautiful scenery.

Miles of lavender. All bloomed out and harvested of course, 

But they left me one little sprig and I could imagine the rest.


Tiny villages tucked between mountains, quaint farms, roadside stands, hundreds of picturesque points that deserved to be photographed, but we pushed on. 

Good thing. Getting to the hotel in Nice was a small nightmare. Then there was no parking at the hotel. It was not the sweetest way to end the trip, but finally the car was parked. We went to the train station (although that turned out to be a worthless effort), 

And dinner was ready. Our last supper together.


My darling was just as exhausted as he looks. The rest of us weren't far behind and it would be an early morning for all of us. Stanley and I on the train to Verona and Frosty and Jill north to the French Alps! We said all our goodbyes that night. Time for bed!