July 5th, 2015 After spending another lazy day by the pool in Arles, followed by dinner next to a 90 AD amphitheater, we packed up the car for our last morning in Provence and headed to the picturesque rock plateau village of Les Baux de Provence in the Alpilles region. Affording views […]
Photo Diary: Dining Alongside History in Arles
June 4th, 2015 After bidding adieu to Marseille, we headed west through the Camargue region towards Arles. Rich with Roman ruins and home to Vincent Van Gogh for a spell during what was arguably his most creative and mentally troubled period and the inspiration behind many of his most well-known paintings, […]
Views of Marseille
July 3rd, 2015 As temps were still pushing into the upper 30s, we slathered on another layer of sunscreen and downed a liter of cool ice water to hydrate before setting out on an urban hike from the quayside of Port Vieux up to the landmark Basilica Notre Dame de […]
Photo Diary: Cruising Les Calanques
July 3rd, 2015 No visit to the maritime port of Marseille would be complete without getting out onto the very water that has been the livelihood of the ancient city since the Greeks settled there in 600 BC; and the perfect destination for your water excursion would be the vertiginous cliffs and secluded beaches that make […]
Ancient Marseille: The Labyrinthine Le Panier
July 2nd, 2015 After navigating the hectic narrow streets of downtown, paying an obscene amount of euros to park the rental car for two nights, and checking into our hotel we had finally arrived in France’s Mediterranean capital of Marseille. France’s leading coastal city and 2013’s European Capital of Culture […]
Photo Diary: The Summer Night Life of Aix-en-Provence
July 1st, 2015 After our scenic paddleboat adventure at Gorges du Verdon earlier in the day, Dan and I set our sights and our GPS on the birthplace of Post-Impressionist painter Paul Cézanne, the city of Aix-en-Provence in the Alpes-Côte d’Azur region. Home to numerous gardens, lovely tree lined streets, grand squares, […]
Photo Diary: Gorges du Verdon
July 1st, 2015 Les Gorges du Verdon is France’s answer to the Grand Canyon. The plunging canyon slices a 25km swathe through the limestone plateau of the Alpes-De-Haute-Provence foothills. After hiking what is considered the Swiss Grand Canyon aka the Ruinalta Gorge last month, Dan and I were keen to add another grand canyon to […]