Les Baux-de-Provence

Today we were back to classic Provence weather . Mind you, it took a while for the mist from yesterday to lift, but the early morning views from the terrace were, once again, unique.

So, off we went to a tourist favourite, Les Baux-de-Provence. It was still a little misty when we arrived, but got beautiful really fast.

The girls took their time climbing to the upper village, sampling each of the shops. I was so happy to have the leisurely walk. Anyone note the tone of sarcasm.

To get the penultimate views, we paid the 8 euro entrance fee for the chateau visit - don’t miss this opportunity.

We weren’t overrun by tourists which was nice and the skies got bluer and bluer.

I didn’t climb to the top of the chateau this time, but still could have despite the dire sign warning.

Anyway, you didn’t have to be up any higher to love the environs.

We had never visited the Santon Museum here. Maybe it’s new. Anyway, it had vintage - 200 year old - santons, plus nice collages.

The stone - sandstone - here it a fascinating study of erosion, wind and water. One has to be reminded that even this high outcropping was once under a sea, which explains the shell imprints in the stones.

I’m doing a study of cats this time around - I think it was dogs last visit - so here’s one for the list.

After a great hike about the chateau grounds, we found a nice spot above the village for a pique nique lunch, along with the German campers.

This location also had a nice view of the former bauxite mines which are now a museum that we hoped to visit today, but alas had a “fermature exceptionale”, due to electrical problems. Another time!

Back at Chez Pigeon, we enjoyed the remainder of the day on the terrace and ended the day with Choucroute and Bill’s bullets. Woo hoo! As we enjoyed the diminishing day , we noticed clouds of bugs heading south over the vineyards. We have no idea what they were, but these photos - unaltered - may appear to have static, but in fact, that’s what we saw. Should we be worried? Yikes!