Feeling salty?

Wine-less for the moment

The Patris family brought Hannah, Caitlin, and me to Camargue, which was easily one of my favorite trips of the year.  We started out in Aigues-Mortes, in the Place Saint Louis, which has a prominent statue of Saint Louis, aka King Louis IX of France.  The statue is holding his right hand up and apparently, is well-suited to balancing a bottle of wine, which happens on a regular basis after eventful nights in Aigues-Mortes.  (Empty bottles, of course!)  

Remparts from afar

Girls with the Tower

The city is surrounded by remparts, ancient walls that enclosed and protected the city starting in the mid-13^th century, when they were built.  The name Aigues-Mortes means “dead waters” and stems from the fact that the sea used to come right up to the edge of Aigues-Mortes, making it a perfect port for Saint Louis to use as a starting point for his crusades.  The remparts are a full mile long and have towers interspersed, allowing Saint Louis and his men to keep an eye out.  The most famous tower is le Tour de Constance, which for a long time served as a prison for protestants.  We didn’t have an ‘official’ tour guide as we wound our way around, so Hannah decided to take on the role and explain to us important things like that the holes we saw in the wall were more than likely port-o-potties for soldiers.  I’m not sure if that’s true or not…

So pink!

From the top, we could see out to the salt manufacturing plants (sauniers) which have been in existence since the mid-1800s.  (Salt has been harvested since the 12^th century)  We took a tour of the salt fields (les salins), which are ENORMOUS- 18 km long and 13.5 km wide, similar in size to the entire city of Paris.  Anyway, the way it works is that they let the water from the Mediterranean flow in starting in the spring and they flood the fields.  The water evaporates, leaving behind a more-and-more concentrated salty solution, which turns bright pink!  The reason behind the pink is algae.  Naturally occurring algae produce the color, and the predators that would normally eat them are unable to survive in the high saline waters, so the algae thrive and change the color of the entire body of water.  Eventually all of the water evaporates, and voila… It leaves behind huge harvests of salt.  Harvests typically take place one time per year in September, before it starts to rain!  The salt is then washed and processed and left out to dry for a full year, so some of the mounds that we saw are the remains of the 2010 harvest.  

The Camargue region is famous for three kinds of animals: flamingos, horses, and bulls.  We were lucky enough to see all three on our trip!  The flamingos get their pink color from eating artémias, a type of small pink shrimp that gets its color from eating the pink algae.  Someday I’d like to go see a bull-fight in the area; they differ from the traditional Spanish bullfights in that these bulls are smaller and rather than trying to ride or otherwise antagonize the bulls, a small rosette is placed between the bull’s horns and the razateurs try to grab it without getting crushed by the bull.  

Last but not least was the symbol of Camargue as seen in its capital, Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer: the Camargue Cross.  The cross/trident used by bull-herders represents belief, the fisherman’s anchor represents hope, and the heart represents the charity of Saint Mary.  

Stickin' it to the Pope and High Cats

Joelle, Steve, Renaud, and I set off to visit Villeneuve-lez-Avignon, which is right across the river from Avignon.  Our first stop was le Tour Philippe le Bel, which was built at the start of the 1300s.  Its original point was as a lookout for the Pont Saint-Bénezet (aka Pont d’Avignon) which is the bridge that is no longer in use as it only spans half of the Rhône river.  We climbed from there up the Colline des Mourgues to where we could see across to the major focal point in town, the Fort Saint-André.  

From a distance

From on top!

Pope's Palace across the way

 The fort was built around the same time as the tower, starting in the last decade of the 13^th century (that’s the 1290s if you’re too lazy to do the math) and was intended to protect the abbey that was located on the site, as well as to show off the power of the French royalty and rub it in the face of the popes right across the river.  There are two twin towers, and you can see across the river to the Pope’s Palace really well!

We also meandered a bit through the rest of town, passing by things like the Musée Cloitre Collégiale and the Chapelle des Pénitents Gris.  The town had quite a few neat sculptures that were built into the sides of buildings, so if you go visit, you should keep an eye out them on the way! 

Another town in the area that they thought deserved an afternoon road-trip was Pernes les Fontaines- literally “Pernes the Fountains” so named due to at least 40 public fountains and around a hundred private fountains in the city!  I also loved that the day that we visited, every man above the age of 50 seemed to be out playing pétanque, the French version of bocce.  

In the middle and all the way on top of the city is the Tour de l’Horloge (Tower of the Clock) which- would you believe it- is a tower with a clock!  The most famous part, though, is the windvane at the top which depicts a cat chasing a mouse.  This windvane is the origin of two local sayings: “Il est haut comme le chat de Pernes” and “Il est au milieu comme le chat de Pernes” which effectively translate to “he/she’s as high as the Pernes cat” and “he/she’s in the middle just like the Pernes cat.”  This is one of those expressions that I like so much in French that I’ll be saying it in English as well even if it doesn’t make much sense- it’s right up there with “That deranges me.”

Here’s to hoping that your own trips bring you as high as the Pernes cat!

Out in the boonies... of Southern France

The girls with out DELICIOUS ice cream treats!

I had the chance to go to Isles Sur La Sorgue, which is a very cute little French town, multiple times within a relatively short period of time- first when I went to stay with one of the English teachers at the high school for the weekend, next when my (French) friend Jade and I went to look at an art exhibit in town, and last but certainly not least when I joined Jouria and Karima and their sister to stop at Isabellas, the most famous ice cream place in the region!  Isles Sur La Sorgue means “Isles on the Sorgue” and takes its name from the fact that the Sorgue river runs right through town.  

Several other really neat places I visited with my host family, who were excellent tour guides:

Looking ahead to the chateau!

View from the top

Crestet- The city is built into the mountainside and has gorgeous views from the old chateau on top.

Vaison la Romaine- The Ouvèze river is famous for a huge flood in 1992 which killed 30 or 40 people, but in the summer months dries up to the point where the locals refer to it as “a trickle of cat pee.” 

You wouldn't guess it's a murderer, would you?

Sault- (pronounced ‘soh’) Famous for a picturesque view showcasing the region’s lavender fields.  I wasn’t there during lavender season (apparently best seen in June/July/August) but could imagine what it must be like!

Picture the varying shades of brown as varying shades of purple :)

Gordes

Isn't this cool?

Gordes- Another one of the “Une des plus belle villes de la France” (aka one of the most beautiful cities in France), Gordes didn’t disappoint!  The entire center of the city is built with the same style of construction, with stones that are typical of the region.  I really liked the walls :)

Rustrel- Known as « Colorado of Provence, » Rustrel had some awesome trails and really neat canyons.  You could hike both above and in the canyons, and when we were up top, we could see kids playing in the sands below. 

Rustrel

The ocre- colored houses

I liked the look in town

Rousillon- Famous for its « ocre, » a pigment which has long been used to color houses in the region!

Last of the Land of Many Tangines

Babel Juice

Not too much else to add from my Moroccan adventures… There was a restaurant called “Tower of Babel.”  It sounded like a ridiculous name, but had all sorts of items on the menu and we went there when someone was craving pasta.  I tried out a drink called “Babel Juice” and still have no idea what it was.  If I had to guess, I think it might have had some avocado juice in it and maybe also ice cream?  It came with a little umbrella, so obviously it was good :)

I explored Agadir a little bit and found a neat park, where all the locals, especially women and children, came to sit and chat, probably about the strange European girl that had come to join.  I also found a really beautiful mosque, La Mosquée Med V (Talborjt), and took some pictures of the outside.  I wasn’t sure if I was allowed in, and didn’t want to get in trouble! 

Before leaving, I also decided that I absolutely needed to watch the sun set.  After all, we were completely on the west coast of Africa and while I’ve seen sunrise over the ocean, I’d never seen sunset, and I figured it would be pretty spectacular.  I wasn’t disappointed!