The gorgeous villages of Provence just about killed me with their beauty and the copious amount of steps within them, however getting there ended up being half the battle. The French love their toll points. That's fine, however for the first few days we were unsure how much we had to pay at them, ending in frantic battles looking for euros ("I need one! Is this one? No it's 10 cents QUICK QUICK QUICK!") as a line of cars quickly built up behind us.
While three villages a day the day before had been fun, we'd decided to only visit two this day and unfortunately, our final destination proved to be a bit of a disappointment for mum and dad. We're as pale as can be and so we are not a huge beach family, so when we arrived at Les Saintes Marie De La Mer mum and dad were not overly enthusiastic. However, we stayed long enough to enjoy this (incredibly packed) seaside hotspot, see the grey horses that the area is famed for and enjoy an ice cream. All the important things.
Les Saintes Marie De La Mer reminded me of what I imagine Greece to be like: all blue skies and white buildings with busy beaches. Not bad if you ask me. While mum and dad were initially hoping for another hilltop village, a break for gelato won them over quickly and so we walked around the town for a few hours, enjoying the sun and beautiful buildings. I felt like I'd been picked up and dropped in another country: this wasn't what I imagined Provence to look like!
Unfortunately, the majority of the region seemed to spend their day at the seaside and so we hit some pretty incredible traffic on the way home. The toll booths were packed (and this time the queues were not our fault) however we made it home with time for dinner and an early night. Aside from a few issues with the sat-nav (no, we cannot turn left when the ocean is RIGHT THERE) we had managed to get the hang of driving in France and even which side of the road to drive on. Nice job, Dad.
The next day brought a new arrival - my cousin Alicia! Alicia is from Melbourne and, at the moment, is travelling through Europe. I'd spent some time with her and one of my other cousins, Taryn, in London previously but it was exciting to explore a new place with Alicia when she flew in from London for a few days. After collecting her from the airport, our first port of call was Fontaine de Vaucluse, a town which has the world's most prolific supply of flowing underground water. While the water looked incredibly inviting, Alicia and I decided, after trying the temperature when considering a dip, that we would instead admire it from afar. We wandered up to a massive cave where the source of the spring was and followed some other people in disobeying the 'don't pass' signs and having a little bit of a closer look. We were able to actually see the spring which was amazing.
Our next stop was Gordes, a small village at the top of a very large hill. Due to some incompetence in the navigational department when following instructions from the GPS (I'm not blaming anyone but mum was on navigation duties) we had to drive up a very steep, narrow and hairpin bend riddled road up to the village. We made it and the alternative route did give some beautiful views. Once parked, we sought out some ice cream (we all went in and bought them separately to get some extra change for the toll booths) and walked around, admiring the church as well as the view from the other side of the village.
As we left, we were rewarded with this absolutely beautiful view.
Gordes was gorgeous and while it wasn't a good place to ride a bike (alarmingly steep and rocky paths), we enjoyed walking around and taking in the scenery. The French definitely know how to do beautiful villages on hills!
The next few days brought an aqueduct, a palace and an abundance of ice cream. It was a hard week, but someone had to do it.
Until next time,
Laura
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