European Vacation Day 12 & 13 - July 2022

July 21 - Day 12 

I was very excited to go to Provence to see the lavender fields. I have seen so many amazing pictures of row upon row of beautiful purple flowers. I knew the lavender fields generally started getting cut around July 15th. The lower Luberon fields are usually scheduled to be harvested around July 25th. So, we drove several hours to go see the lavender. Unfortunately, because of the unseasonably warm summer, the fields were harvested early.

We stopped for lunch at Auberge des Cretes. Boogs decided to be extra cute and pose by the only bit of lavender we saw on our drive.

The food at Auberge des Cretes was very tasty. We enjoyed our lunch. We asked what would be a good activity to do in the area and were told about the scenic drive along the Gorges du Verdon.

So, we went for a scenic drive.

The Gorges du Verdon is over 15 miles long. I am not usually afraid of heights but standing at the railing at the first scenic overlook we stopped at, made me anxious and a bit nauseated.

The photos do not do it justice. In person, the water looked almost turquoise. There were several eagles soaring over the canyon. It was absolutely beautiful. Funnily enough, we met a group of ladies from Dallas who were on a party bus tour of the area. Small world.

We stopped at several scenic lookout spots. Each view was more stunning than the next. 

About a foot behind that rock was a sheer drop off. I made sure to stay away from the edge.

Most of the time, there was no barrier at the side of the road before the drop off. 

So pretty.

We wandered through the village of La Palud sur Verdon. I loved looking at the old buildings, especially the old doors.

This is the Notre-Dame de Vauvert. The oldest parts of the church date back to the 11th century.

Sorry for the toilet picture. There was one public toilet in the village. It was... interesting.

The streets were narrow and twisty. It was a neat place to walk around and explore. 

It was a nice drive but not the way we wanted to spend our last day in France. If I would have known the lavender fields were not an option, I would have planned a white water rafting excursion. We passed by several places on our drive. The temperature was in the 90s, much hotter than usual at this time of year. Oh well, we were able to see a beautiful piece of France that was not on our agenda.

Last dinner in Cannes at a sidewalk cafe. 

July 22 & 23 - Day 13 & 14
We enjoyed our time in France. Cannes was way too touristy for us. If we had to do it over, we would chose a place in the mountains as our base to adventure from. We drove from Cannes back to Nice to catch a flight back to London.

We stayed one more night in London and then headed home to Texas. We really enjoyed hanging out in the British Airways lounge at Heathrow before our flight.

Boogs had to have a last spot of tea and a biscuit.

I am so glad we were able to take Boogs on his first trip to Europe. We all really enjoyed this vacation.

European Vacation Day 11 - July 2022

 July 20th - Day 11

Hiking Day!!! I think this was my favorite day in France. I searched for places to hike that were not too far from Cannes with trails that were intermediate. We found the perfect trail - La Couletta Loop Trail. My guide book said the trail was "intermediate, for fit people, with easily accessible paths." Sounded perfect for us. It was a hot day with a high of 95 degrees. We definitely felt the heat wave on this day. The actual loop trail said it was a little over 4 miles long but my Fitbit said we walked 7.6 miles.

We left Cannes and drove about 1.5 hours to get to Rimplas. Rimplas is a small village built like a stairway with a view of the Tinee Valley on one side and the Val de Blore on the other. The entire area around the village was absolutely stunning. When we arrived in Rimplas, the main street was blocked by a big yellow construction vehicle. Work was being done on the main road. My husband had to reverse the car for quite a bit until we reached a little side road. That turned out to be a good thing because that little side road led to the parking lot with signs leading to the hiking trails. It was our lucky day because there was one spot left in the parking lot. We took the long, winding stairway to the trailhead. 

At the beginning of the trail, there were lots of signs showing the correct path. We choose the La Couletta trail because it was a loop trail and because my guidebook said there would be brown sign posts along the trail to show the correct way.

This is not all that great of a picture but I am usually the one taking the photos. My baby boy is growing up so fast. 

My knees held up really well on the hike. I was glad I had my cortisone injections right before we left Texas. I was mostly able to keep up with my guys on the hike. Thank goodness for knee braces that actually help.

There were several different types of trails on the loop - loose stone, grass, pine needles, shale, large grassy areas, and narrow parts of the trail with sharp drop-offs.

The views were so beautiful that is was hard for me to want to pay attention to where my feet were walking. Many times, the trail was narrow with steep drop offs right off of the trail edge. 

It felt like we were walking right up into the clouds.

This spot had an impressive echo. My husband spent a couple of minutes shouting "Ricola". Ha!

The views were so beautiful!!!

Tree pic for my Mom.

Sweaty hair!!!

We kept hearing fast moving water on our hike. There was a system of small concrete flumes directing water down towards the village. 

On the way down the mountain, we passed a couple of homes. This one had solar panels and a pool.

We also passed several abandoned houses that were falling apart.

You can still see the kitchen sink in the this abandoned house.

Oops! We didn’t actually loop back to the beginning of the trail. We ended up at the edge of a little neighborhood with about 6 houses. We were not sure the road we were on was going to lead us back to Rimplas. We walked for quite a while and then we saw a car driving on the road. My husband flagged down the driver to ask if the road we were on would lead back to Rimplas. We had a good laugh because my husband asked the driver if she spoke French instead of asking if she spoke English. Boogs and I teased him about that all afternoon. "Excuse me, do you speak French?"

We were on the correct road. We had to walk a couple of miles to make it back to Rimplas.

We also laughed when we saw this sign because, of course, Parc National du Mercantour is an area not a specific park with an actual entrance.

It was a relief to see this sign. We finally knew we were truly heading in the right direction.

Almost back to our car.

We were hot, thirsty, and hungry. We decided to explore the village and find somewhere to eat.

The fountain in the middle of the village had flowing potable water. It was great to fill up our empty water bottles after our hike.

We enjoyed wandering through the village. It was about 5 pm. The entire town was quiet. We did not see any people outside.

There were lots of staircases and gorgeous views.

My husband used google and found the only "restaurant" in town. It did not open to serve food until 7 p.m.

After walking around for a while, we went to the Hostellerie du Randonneur to see if we they were serving food.  It is a little family owned hotel. We went in and asked if it would be possible to have a meal. We were told that her daughter, the chef, had gone down the mountain to get groceries and would be back "soon". We would have to wait and ask her if there would be enough food to serve people who were not guests of the hotel, but we were welcome to take a seat on the patio and order drinks and ice cream. We had drinks while waited for her daughter to return. She said she would be able to serve us if we ordered one of two meals and that dinner would be served at 7:30. It was only about 5 pm so we decided to leave and head back to Cannes and grab dinner there.

We got mixed up on the way back because our GPS was acting up. Once we made it to Cannes, traffic was horrendous and GPS kept leading us in circles. We were all a bit grumpy and hangry. We ended up heading back to our condo and I cooked dinner for us that night.

I had such an amazing day strolling through nature. I love being in the mountains! I don't think I could live there for an entire winter but one day I might like to try it.