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From: damag@bigpond.net.au

To:

Cc:

Sent: Wednesday, October 31, 2001 1:05 AM

Subject: High on Grasse

Dear All

 

I think our phone is now working in France, on French Telecom (or similar).  It has been a real hassle with communication lately but maybe we will be ok now.  (Have tried twice today, Sunday, and it is now NOT going through.  Spoke too soon.)

 

As hoped for last week, we did have our last meal in Italy.  It was in a town called San Remo, on the Italian Riviera.  (San Remo is a brand of pasta made in Australia and exported to Italy! - Didn't see any in the shops though!)  Being so close to the ocean, seafood was on the menu and we enjoyed the meal immensely.  If I perhaps sound a little lack lustre about this meal it is because we have already had one meal in Provence (more later).

 

We actually had a bad trip after we left Genoa.  We had chosen a campsite near a hypermarket because we were very short of supplies - it (the hypermarket) was closed for renovations.  We went to the campsite anyway - it was awful.  When we decided not to stay there we were sworn at by the manager who yelled, shaking his fist as we left (AG: He actually cast some doubts on the marriage of my parents). (So fellow campers - do not go to Camping Baciccia in Ceriale, Savona.  It is part of a chain and the pictures look great - in this particular instance don't believe them.).  Hence we drove on to San Remo.

 

At San Remo the campsite lived up to the pictures we had seen of it - but it was very expensive.  Camping Dei Fiori is beautifully sited on the seafront in amongst eucalyptus and pine trees.  Everything is paved, the restaurant is open (but we didn't eat there), the san facs are much better than mentioned in the Caravan Club book and, having had a difficult drive along the Via Auralia (instead of using the motorway all the way), having been disappointed by the inconveniences above, we were very glad to be able to sit outside, in the sunshine and put our feet up.  We were actually extremely pleased to be able to spend the afternoon of the next day washing the van.  That may sound strange but it had been many, many, many weeks (in fact more like  months) since we had been able to do it and we were so pleased with the result it felt like we had a new van.  Poor thing was very sad looking before its bath.

 

Sparkling new and shiny we set off for France.  Along the Via Auralia again to the border, we then drove via the very expensive French motorway and then off to a small place called Grasse, near Cannes.  The Italian Riviera gave way to the French one and we headed inland!  Grasse is a great place to use as a base for the Riviera and Monaco.  (Municipal Camping - small, very clean, bus into Grasse outside front gate but easy 1.4km walk to main bus station - not so easy walking back!) 

 

Grasse is the centre of perfume essence manufacture in France - ergo, probably in the world.  We visited the old Fraganard factory (now mainly a demonstration factory).  It is the oldest in the area and it was fascinating to hear of how the essences of flowers used to be extracted in days gone by.  Now it is done chemically and lack a lot of the "romance" of the old way.  In the old days it used to take 1,000kg of flowers (the example give was jasmin) to make 1 litre of essence (or oil).  The intense work required to extract the essence from which the perfumes are made, probably justified the exorbitant cost of perfume.  Small glass screens (50x60cm) were covered in either purified pig or purified beef fat.  Onto this fat the a small quantity of flowers were placed, left there for 24 hours, removed by hand, and then another lot put into the same fat.  The fat was eventually washed and the oils taken from fat.  This method took 3 months to extract the litre of essence.  Now days, the fat is no longer used, but it still takes a month to extract the litre of essence.  So, I don't think think the cost of perfume has decreased by a third but I can now appreciate a little more why it costs so much.  The extraction of the essence is only the first step.

 

To cut a long perfume story short, it takes between 20 and 300 blended essences to create a perfume.  The creator is called "the nose".   It takes 7 years of study to become a "nose" and after this time, it is said, that the "nose" can detect 3,000 different scents (wouldn't do for them to get a cold!).  A "nose" can only work for about 2 hours at a time because he obviously gets filled with all the different smells and loses his "nose".  To help clear his nose whilst working he inhales the scent of coffee beans to refresh his senses.  It usually takes a minimum of 2 years to create a new perfume.  Perfume is 24% essence and the rest alcohol, eau d' perfume is 6-10% essence and a mixture of water and alcohol and eau d' toilette is 2-4% essence with water and alcohol - the prices are in line with the essence quantity.

 

It was a very interesting visit to the factory and to the perfume museum and having exhausted our senses of smell with all of the samples in the shop, we went on to wander around the old town of Grasse where, it is said that d'Artagnan, one of the three Muskateers, once spent much time!!

 

We just happened to wander into a lovely sun-drenched square that was oozing with the smell of Provencale cooking.  A sandwich for lunch was not going to hit the spot!

 

A four course lunch later, with an appropriate accompaniment of wine resulted in two little tubs staggering to get the bus up the hill.   (Sorry, Sarah R. - you will probably change your mind about Tuscan food if you spend your next holiday in Provence - Tuscan is good - Provencale is better.)  The variety and presentation of the food was so far superior to anything we had consumed in either Italy or Greece we were actually quite amazed that we had forgotten how good it is.  We had eaten good food in both Italy and Greece but there is no doubt that the French flair is still alive and well and living in Provence.  (Alastair, I know that you will say "I told you so".) 

 

From Grasse we caught the bus to Cannes, to which we gave a very fleeting glance because, as the guide book said, there isn't really a lot of glitz and glamour here unless it is festival time and, once you have seen the marina and promenade, that is about it.  So, we caught the train to Monaco-Monte Carlo.  Now, if you want glamour and glitz, this is the place to come.  Once again the "glam" part is the harbour where the small yachts are enormous and the large yachts are like the "Brittania". 

 

We were able to watch the changing of the guard at the Prince's Palace - none of the family were at home.  We also went inside for a very quick tour of the State Apartments.  Like so many of these places it was a very quick pass through several of the rooms of the old part of the castle (13-17thC) in which priceless art treasures are accumulated.  What was interesting was to watch the people because they weren't much interested in the art treasures as the modern pictures of Princess Grace.  They swarmed to them whilst the disembodied voice of the guide spoke about the wealth of ancient things in the various rooms.

 

Grace's tomb is very simple, merely a slab of marble in the floor of the cathedral.  It is constantly covered in flowers from admirers and is the main draw card of the cathedral.  Speaking of cards...

 

We didn't waste our money in the casino.  In fact, we didn't even go inside.  Having spent the time around the old town, the palace and the harbour, we sat sipping coffee (at AUD$6 a cup) and watched the beautiful people and their beautiful cars roll by (the latest Rolls Royce actually looks like a Jag at the back!) and then caught the train back to Cannes and bus back to Grasse, happy and tired from a very pleasurable day out.

 

Now we are in Aix en Provence.  So much of the local cuisine yet untried, so many more lovely autumnal scenes to see.  The valleys are truly beautiful at the moment.  The leaves of the vines are various colours of gold through to vibrant red and the leaves on the trees float down like soft feathers to form a carpet underfoot (which is great until it rains!).  The sun is still warm during the day but as summer time finishes tonight, darkness will be descending by 6pm soon and, particularly in the mountains, the nights are cold (do you remember cold, Piers?).

 

More news of our adventures in Provence next week.

 

Love

Deb & Arnold

From: damag@bigpond.net.au

To:

Cc:

Sent: Monday, November 05, 2001 2:24 AM

Subject: Peripatetic in Provence (or Ockers in Ochre)

Dear All

 

We are touched that some of you have been upset about the lateness of our usual Sunday email.  We shall blame modern technology.  We are still having some difficulties in "getting through" sometimes.  If the messages don't reach you on Mondays you will know that the "tech monster" has struck.  As an aside, once we reach our "wintering" spot in Spain, there probably won't be a lot to tell you anyway.  A description of the daily gym workout could get just a trifle tedious!  We really aren't sure just where else we will be going during the time we are there but, I guess, we will let you know.

 

Now on to this week's events.  It has been a really fantastic week in the country with just enough of city touch to make it interesting. Aix en Provence proved to be yet another lovely old town but proved to us that big towns in volumes can be very boring.  Ergo - change plans.

 

We have spent a long time just driving around the stunningly beautiful autumnal countryside soaking in the atmosphere and being fascinated by the light.  No wonder painters come to this part of the country.  In Australia there is not the softness nor the gentleness of light that pervades this diverse part of France.  (Campers - Camping Sylvacane en Provence, near Cadenet, is said to be open all year - it isn't  we were referred to Camping L'Oree du Bois about 4km away in Charleval which was to close the next day, or maybe the day after, or whenever the manager had had enough!)

 

Because of camp closures we went a little earlier than we had expected to Apt (Camping Les Cedres - great new san facs - heated, pleasant site but closed from 15/11).  We used this mediaeval town as a base for travelling around and, of course, for eating.  (Can't rival your 6 or 8 course dinners Sarah but I don't know that I can cope with more than 4 anyway.)  Lots of lovely creations with eggplants, interesting salads, best garlic prawns I can remember having, even the steak isn't too bad!  Naturally, wonderful sauces all over everything and desserts that just melt in the mouth.  Enough of that!

 

We went to Colorado!  No, not in America.  You didn't know that there was another one did you?  This other Colorado is just a little north of Apt and has, for centuries, been an ochre mine.  Ochre is no longer mined there but the natural erosion of the cliffs has formed canyons of multicoloured giants towering over a valley called "The Sahara".  If it were not for the difference in the types of trees one would be forgiven for thinking that central Australia had been transported to Provence.  Nearby, Roussillon, another mediaeval town on a hill, has almost all of its buildings made from blocks of stone containing at least 17 different coloured ochres.  This makes for a fascinating and enchanting town and also a sight to behold with all of its colours.  Perhaps this sounds all a bit gaudy but it isn't.  It really works because all of the colours are softened by, you guessed it, the fantastic light.  In fact, I would go so far as to say that the light is nearly as good as the food! 

 

We spent a long time in the Colorado Valley climbing up and down the walkways, in and around the pinnacles.  The trip to the waterfall was a bit of a waste of time.  The trickle of water that was falling was barley enough to wet the rocks.  However, that means that there has been little rain and for that we are grateful.  In fact, the weather has continued to be fantastic.  Warm (20-22oC) in the day but dropping down to 4-6oC at night.  The dust has now been blown from the heater and the feathers shaken in the quilts. 

 

More delightful travelling has brought us to romantic Avignon.  Cecil B DeMille eat your heart out!  The town is like a giant movie set with the main stage being the Palais des Papes (the Popes' Palace).   Built in the 1300s when there was a period of religious upheaval in Italy, the various Popes of the time came to live in Avignon.  That is very much a potted history and I won't bore you with details.  This huge palace fills the skyline of the town and the town within the walls is quintessential quaint and, you guessed it, mediaeval.  Nevertheless, it is a wonderful town and the campsite is only 800m from the Ponte Avignon (of famous song fame).  (Camping Bagatelle, open all year but subject to flooding.  San facs only just average but at least heated.  Water so strong in the showers it is almost painful.)

 

Staying only 800m from the town afforded us the luxury of yet another meal and we sat in the main square, in a heated tent type construction, made from clear plastic - just remembered the word -marquee - watched the world go by and consumed yet more French food and wine.  Gee, life is hard! 

 

So, having spent quite some time on this little ditty, I will now spend more time processing the photographs from today.  Tomorrow will see us in Avignon again to enjoy some more of its charms and then on to Chateauneuf du Pape and St Remy en Provence and more countryside.  Whilst the weather is soooo good, we will continue to stay in France and enjoy this great area.  Although we have been promised by Alan and Judith that Languedoc holds a lot to look forward to also.

 

Till next week.

 

Deb & Arnold

From: damag@bigpond.net.au

To:

Cc:

Sent: Sunday, November 11, 2001 9:24 PM

Subject: Winter's icy tentacles

Dear All

 

Knew it was too good to be true.  Winter's icy tentacles have grabbed very hard and very fast.  One day it was jeans and T-shirts the next it was several layers of wool and fleece!   Oh well, the good stuff lasted a lot longer than we expected so we are not complaining (much).

 

Last time we "talked" we were in Avignon, soaking up the atmosphere (including the bridge of "sur le pont fame) and this is what we did for a few days.  The camp was pleasant enough and the town delightful.  We also crossed the Rhone to walk a couple of kilometres to a town called Villeneuve d'Avignon where the lesser beings of the church (i.e. the cardinals) had built their homes, just within the shadow of the Pope's Palace in Avignon.  It was a bit of a disappointment really and it was the first day that the stabbing winds had really struck hard.  All we can say was that the exercise did us good. 

 

Leaving Avignon, we headed a few km north to the town of Chateauneuf du Pape.  As the "season" is over, the town was basically closed but we still managed to do some tasting of the local brews and bought three different makers' wines.  It is really sad that places like this depend on the weather to come alive.  Certainly, being a famous wine region, it has always got things going for it but the town itself was sad and seemed to be "dead", apart from the few bottle shops still open and hopeful of business like ours.  Nevertheless, the area around the town is lovely and, I know I keep mentioning it, but the light over the vinyards is stunning.

 

On to St Remy en Provence (Camping Monplaisir - excellent, highly recommended site.  San facs, heated, new, clean, plenty of hot water (with no push buttons).  Pitches are large, marked and hard standing.  Trees & hedges immaculately trimmed.  Swimming pool.  Only ranked as 2 star but can't understand why.  In season snacks, bar, shop.  Intermarche hypermarket is within 500m and the town is 10 minutes walk.)   In the little town of St Remy en Provence, Nostradamus was born and Vincent Van Gogh chopped off his ear whilst he was in a mental asylum.  It is actually a very pretty town with a pleasant "old" part and, at night, lots of soft lights turn the mediaeval streets into fantasy lanes.  Hate to imagine what they must have been like in the bad old days.  Ughhhh!  St Remy is also a place that has the equivalent to the Spanish "running of the bulls".  I guess the south of France is near enough to Spain to have some sort of Spanish influence.  The bullfights here, though, are done with the bullfighters trying to remove ribbons from the horns of the bull.  Can't say I think much of that either but I guess, if it has to be done, that it is better than killing the bull in a drawn out way.  There are signs up in the town saying "beware of the bull".  Make of that what you will!

 

Just outside of St Remy is the Roman ruin of Glanum.  Here stands a wonderful Roman Mausoleum, built in 30BC.  It is absolutely stunning and still in such amazing condition.  It is 18m high and it is believed to be complete, except for the pinecone finial on top of its dome.  At the very top is a rotunda with columns (Corinthian ones to be exact - golly we can be boring if we want too) through which you can just glimpse two life size figures.  It is a cenotaph to the deceased of the day.  Next to it is what appears to be a triumphal arch.  This too is covered in carvings and it is really sad that there is no apparent way that these things can be protected from the elements.  I guess it is just too expensive.  On these two monuments we saw some of the best stonework we have seen in all our travels.  An unexpected pleasure.

 

Another unexpected pleasure was the dinner we had in St Remy.  Being again within walking distance of the town (albeit along a narrow road with a very wet drainage ditch on each side) made an evening meal in the town a must.  We wandered along, not quite knowing which place to choose when we saw a little place called La Sauce.  Through the warmly curtained window we saw a fire blazing in the hearth and it took very little persuasion to go into the warmth to have dinner.  The food was more along the lines of nouveau cuisine and we found ourselves eating roast quail salad, rabbit, lamb, goats cheese, creme brulee and chestnut cake all washed down with some wine from St Berthe's winery in Les Baux de Provence - a town we were about to visit.

 

Next stop, the icy streets of Les Baux de Provence.  This ancient town is built on top of a huge rocky outcrop would have been delightful, had we been able to stand up straight enough against the wind to fully appreciate it.  Seriously folks, it was unbelievably cold.  Just how cold was it?  There was a food and wine festival on in the town - AND WE DIDN'T STAY TO PARTICIPATE!!!  That's how cold it was. 

 

The town itself has a long and varied history.   Part of that history includes the Grimaldi family (they get around those Princes of Monaco) and there are tributes around the town, even now, presented by various Grimaldis (including the current Prince Rainier).  The part of history that I think interesting is the Court of Love held during the 13thC.  To become a member, the women had to be of noble birth, well read and beautiful.  In the company of this court, questions of gallantry and chivalry were raised and discussed.  Troubadours, often great lords, came from all the southern provinces and composed passionate verses in praise of these ladies.  The prize awarded to the best poet was a crown of peacock feathers and a kiss from the lady in question! (AG - Do you believe that!!)   They would then go out, fight a huge and bloody battle and do ghastly things like putting severed heads on poles and things like that!  What a world of contrasts.

 

As we were in the area of St Berthe's winery, we sought it out and bought (at a fraction of the restaurant cost) a couple of bottles of the local Les Baux AOC.  Actually, Arnold went inside to buy the wine whilst I braved the elements to take long distance shots of the huge rock that is Les Baux and ever more pictures of autumnal vinyards.

 

Sunday now finds us in the town of Nimes.  We had planned on going to see a 2,000 year old Roman aqueduct today but rain (for the first time in a very long time) and the ever constant icy wind had thwarted our plans.  With 15amps of electricity we can have our heater on full bore and not blow the system so, here we sit, on my daughter's 25th birthday, sipping coffee, eating French pastries and waiting for the weather to get better.  If it doesn't, we will be going into Nimes tomorrow anyway to see what the town has to offer.  (Camping Municipal Domaine de la Bastide - pretty site, large, a little unkempt, san facs limited low season, the wind howls under the toilet door but showers are good, despite being push button, bus into town, hypermarket nearby.)

 

The coming week will be fun.  We are finally going to catch up with Judith & Alan whom we met on 22 September 1999 in Germany.  (No, my memory is not that great, I keep a diary.)  We shared several bottles of wine together then and I am sure we will be doing the same again.  So, next week will be the escapades of the week and, if the weather keeps up the way it is, we will be in Spain somewhere.

 

Keep in touch

Deb & Arnold

From: damag@bigpond.net.au

To:

Cc:

Sent: Monday, November 19, 2001 9:32 PM

Subject: Languishing in Languedoc

Dear All

 

Technology monster has struck -hence late epistle.  This always happens every time we hit a new country.  This time we just don't seem to be able to connect at all. 

 

New country - yes we are now in Spain having seen out the last of the good weather in autumnal France.  I think that in the last letter we were unable to go to the Roman aqueduct because the rain was pelting down.  Well, next day it was fine and sunny, although still cold.  We saw this amazing 2,000 year old aqueduct that had been repaired by Napoleon III and followed its many many years of graffiti.  Fascinating place.

 

Out of Provence into the Languedoc region - changing one vine covered area for another.  Also, as mentioned last week we were able to catch up with Judith and Alan whom we had met two years earlier in Germany.  It is a wonderous thing when you can only spend a couple of hours with people and then see them again many years later and take up as if you had only just finished the previous drink.  We rocked up to their lovely little place in the middle of a vineyard and there they were, as promised, jumping up and down so we would recognise that we had arrived at the right place.  The afternoon was spent in pleasant conversation and the evening with lots of eating and drinking (that doesn't sound like us, does it?). 

 

Next day we were off in the car to do a Cook's Tour of the local area and also to see the new house that Judith & Alan are building.  We arrived there in time to find one of the workers disappearing with all sorts of promises to be back!  Keys have been promised for 1 December - good luck guys, I hope you make it!  We had a lovely drive in the local countryside and then went back to the warm house to await dinner time!  Well, not quite like that but we did eat extremely well that night in a local restaurant where the owner's dog kept us company as well. 

 

We had a lovely time with Alan and Judith and we hope that one day we can reciprocate the hospitality in Aus. 

 

As the weather was not being kind we decided to push off to sunny Spain - where, believe me, the rain does not fall mainly on the plain!!!  We went up into the Pyrenees in order to cross the border and the rain and hail hit us hard.  We found a lovely campsite at Santa Pau, Camping Lava, and shared the facilities (which, although not warm, were more than adequate) with one other van and some people in a tent.  Our plans for doing some walking around this volcanic area were quite literally awash and so, for another quick change of scenery, we headed back to the coast. 

 

Now were are here in International Camping Calonge in Platja D'Aro in an area specifically for camping cars with a whole enclave of Brits escaping the cold.  Although raining when we arrived, it has cleared up overnight and whilst I sit here writing, Arnold is sitting out in the very watery sun - but, hey, we are still able to sit out in the sun in mid-November - great!!  We walked into the town of Platja D'Aro this morning, bought a coffee and some local Spanish pastries (not as good as the French I must admit) and read the Sunday Times (on Sunday, printed in Madrid).  Came back, had lunch outside and now, just when I was in the mood for writing a good letter home - NO BLOODY COMMUNICATION!!  Life can be very frustrating.

 

Oh well, by the time you all get this the frustration will be over for us because we have been able to get through and we will almost be at our wintering site in Guardamar.  Hope all is well, where ever you are.

 

Till next week - or whenever we can get through.

 

Bye

Deb & Arnold

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