French Reflections Part II

May 30, 2007• Filed under: Uncategorized• Posted by: Curacha • Comments (9)

The Provence

We booked a panoramic tour to discover the most beautiful hilltop villages in the Provence. These villages were about an hour trip with a private couch from Avignon. Though the weather was quite cloudy and sooo windy, the sight was worth the showers and shivers we experienced.

gordes
Gordes

The village of Gordes was built entirely with dry local stones piled one on top of the other.

abbey
Senanque Abbey

The Abbey is also known for its Lavender Museum. The monks in the abbey are producing lavender honey, lavender soap, scents etc. Behind me was actually a lavender field, but this flower blooms on its finest between the months of June and July, when the whole area turns into a magical color of blue/violet.

roussillon
Roussillon

This village was known for its ochre colored soil, a redish earthly area caused by the oxidation of too much iron content in soil. Where sand and soil in the local vicinity were used in the construction of the houses, it is also not surprising to see that almost all houses there were colored natural earth red too.

les baux
Les Baux de Provence

Another medieval village on a rocky spur in the Alpilles mountains. The movie ” A Good Year” starred by Russel Crowe was shot in this village.

sade
Lacoste

The ruins of the palace of Marquis de Sade in Lacoste. I thought Lacoste was just an exclusive T-shirt brand….till i went in this village….hehe.

Some more pics next post.



French Reflections

May 19, 2007• Filed under: Uncategorized• Posted by: Curacha • Comments (16)

It has been a week now since i came back from France. The holiday was quite short (as always) to visit all the places i was intended to see. But its all worth the tedious journey. Our first stop was Avignon where we stayed for 4 days. It is the administrative, economic and cultural capital of Provence. And here are the jewels of Avignon…

palais
The Palais des Papes

“The most beautiful and strongest house in the world”. The Palace of the Popes, built between the 14th and 18th century is the biggest existing gothic palace in the world. It was the official residence of nine Popes when Avignon was then the capital of the christian world. 25 rooms were held open for public to discover the splendour of this Pontifical domicile.

bridge
Saint Benezet Bridge

Legend has it that the young sheperd Benezet heard divine voices instructing him to build the bridge. It was the only crossing point along the Rhone River, the natural boundary between the Kingdom of France and the Holy Germanic Empire. The bridge was destroyed by Louis VIII during the Albigensian Crusade and was rebuilt in the late 13th century. But raging flood waters damaged it and was definitely abadoned in the 17th century. From the 22 original arches remained only 4 today.

pope
The Popes that Reside in the Palace

The Palace is primarily the work of two Popes, Benedict XII and his successor Clement VI. From the 9 Popes, i can only take the pic of the 8 coz the 9th was nailed at the corner wall on the right side.

top
Palace Roof Top

To reach the uppermost top of the palace, one must be of good health and really fit coz the winding stairs are quite steep and real high. You can see at the background the golden statue of Mother Mary.

on top
The Bell Tower

Just one of the numerous towers of the palace where it used to hang a voluminous bell. After a big fire during the late 18th century, the palace was almost to 70% ruined. It was restored to its original form only after the the middle of the 19th century.

More pics next post. Got dizzy resizing these pics to fit my blog. Am still not satisfied, have to learn more on how to place the pics in some places rather than just the far left side of the blog. Anyway, im improving i think…



What is Love II

May 17, 2007• Filed under: Uncategorized• Posted by: Curacha • Comments (8)

Love is a hidden fire,

a pleasant sore,

a soothing pain,

an agreeable torment,

a sweet wound…..

In short….a gentle death.



TIME TO UNWIND….AVIGNON, Here I Come !

May 1, 2007• Filed under: Uncategorized• Posted by: Curacha • Comments (16)

It has been a tough, busy and stressful time since i came back from the Philippines. My life consists of waking up, going to work (mostly 12 hours), going home and sleep (if ever i can and would be lucky enough if that would be a continous 7-8 hours of night rest which was mostly unlikely). Im killing myself of too much work because my foresight and plans before was a life back home to my roots. I need to earn as much dough as i can for im afraid to stand penniless when i finally settled in pinas for good. That was before… now, i change my views and radically change my life as well. I want to have time for myself, to do the things i used to do (work out, swimming, sauna, long walks, gimmick) before i got this crazy idea of going home.

To start my life anew, im going for a much needed vacation to Avignon, France tomorrow. Accompanied by another pinay friend, included in our itinerary is also Nice and St. Tropez which are located at the French Riviera and of course Lourdes. It is just a one week vacation actually, but these days are mine!!

To get to know more about Avignon which is the capital of Provence, visit http://www.virtourist.com/europe/avignon/01.htm.

I know it took me so long to update, but i promise i’ll post some pics when i come home. Muaah!!



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