Along the Route des Vins

Alsace is a remarkably beautiful region of France with the rivers, mountains, forests and vineyards and along the wine route there are many wonderful towns with narrow streets, and colourful houses.

One such town is Berghiem which is in the valley below the château du Haut Koenigsbourg. It is a quiet little town surrounded by vineyards.

The gate tower stands at one end of the main street and while there is no gate to bar the way now the town has a defensive wall and moat and the houses that encircle the town have stood for centuries.
 

About Annecy

 

Yesterday I watched a cooking show on TV, that is not something I would normally do but as it was about French cooking I was curious to see more and then when the presenter/chef announced that he would be in Annecy I decided to stick with it as I have just recently been sharing photos from the area.

It was nice to see the sights that I remembered from my visit as he drove along the same roads I had driven along. As the presenter sang the praises of the local produce, artisans and food I thought that my next post (this one) would focus on the town and its restaurants.

However, although I have some nice shots of the town, as I hope you will agree, they were all taken fairly early in the day so the restaurants were not open or had not yet started serving lunch and everywhere was pretty quiet, save for a few people taking a coffee break at a local bar. Given how cold it was it was surprising to find even these few people sat outside. 

Nevertheless I think these images do show what a beautiful place Annecy is and why it is worth a visit, whatever the weather.

A Country House and a warning...

This the chateau at Vaux le Vicomte  in Maincy 34 miles outside of Paris. I have chosen to post two images of the approach to the chateau which is surrounded by a deep moat filled with large carp and edible frogs.

It is an impressive bulding, built in the 17th century, designed by Le Notre for Nicholas Fouquet, finance minister to Louis XIV.

Although the clouds hang heavily over the chateau in these images later in the day the sky cleared and it was really hot as we explored the castle and grounds (which are equally as impressive).

Imagine the "house warming party" with a list of guests which includes celebrities such as Moliere who even performed in a specially commissioned play in the gardens, aristocrats, politicians and the king himself. 

Unfortunately for Monsieur Fouquet his enjoyment of his country home was short lived because the king a proud and jealous man decided that his finance minister had become a little too big for his boots. Louis considered that Nicholas had tried to upstage the king by having such a grand house built that he confiscated the chateau and had Monsieur Fouquet thrown in jail. After a trial he narrowly avoided the death penalty after a small majority voted for exile rather than execution (although it was a close call) and he was sent to live abroad.

Hubba Bubba

I recently experienced something that I had never heard or seen before, a frog chorus. 

These shots were taken in the grounds of the Domaine de Marie Antoinette at the Palace of Versailles.  I heard the sound from a way off and as I approached the small bridge across a stream the sound stopped. Looking down I spotted a few frogs resting in the cool water and then after a while my patience was rewarded as they started  "singing" again.

They are such cute little creatures but as they puff out their cheeks they look slightly comical.

They seem to grow to a decent size too, plenty of meat on those thighs, if that's what you are into.

Across the Lake

So here we are at the end of our second day in France. We have been staying in Sevrier on the shores of Lac d'Annecy in the Haute Savoie region of France. It really is a beautiful area and like everywhere else we have visited on our roadtrip we simply haven't had the time to explore properly or see everything.

The first picture is a panoramic shot taken during a cruise along the lake this afternoon, it has been quite cloudy here, yesterday we had yet another cracking thunder storm, so the scenery has been quite dramatic.

Thus evening things have brightened up a little and the second shot was taken from the jetty at the local rowing club 2 minutes walk from our apartment. As you can see the sun was obviously setting behind me and  lighting up the mountain top on the far shore of the lake. I like the way the wisps of cloud are blowing across the peak like smoke.

I would quite happily spend a few more days here just relaxing but tomorrow we are heading north to Alsace, with a short detour  through Switzerland. We have just two more full days before our roadtrip ends and then we will be heading home.

Lupins

Just one picture for today and only a brief post.

These lovely lupins were spotted in a floral display on the French side of the Mont Blanc  tunnel.
I have seen lots of lupins during rht course of this roadtrip, mostly along the motorway embankments through Denmark, SeedeS and Germany they're really lovely flowers and they certainly brighten up the motorways.

He's the Big Cheese

So today I have been in Versailles, I had gone to see the new LDS Temple which has been built just outside the city. It is a beautiful and elegant design in keeping with the historical architecture all around.

But while I have been here I have spent some time trying my hand at street photography. I think I have one or two decent images but I can't share them just yet as I only have my phone to work with. So the picture I have shared today is on I snapped on my phone. The market here in Versailles is absolutely amazing and walking around the stalls this display of cheese caught my  eye. Determined that I would post something today in spite of being away from home I took a quick shot using my phone. I hope you will agree it's a nice picture and give a flavour of the street market here in town.

Tomorrow I am going into Paris to meet up with some very special friends but after lunch I will have another go at photographing people on the streets. I will let you know how that goes. I'm

Lovely Lizards

Now I know that some people wont like these pictures because of the subject matter but I have always loved reptiles and so whenever I have seen lizards like this I have been more than a little excited. 

They are very timid creatures and really skittish which means it is very difficult to get good photos. I am pleased with these shots though, these lovely creatures were so sleek and elegant and posed just long enough to capture.

Medieval Masterpiece

Here is another selection of shots from the wonderful medieval city of Carcassonne.

Within the extensive outer walls is a small town built around a central citadel (see pictures 1 & 2) this is the only part of the city that has an entrance fee and was the only part of the city we didn't visit because when we arrived it was only twenty minutes til closing time and although my son could get in for free they wanted to charge me full price even though there was no way of seeing everything.  So that's something for the next time I guess.

Around the walls of this citadel there was a nicely laid out vegetable garden and then there is a network of narrow cobbled streets and beautiful buildings. One benefit of arriving late in the day was that the streets were largely deserted and so very few people to clutter up the shots.

On The Ramparts

Just a few shots of the ramparts of Carcassonne, from the ramparts at Carcassonne.

I remember staying here because we arrived in the rain to find that our hotel was a bit shabby but driving up to the old city and seeing the magnificent crenelated walls and turrets made up for it. 

Throwing Stones

Back in March on my road trip around Europe with my eldest son we took a drive along Route Napoleon north of Grasse.  The road winds and climbs through the Alpes Maritime and passes through the impressive Gorge Du Verdon.

We took a small detour and had a short break on the shore of Le Verdon a little way up from the barrage and hydro-electric station.  We spent a little while throwing rocks into the water and I tried to get some pictures of the water splashing as the rocks hit the water. Getting the timing right was a real challenge as was framing the shots because I was relying on my son to throw the rocks at the point I was focusing on. As you can imagine there were lots of missed shots but I managed to get a few that I am pleased with.  

Along Route Napoleon

From the Mediterranean to Le Verdon, a reservoir in the Alpes-Maritime.

In an afternoon's drive along the D4085 or Route Napoleon in Provence we left the coast at Juan les Pins behind and headed into the mountainous region of Alpes-Maritime and Var to the Gorge du Verdon.  It was a spectacular drive with monumental views which you can see from today's selection of pictures.

All The Small Things #6

I bought this jug from a potter in Provins, a medieval town in The Seine et Marne region of France.  There was a matching jug, slightly larger but I could not afford both.  Several years later I was back in the town and visited the pottery again, the larger jug was still for sale and the potter remembered me and the discussion we had during my first visit.  I now have both jugs and they make a lovely pair.  I also bought several decorative tiles with traditional patterns and the lovely dark glaze, they made lovely gifts, at least I thought so.

I like the shape and colour and form of the jugs and I have focused on the spout and the lip of the judge because I find them really aesthetically pleasing.

This is the last of the "small things" series, for now anyway, I hope that you have found them enjoyable and/or interesting.