Back from Provence | Comments (1)
Posted in Life on 25th September 2006, 1:38 pm by Stuart
We arrived back in England a week ago last Sunday, after a couple of days travelling up from Montfrin.
We had a really good time, it’s been a while since I’ve had that much of break from computers and the internet, and I really needed the break. It’s always nice to get a chance to spend so much quality time with your family. It will be the last holiday we have with just three of us before Sean arrives later in November.
There were many amazing places near to where we stayed. To start with it was 35 degrees and almost too hot to go out but as time went on the temperature cooled off a bit making it easier to get out and about. We had a pool at the house and Emma has been learning to swim so it was always possible to head back to the house for a swim if the heat got too much. Us Brits eh? Complain about the bad weather and then when we do get some sun we can’t handle that either.
The highlights of the trip for me were; the trip to the Camargue, La Ferme aux Crocodiles and Mont Ventoux.
The Camargue
The Camargue is so full of amazing wildlife it’s buzzing with loads of dragonflys, hummingbird hawk moths, flamingos, wild horses and bulls. There’s plenty to see there. It was fun driving down some un-made roads along the side of the salt-flats. Whilst I was taking a photo of some horses and dragonflies I saw a hummingbird hawk moth and was so taken aback I forgot to take a picture of it before it dissappeared. These moths are truly amazing and through the rest of the holiday I kept seeing them.
La Ferme aux Crocodiles
One morning we got up and Emma said “Daddy can we see the Crocodiles?” after having seen the leaflet in the Gite, so we headed up there and had a great time going around the farm which has 355 crocodiles. They are also one of the largest breeders of crocodiles and one of the people who works there told me they had just had a huge order for crocodiles to be exported to Japan.
Mont Ventoux
Mont Ventoux is about 2000m tall and dominates the skyline for miles around. It’s a mecca for cyclists as it’s part of the Tour de France and there were loads of cyclists struggling up it. Quite amazingly you can drive right on up to the top of the mountain, where there’s a weather station and a tourist shop selling trinkets. At the top the wind is nearly enough to blow you (literally) off your feet and Sandra got this great shot of Emma and me before we nearly got blown away.
When we started up Mt Ventoux I had 1/4 of a tank of fuel and by the time we wer coming down I had nearly none left so I spent most of the downhill journey easing back on the fuel. We made to Sault where I filled up and we had a nice afternoon eating crepes in the most disorganised yet charming creperie I have ever been too.
I took lots of photos and for once uploaded the lot to Flickr, 554 pics to be precise. So to view more pics please check out the flickr Photo Set.
Lovely. I used to go on holiday with my family there when we were growing up.
Did you by any chance see any Taureaux Piscine whilst you were there? It is a tradition in the area involving a swimming pool and a bull on the loose. Totally unsafe but absolutely brilliant.