Avignon

          

I left Sault and traveled on the D943 for 71km to reach my final destination in France the city of Avignon. Avignon is such a charming city the streets are full of ancient history, and there is a lot of restored medieval ramparts and Gothic architecture. After arriving in Avignon I thought I would check into my hotel  Hotel Cloitre Saint Louis Avignon before touring the city.

    

I roamed the streets of Avignon and they were awesome so much history, I had to stop and take a photo of the view of the streets with all the medieval architecture.Avignon is famous as it is the city to which the Popes fled when leaving the corruption of Rome in the 14th century. I got tired of walking around the street so I thought I would give a the bike rentals a try, it was a lot of fun cruising around the streets.

After my day of sightseeing I had to hit the outdoor theater and music venue. It was very beautiful full of old world charm. I was able to take a tour before my show , The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov started, oh my those stair were steep I almost took a dive down to the bottom of them. I walked along the catwalk above the seating of the venue it was quite a view from there.

  

http://travel.yahoo.com/p-travelguide-6910965-avignon_things_to_do-i;_ylt=AkZqcon7xPtlR_cNScAGZMxLIGoL

http://jyledupuis.hubpages.com/hub/Fortified_Cities_of_France

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Tourism-g187212-Avignon_Vaucluse_Provence-Vacations.html

Sault

After Les Mées I traveled north west about 68km to Sault. Sault is located in an area called the Provence of Lavenders due to the vast amount of lavender fields. Before you even reached Sault you could smell the lavender it was very intoxicating and calming.

 

 

When I arrived in village I visisted a local weekley farmers market that has been around since 1515  to check out all the lavender that they had.  I wanted a bundle to take back to my room for later. At the market the amount of lavender products was amazing. There was bundles of fresh lavender, tea, loation, candles, bath products, I wanted to load up on all of it and create my own lavander spa in my room.

                                                        


After the farmers market I strolled down the streets to check out the village the buildings were made of stone and had beautiful brightly colored shutters on the windows. The village has an open and relaxed space, there are a few cafés in the square, and there is a beautiful restored church in the central square.      


                                                          
  

http://www.sault.com.au/about-inspiration/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/81858166@N07/galleries/72157630620210066

http://www.provenceguide.co.uk/home/vaucluse-in-provence/disc
over-vaucluse/don-t-miss/lavender.aspx

Les Mées

I took off from Castellane and drove 74.1 km west to a Les Mées. Les Mees is found in Alpes-de-Haute-Provence in the Provence - Cote d'Azur region of France. On my way into village I stopped at the Les Mées solar farm, it is the largest solar farm in France spread across 36 acres. It was quite a sight to see, so many solar panals rolling across the hills.

                                             

  My first sight I had to visit in Les Mees had to be Les Penitents Des Mées, this is the whole reason why I choose to come to the villiage. Les Penitents des Mees is a row of columnar rocks which stretch across 2 kilometres and rise to 100 metres high these rock formations are surrounded by a lush green landscape. The colmnar rocks are said to be a procession of banished monks who were turned to stone by Saint Donat. Standing infront of these massive rocks was amazing they were beautiful.

    
                     
        

 Afrer checking out Les Penitents Des Mées, I decided to walk though the villiage and see what I could find. The town was awesome I strolled down alley ways made completely of stone from the buildings, to the streets it was incredible seeing such craftmanship.

                                         



 http://www.tripadvisor.com/Tourism-g758245-Les_Mees

http://www.hickerphoto.com/picture/les-mees-rock-formations-alpes-de-haute-provence-france-22947.htm
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/picture/2011/may/26/solar-photovoltaic-france

Castellane

      Castellane France is my next stop on my French vacation. I got in my rental car and travelled north on D955 about 59km to reach the village, it is tucked down in the steep Grand Canyon du Verdon. When I reached Castellane I had to stop at this beautiful old stone bridge over a little river with large mountains behind it.

        For the day of fun I decided to go rock climbing there are plenty of rocks to climb in the steep canyons of the Grand Canyon du Verdon. It was so exhilarating climbing up the huge rock face, and then pulling myself on a rope across a small canyon that the river runs through it was an awesome experience.

                                           
                    

         After my day of rock climbing I was starving so I thought I would stop and grab a slice of pizza at a local pizzeria. I sat out side along the cobble stone streets. The pizza was delicious it was defiantly different from our American pizza.

                                             

              When I finished eating I thought I would hit up a local lavender field and pick a bundle of fresh lavender for my hotel room. The fields were gorgeous and smelled heavenly, when I first stepped onto the field there where bees all over so I was a little nervous but the bees didn't sting at all they were intoxicated by the smell of lavender.


                                          




http://www.castellane.org/
http://www.beyond.fr/villages/castellane-provence-france.html

Draguignan

    For my next journey in France I jumped on D562 and traveled about 68km which took a little over an hour to reach the city Draguignan. Draguignan which comes from Latin meaning dragon, the city was named dragon due to a legend people passing though were scared by a dragon that lived in the marshes around the city.

 

     The first thing I noticed when reaching Draguignan was a large 17^th century clock tower that sat upon a hill, I knew I had to visit  the clock tower once I was all settled in to my B&B Le Mas des Selves.     

                                                                                                                                               

   After checking into my B&B I strolled down the streets, and alleys they were so picturesque.  The buildings were tall and built very close together with shutters on the entire window. Before I knew it I had arrived at the Tour de l'Horloge (clocktower). The clock tower is 17^th century and was rebuilt in 1662 after a amnesty granted to the city by King Louis XIV.

 

 

                                                                     

When I finished with  my trip to the tower I realized I was starving so I asked the locals where a great place to eat was, and I was told to try Lou Galoubet. Lou Galoubet was a great choice it had awesome local flavor, I ordered the lobster risotto. For desert I had to try their famous molten chocolate cake, and it was delicious, defiantly a must when visiting the city.

 

After lunch I thought I would hit  one more site the Dolmen pèira de la fada (the fairy stone) before heading back to rest. The dolmen is huge stones, built into a monument. It’s amazing how they were able to move such large stones without heavy equipment.  Legend about this dolmen talks about a fairy living under the monument.  

 

 

http://www.map-france.com/Draguignan-83300

http://www.informationfrance.com/draguignan.php

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g668760-d1563952-Reviews-Lou_Galoubet-Draguignan_Var_Provence.html

Cannes France

 Cannes, is a city on the French Riviera with a population of around 72,000 people. The city is known being a tourist destination it plays host to the Cannes Film Festival held every year in May, which brings flocks of celebrities in to the city. Cannes is also known famous for luxury shopping, great restaurants, and beautiful hotels. Last year the G20 summit was held in Cannes.

As I flew over Cannes I cannot wait to land, it looks glamorous and gorgeous. You could see what seemed like hundreds of sail boats down in the water. When we flew in a little closer I could see that some of those boats were actually huge yachts. After landing I decide to take a taxi over and check into my hotel. I had a little trouble with my hotel so I had pick another hotel in Cannes due to the first on losing my reservation. So I decided to stay at the beautiful Hotel Le Bristol.

After checking into my hotel I thought I would check out Cannes, and let me tell you it is beautiful, like a picture from a magazine it just does not seem real. I spent the first day lying on the beach of the French Riviera enjoying the amazing blue water, and warm sandy beach. While lying out on the beach I thought I was dreaming when I saw Matthew McConaughey walking along the water’s edge. I knew that Cannes was famous for having celebrities visit during the Cannes Film Festival that occurs in May, but I didn't realize they vacationed here too.

On my second day in Cannes I decided to take an excursion so I jumped on a boat and traveled Sainte-Marguerite  one of islands  that is  part of the "Iles de Lérins" just off the coast of Cannes.  It only took me a short 30 minute boat to reach my first stop the island Sainte-Marguerite. When I reach the island I had lunch at a small local resturant that sat along the port, there I had delicious strawberry and cream crepes . After finishing my lunch I took a walk down paths filled with eucalyptus to Fort Royal and explored the area, the pathway was filled with the scent of eucalyptus it was very intoxicating. I had to check out the small cell where the Man in the Iron Mask was kept. It was so intersting to see such a old piece of history, the cell had been restored  so you could really get a feel of how it was when it was being used to house prisoners. 

After my adventure I thought I needed a day of rest and relaxation so I sat at a cafe and had bread, bree, and wine. It was nice to sit back relax and just people watch, absorb my self in a little French culture.The wine was wonderful, I chose a sweet moscato wine that was from a near by vinayard. The cheese and bread was also local from the area. It was really nice to get a taste of the real France. 

Sources:

http://travel.viamichelin.com/web/Destination/France-French_Alps-French_Riviera_and_Monaco/News-Cell_of_the_man_in_the_Iron_Mask_Fort_royal-

http://www.beyond.fr/sites/lerins.html

http://www.allfranceinfo.com/provence.html

http://www.g20-g8.com/g8-g20/g20/english/the-2011-summit/the-city-of-cannes/the-city-of-cannes/the-host-city-of-the-g20-summit-cannes.106.html