Movin on....

No more pastis on the porch. No more self-cooked dinners. On the road again. Susan had a poetic farewell to Ansouis on her blog, and it's hard to improve on the sentiments, so I won't try.

We spent a few days in Arles, at the apex of the Rhone River delta, gateway to the Camargue. Arles is a fine small city, filled with Roman antiquities and medieval streets. It was also full of photographers, as it often is. It is home to France's National School of Photography, and there happened to be the annual exhibition of nudes in six or seven venues. It was great wandering around so many photographers and people that appreciate photography. The other photo part of the trip was a visit to the Cathedral d'Images in Les Baux de Provence, a slide show/movie presentation inside an abandoned bauxite mine, with images projected onto the walls in the 12 meter high rooms.

We timed our visit to the Camargue to match the one sunny day, and had a delightful driving, strolling time investigating the sights and the birds. The flamingos were a special treat. A great meal, too, at a small auberge far from anywhere, with the small local clams their specialty.

In the meantime, we've made our way east, with a quick stop in the maritime village of Antibes (between Cannes and Nice), with it's yachts of the wealthy and the Picasso museum, finding our way to the top of the hill in Castelvittorio, where Susan's sister and sister in law live.  We thought we'd had our fill of medieval villages, but the Italian version were so much different than the French that we were once again spellbound...stay tuned for some pics of the villages and of the terraced rural living that has to be seen to be believed.

Presently in the Nice airport awaiting a quick flight to Dusseldorf to see Susan's brother and family, and then the northern European portion of the journey.