Blog number one-hundred

We pulled on to the rather damp campsite at Ceret in France amid the mountainous landscape and paid for a couple of nights to allow ourselves to top up our batteries and take a break before moving further north. It had a rather higgledy-piggledy feel to it, with pitches shoe-horned in amid various garden statues under the tall trees (obviously necessary to provide shade on those hot summer days). This had the effect of making it feel a lot smaller than it really was, but it had all the facilities we needed and was close enough to town to walk in.

The towns main draw is it’s art museum, holding works by many notable artists, some of which were regular visitors to the town (there are photos of Picasso sat enjoying a drink at the local bar on the entrance to the exhibits as you enter). You can walk around the centre of the town within half an hour or so, so it isn’t the largest place.

As you wander it’s narrow streets with ivy clad buildings, various souvenir shops and a number of cafes and restaurants, it does has a very historic feel. We chose to have lunch at a pizzeria in the main square which was producing a menu du midi at a reasonable price, then a wander around the art museum for Tracy.

We were ultimately heading for the town of Grasse, home to perfume making for centuries.

Having visited before and our previous purchases exhausted, we thought we would stop, take a look around again and stock up our perfume cupboard. Joe had found a store a short drive from there selling spear fishing gear, so we decided to kill two birds with one stone (as they say) and placed an order to be picked up on site. We just had to wait for the confirmation it was ready to pick up and utilise our time to take in some other sights along the way.

The rain had stopped, but the wind was rather fierce along the coastal area near the border with Spain; St Cyprien in particular which was where we intended to stay. So we headed further up and inland to relative calm at the camping car park stop at Beziers, another place we had visited previously, although in less clement weather.

We walked into town and entered via an open area with huge artificial flowers lining the channel of water running from the water fountains with jets spraying into the air, and kids squealing as they ran through them getting soaked (same the world over).

As we checked out the shops around the streets, shimmering foil discs hung above which glittered in the sunlight as the wind caught them. With more than a few hairdressers in town, Tracy decided to see about getting a hair cut, which was much needed (not easy to describe when your French is a bit limited) but it worked and felt like a bit of luxury; given they also had a massage chair at the back wash, nice.

We climbed the hill to the cathedral overlooking the town below. It was rather windy but with a few cafes in the square out of the worst of it, we sat to have a coffee and noticed there was a free illumination spectacular that evening at the Cathedral advertised.

We know that they often put on shows during the summer, using light projections on or inside buildings and it seemed this was one such show, after all, we always like ‘free’. So after heading back to the van for some food and a change of clothes, we headed back in to town after dark.

As we neared the flowers and fountains, we could hear music blasting out (I’ve had the time of my life of Dirty Dancing fame) the flowers were all illuminated in different colours, and the fountains were dancing and changing colour with the music. After watching a few more songs, culminating with ‘everybody needs somebody to love’ as played in The Blues Brothers film, we realised it was time to head for the Cathedral or we might not catch the free show.

The queue for the show was very very long and we were about ten minutes early at around ten past ten in the evening. We joined the back hoping we’d get in, but knowing there were two shows available. We eased forwards but clearly the place had been filled and the all important velvet rope was placed across meaning we would have to wait for the next show at quarter past eleven. Not wanting to leave the queue, as looking behind, it stretched back to beyond where we had initially joined, we donned our jackets as it got cooler and waited. Some decided it wasn’t worth waiting around in a queue and headed elsewhere for the rest of their evening. I have to say though, that it actually was worth it. As everyone took to the pews in the Cathedral, we couldn’t help thinking this is probably the fullest it had been in a long time.

The light show projected animations to music, making it appear that we were under water at one point with fish and other sea creatures swimming around, then appearing as though there were plants growing up the alter and across the vaulted ceilings.

After around fifteen to twenty minutes, the show was over and we spilled out into the cool of the dark outside and back towards the van. By this time it was the early hours of the morning and as we reached the illuminated flowers, they were pulsing as they made strange ethereal plonking sounds. There weren’t many people around at that time and it was all quite surreal and yet very calming at the same time. 

So, after consulting the guide book for ideas of other places to visit, Nimes had popped up again with it’s many Roman remains, museums and lovely park areas to wander around, and as we drove through it, we noticed that it is twinned with Preston, England (due to the textile industry link, Nimes of course being famous for the very well know material Denim) who knew?

We have always wanted to visit Nimes when in this area, but have never been unable to find anywhere close enough for us in the van. It looked like we would have the same problem this time around too.

Not deterred, we decided to look for public transport from the surrounding areas, figuring that if we used the train to cut down the travel time, we could probably stay a little further out, in the relative safety of a campsite. With a regular service from Avignon, we thought this would be a good opportunity, having stayed on a campsite there before, and being familiar with the area.

After checking in at the campsite we headed in to the railway station and with my best French, managed to secure a couple of return tickets for the following day to visit Nimes, then returned to enjoy the rest of the day by the pool.

With an early start (for us), we were up and out by around half past eight to walk the thirty minutes or so to the station and catch the train. It’s about forty minutes to get into Nimes from Avignon and cost us around thirty euros for two return tickets (be sure to ask for Nimes Centre and not Nimes Pont du gard, which is a good ten minute train ride outside the city).

Our first stop was the amphitheatre or arena, one of the best preserved in Europe. It costs around ten euros for a visit with a free audio guide (you need a form of ID as a deposit to ensure it’s safe return).

The amphitheatre was very impressive and it is still utilised to this day, hence the seat numbers and bars dotted around the corridors running around beneath. There is a really good display of the armoury worn by the gladiators in one of the chambers beneath and it is very informative about the different sorts of gladiators there were, but would also appeal to kids as well (who doesn’t like to see swords and shields?)

We decided to pay an extra three euros or so for a combined ticket, allowing entry to the Roman temple and the Tower as well (entry to one or the other individually would have cost the same). You can pay more to include the museum also, if you feel so inclined. If visit the amphitheatre and one other site separately, I wouldn’t really recommend the temple. The Roman temple is effectively an empty cube inside and it’s much more impressive from the outside, which doesn’t cost anything.

The tower is pretty high and gives good views over the city, although you need a very basic level of fitness to climb the hill in the park up to it. To get to the top there are a few hundred steps up a fairly narrow spiral staircase, which you share with people descending, so you may also want to bare that in mind. 

The park which houses the tower is lovely to walk around and would make a good place to have a picnic on a hot day. As usual we stumbled upon a wedding whose photographer was using the impressive stone staircase from the terraced grounds as a backdrop.

We had booked for the return train around ten to six in the afternoon, and at first I thought this would be too long a day, having arrived just after ten, but it was about the right sort of time for the visit and meant we didn’t feel rushed. 

There were a few interesting characters around the railway area, as you get with most city stations, but it didn’t feel particularly unsafe to us. The previous train to ours had been subject to some breakdown problems (not just the UK then) and so our train was a little more crowded than it would have been.

There are plenty of other museums available to visit in Nimes and I would certainly recommend a visit.

The trip from Avignon to Grasse is quite a trek, so we decided to stop along the way at a camping car park stop at the village of La Val, costing around twelve euros for twenty-four hours and around a two mile walk to a nearby waterfall, which is said to be impressive.

As we parked ourselves up it was extremely hot and even though this is an area noted for it’s walking trails, we didn’t particularly feel like hoofing it the two miles to the waterfall. So, we walked into the village to see if we could find a bar to sit and have a nice cold drink at.

As we rounded the corner we stumbled into at market selling local produce, much of which was dried sausage. Some people were dressed in historical costumes wandering around and we heard a commotion coming from the main square. 

There was a stage set up with people in period costume providing some kind of declaration to the people watching on from below. My French isn’t the best but I distinctly heard the word ‘pig’ and then the historical figures (and some wearing what looked like council t-shirts with lanyards around their necks) began to hurl small items into the crowd from plastic bags, and everyone was clambering amongst themselves to catch them.

I made best use  of my rounders fielding skills to snatch what turned out to be a small saucisson, delicious. 

It appeared that we had turned up on the day of the villages annual sausage festival of St Anthony (the Saint of sausages apparently).

We headed for the overflowing bar to see if we could grab a seat and a beer to take it all in. After a number of attempts, we managed to get served, given that the staff were hugely overwhelmed by the unusual amount of people, who appeared to have come from the surrounding area as well as the village itself.

We sat and enjoyed our beer as a band struck up complete with stripey shirts and brass instruments providing entertainment to the crowd in general. We do seem to stumble upon some interesting goings on, but then that is the beauty when you are wandering around in the van.

Next morning, with the church clock chiming the hour, we packed up and headed out for Grasse.

Grasse is very much in the mountains and we would recommend use of the local buses to get about, especially (if like us) you are staying at the campsite at the bottom of the very hilly area. The town itself is quite pretty with some stunning views given it’s altiture. There is a tourist train (sponsored by one of the major perfume factories ‘Fragonard’). This runs around the town for about thirty minutes and I assume it tells you about the history and the area itself. You can find it on the square in front of the Fragonard factory.

There are a few major perfume factories dotted around and they all appear to provide free tours, and of course always finish in the factory shop. For a different experience, you can flash some cash and book yourself on a visit either as a group or individually, to make your own perfume, and walk out with a bottle of your own concoction named by yourself (you do have the assistance of the perfumer). You can of course, just visit the shops themselves, or even try many of the independent perfumeries which ensure you get something that little bit different.

Having been previously and knowing what we wanted made for a slightly speedier visit as we got confirmation that Joe’s order was ready, so we could pick that up and head back down the coast towards Spain again.

Photo of the week:

Tracy actually quite likes this. ”Hello, it’s art!”

In the museum in Ceret