FRANCE 2013 - GORGES DU FIER

 A place of interest near Annecy is called Les Gorges du Fier  just 10 kilometres away.

After a short walk of mostly steps, we arrived at the entry that was run by two ladies. They also had quite a well stocked tourist shop and a little bar with tables where they served light lunches. Again the crowds were absent and we paid our entrance fee with not a sole in sight.

The river Fier has carved this narrow path through the limestone and created a very narrow, steep gorge with the water rushing through it.

 

 

 The walkway is steel with a wooden boardwalk actually attached to the gorge walls 25 metres above the river.

 

 

 

The walkway is 250 metres long which is the length of the gorge.

 

 

The original walkway was built in 1868. Obviously it has been updated since then.

 

 

 

 It really is a wonderful walk if not a little scary, walking along the gorge wall looking down to the river and up to the top with lime green trees overhanging and water dripping down to the river below.

 

 

 

The gorge walls in spots were covered in moss and lichen lit by the filtered light from above.

 

We walked the length and back again thinking that this hidden gem has been another holiday highlight.

 

 

We shared a Croque Monsieur and a drink before saying goodbye to Gorges of Fier.

FRANCE 2013 - WHERE IN THE WORLD IS ANNECY?

Have you ever heard of Annecy?
Most Aussies I mention it to have never heard of it
and I have to admit I found it while cruising north towards Geneva from Cannes using Google Earth. Until then I'd never heard of it either.
Just zoomed in and found this amazing place on the shores of Lake Annecy.
(I find a lot of amazing places using Google Earth when I'm researching a holiday)

When I started looking into staying here I found it was a favourite holiday destination for French people. The beautiful lake is said to have the cleanest water in Europe and it has a lovely sandy bottom which you can see clearly through the sparkling blue-green water.

Water activities are high on the list of things to do.
Sailing, kayaking, paddle boat riding, boating and swimming are all popular activities though I can not imagine that this water is ever warm enough to swim in.

It is enormously picturesque with the towering mountains all around, an ancient Old Town at its centre and is immaculately kept. There's a huge green space all along the water front and lovely walkways and gardens for all to enjoy.

Old Town has a very deep fast running stream running through the middle with a warren of cobbled lane ways criss crossing the stone walled stream by way of little footbridges. The stream divides around an old jail with barred stone walls and complete with turret. A very picturesque sight.

 

Lake Annecy has a very wide tree lined road and promenade in front of where we are staying, so we joined lots of other people strolling along - walking dogs, riding bikes, just out enjoying some spring sunshine that appeared in the afternoon.

 This is at truly beautiful lake as you look over its very clear water to the snow covered alps in the background. One thing that we have both noticed here is the lack of rubbish in the water or on the ground. It is a high traffic, big passing -through population and we have truly not seen a scrap of paper or a plastic bag.

Annecy is also the gateway to the French Alps with Chamonix and Mt Blanc about a 70 minute drive away so plenty to do both in Summer and Winter in that direction and Geneva is only 30 minutes to the north.

The weather is much cooler here than it was in Fayence and we're back in our Winter woollies again. About 12 degrees top today which we love.

There's lots for us to see and do here for the next week.

I'll keep you posted.

FRANCE 2013 - SEILLANS

There is a little village called Seillans not far from Fayence via narrow roads and built on the side of a hill that we were keen to visit.

We arrived and found the parking area towards the top of the village and headed towards the village square. We were particularly keen to visit here as we had read it is one of the prettiest villages in France.

 It is !

 

Perched on the side of the hill, the narrow streets wind around beautifully maintained,  shuttered houses, three to four stories high, some with ancient front doors with ivy and potted plants providing colour and where there is room, the odd olive tree sprouts from the cobbled streets.

 

A narrow street leads down into the town square which has a large stone retaining wall on one side and contains mature trees providing lovely shade. Around the other side is tall shuttered housing and a hotel and in the centre of this large open space was a large fountain with trickling water dripping onto buckets of roses.

 

 

 Ranged around the fountain were many tables making a restaurant called La Gloire de Mon Pere. Here a large number of people, both locals and tourists, were being served by waiters who run up and down the street to the kitchen (which is actually part of a hotel).

 

 

How delightful !

 

 

Leaving this delightful scene were wandered along narrow lanes exploring all the little nooks and crannies with a photo opportunity round every corner.

 

We gradually worked our way to the other side of the village where we came upon another restaurant/ cafe.

The second cafe was a lot smaller but again outdoors shaded by a beautiful tree. The steep area had been levelled with a stone retaining wall and in the centre was a large fountain with tables spread around it as before.

Iron bottle holders were attached at appropriate spots in the fountain so the water tumbling from the fountain kept the wine cooled. The waiters were dressed in full white aprons which touched their shoes.

 

Regretfully it was too late for lunch but when the opportunity presented itself to us the following day we couldn't get there quickly enough.

Seated at tables on rough cobblestones in the town square under the shade of old trees, we knew that lunch at La Gloire de Mon Pere would be a wonderful way to spend an afternoon.

 Rack of lamb with zucchini and orange peel couscous, roasted cherry tomatoes and orange segments with a beautiful orange sauce,

then finished off with tart tattin for me and a strawberry sorbet for Helen.

 

This may sound like an extravagant lunch but it was really quite light and the French really do have these wonderful long lunches.

Communicating in French with our very friendly waiter was a lot of fun . It is surprising how much you begin to understand using halting English, French and mime !!
There was much laughter and warmth as we said our goodbyes

Another wonderful memory to store away.

FRANCE 2013 - VISIT TO MONACO

Monaco was the destination today and the decision was made to travel there by train from Cannes. Parking in a small place like Monaco would be a nightmare so we were soon queuing for our train tickets. That accomplished we looked at the board and headed for platform "une" after putting our tickets in a strange yellow machine that stamps the time and date on them.

Soon we were on the train heading for Monaco. We were surprised at the amount of graffiti on the trains both inside and out, also on stations or anything possible along the train route. No one seems to be bothered by this but I don't think it's a good look and detracts from an otherwise good service. We had to change seats as the window was completely opaque because of graffiti.
No sooner had we got going and a huge number of ticket inspectors converged on our carriage. Our ticket was inspected twice, stamped twice all within minutes!

After a very scenic trip along the coastline through Nice we arrived in Monte Carlo. Our expectations of Monaco were high as we had read and seen pictures of this country and of course all know of the Princess Grace story. We hoped we wouldn't be disappointed !

We emerged from the tunnelled and immaculate railway exit right onto the corner of the harbour.

 

The first thing to be noticed was the work with barriers and grandstands being erected as the F1 Grand Prix was being held here in two weeks time. An interesting time to be here.



We were now taking in our surroundings of beautiful buildings surrounding a smallish harbour full of luxury boats. Clouds hung over the top of the steep rocky hills that enclose the harbour. First impression - we are not going to be disappointed here!

 

Wow!

After getting our bearings we followed the Grand Prix track up the hill to Casino Square. All the time we were looking down and across the harbour to the Palace.

We passed a beautiful restaurant overlooking the harbour with a three course meal for only Euro 45. Could this be the best place in the world to eat ?

 

Arriving at Casino Square we were both overcome by the opulence of the Casino, hotel and surroundings.

 

 

The first thing I noticed was the cars parked out the front. Ferraris (must be red) , Lamborghini , Rolls Royce, Bentley, Aston Martin .......

 The car parking was patrolled by uniformed, white gloved personnel who could always find a space out the front of the Casino for the right person.

The Cafe de Paris is a huge outdoor cafe that occupies a big piece of the Casino Square and faces the Casino.

Apparently the place to be seen !

We decided lunch here was a must so we settled down to watch the passing parade of cars and people to a lunch of pasta and Caesar salad.

 The service was exceptional. The head waiter took the order and placed it on the table, the waiter would come and collect it and take it to the kitchen. A girl prowled the tables offering a choice of bread rolls and the drink waiter bought the drinks. We had four people serving our table, maybe a little overkill, but all in all we had a nice meal at a reasonable cost considering the ambiance.

Lunch over, we decided to jump on the tourist bus which was open roofed, provided an excellent commentary and  stopped at twelve places of interest that you could exit and alight from all day on the same ticket.
We elected to stay on for the whole circuit so we got get a feel for this wonderful place. The bus circuit also drove on part of the race track which was also of interest.

Arriving at the Palace for the second time we exited the bus and took in the magnificent views of Monaco from this vantage point.

 
The Palace is guarded with armed uniform palace guards wandering around the palace square.



Most of the shops here were very touristy amongst narrow lane ways as this is the old part of Monaco - Monaco-ville not Monte Carlo. ( The whole of Monaco is only 2square hectares. The second smallest country in the world after the Vatican )



We decided to walk down the road from the palace back to the station as the views overlooking Monaco were fantastic and the cameras were working overtime.

At the bottom of the palace road we ended up walking along pit road and past the official start line. The shops all had old trophies, engines and any sort of memorabilia from F1 in the windows.

We had had a memorable day in Monaco.