Sunday 22 July - Aix-en-Provence - 29C.

We woke to a beautiful sunny day that promised to reach 29 and it did not disappoint. We set off to tour the Gorges du Verdon which is a fabulous gorge with spectacular views about 120km north-east of our base here at Aix-en-Provence. Driving was at times something of a hair-raising experience - Driving along the walls halfway up the canyon on a two-way road wide enough for 1 and a half cars, the car in front would suddenly pull over to the (edge) side of the road in front of oncoming traffic to grab the only parking space for a few kilometres.

Fortunately, we are still alive and have the photos to prove that we were equal to the task of securing limited parking spots halfway up the side of the French equivalent of the grand canyon. It was one of the most spectacular places we had ever seen, the water was an amazing blue and the air so clear that you could see the swimmers tip to toe nearly 500 metres below in the Verdon river at the bottom of the canyon or gorge..

Having survived that experience, we headed back towards the small village of Moustiers-Ste-Marie, a delightfully picturesque village nestled at the base of another gorge in the same cliffs. We sat down at a café for lunch and discovered we were right below a church built into the cliff face, 800 metres above. There was a winding path that led to the top however the cobble stones were very slippery and we only ventured part way. The town is famous for its ceramics/pottery and so we visited each and every one of the little shops that sold lovely bowls, dishes and other interesting ceramic pieces.

On the way home we spotted some beautiful fields of lavender and engaged in a few more photo opportunities. The fields of sun flowers are also extensively evident around this area but not always in a place accessible to being photographed.

Aix-en-Provence has a one-way ring road system around it and so far, we have been unable to crack the secret code that allows you to drive through the centre of the town to get to where you actually want to go - as we have found out almost ten times so far..... That said, we are now very very familiar with the ring road system and if you know of anybody that needs to know how to get on it and follow it around, then we are the goto people to help them out.

This evening, after a long day out and not much being open in the district (being Sunday night) we are dining and relaxing Chez Pistache. Until tomorrow....