This is a summer of travel for sure! We just returned from a 6 day trip, but it seems like a much longer one!

Day 1: We started with a short drive to Avignon, to reunite with some American friends who were celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary. We spent a lovely day with them, visiting the Pont du Gard (a must-do here!), the Roman aquaduct (c.1 AD) that supplied water to our neighboring city of Nimes. After a light lunch in a village cafe, we headed to the Carriere des Lumieres to see their "Picasso & the Spanish Masters" show. It didn't have the normal pizazz of this new media form (projection of images on the walls, ceiling, & floor of an old limestone quarry, with accompanying music), so we decided to try a little wine tasting. What could be better than wine in a vineyard that had a Roman well & its own little aquaduct linked to the Pont du Gard, where we'd started our day? See our album called "Wine Tasting in Les Baux de Provence" for pictures.

Day 2: Our flight from Marseille to Catania, Sicily was quick & easy. Once in our rental car, we headed toward Palermo, about 2 hours away, on a road that was sometimes 2 lanes, sometimes a winding moutainous road--a rocky, bleak landscape, with very few people. And then we got to Palermo, where there were TONS of people, buses, cars, & motorcycles. In fact, we spent 25 minutes at one corner, 700 meters from our hotel, which proved to be in a pedestrian zone. Neither our car's or our phone's GPS sytem could handle it! We parked as soon as we could find a garage, checked in to our hotel, & walked around until dinner. It's an easy town to walk in, if you avoid the motorcycles that are everywhere!

We'd missed Palermo on our last Sicily trip, but wanted to see this old Arab/Norman city on the Meditteranean. Our Swiss friends, Hans & Ruth, had never been to Sicily, so we met them there. In fact, they are still in Sicily, taking a total of 2 weeks to explore this incredible island, top to bottom.

Day 3: Palermo is full of churches! We only saw a very few, but they were memorable, especially the huge catheddral of Monreale, in a neighboring hill top town. Up high on a hill, it was a gift of Roger II (the Norman king) to the city, & it combines the cultures of the Normans, the Byzantines, & the Arabs in one glittering (gold mosaics everywhere) explosion of style.

We also visited the Catacombs, which were so interesting. If you were a wealthy Palermo person contemplating burial, you could "rest" there forever, fully clothed, & sometimes recognizable! One corridor for men, one for women & children, & another 2 "lanes" for priests (it was also a monastary). Visit our "Palermo" album to see pictures of this as well as pictures of Monreale, other Palermo churches, food (consistently delicious), & the medieval puppet show we loved.

Day 4: A Day in the Country:

What a difference between Palermo & two hours into the country! The roads wind around huge rocks that appear out of nowhere. Once in a while there's sheep, hay, & a village or two. Our destinations were 30 minutes apart, & were both so very interesting.

Piazza Adriano is a small charming village where our favorite movie, Cinema Paradiso, was filmed. We spent about an hour there, visiting the little museum, filled with pictures & objects featured in the film. People come from EVERWHERE to visit, & are warmly welcomed. Upon entering the tourism office, we were greeted by a charming woman who was about 25 when the movie was filmed in 1988. See our album entitled "Visiting Cinema Paradiso" for some pictures that we hope will show you how charming a place this is.

Our next stop, Corleone, was equally interesting, in a different way. You will most certainly associate the town's name with the Mafia. This poor little town was the home of a number of Mafia "bosses", & the city has created an "Anti-Mafia" foundation whose goal is to inform people about the Mafia culture. Housed in an old convent, the most impressive thing is the Maxi-File Room, where they have assembled all the files used in the first effort to curb the Mafia on a grand scale. See our album "Coreleone, the now 'Anti-Mafia' city" for pictures.

Day 5: Cefalu: We opted to take a train to this lovely seaside town, 56 minutes of beautiful seaside views there & back. It, too, has Norman roots...good old King Roger II created yet another cathedral there, not as magnificent as Monreale, but charming nonetheless. But Cefalu's real claim to fame is the town itself. From food to hats to eggplants, it's all just beautiful, & we thought it deserved its own album.

Day 6: We said goodbye to Ruth & Hans, & left Palermo to begin our way back to Catania's airport, stopping at a place we'd visited on our Sicilian trip 6 years ago. La Villa Romana de Caselle is a very special place, an entire Roman villa, c. 300-400 AD, perhaps lived in by Diocletian himself. It was a country estate, built at the height of the Roman empire, with a separate suite for the Dominus & Domina & their children. There were other suites for visitors, as well as baths, a basilica, &, its crowning glory--the Ambulatory of the Great Hunt. This place was indeed worth a second visit. See our album on page 9 in the photos part of this blog for pictures, taken when we were first there July 26, 2012.

Catania airport was mobbed when we arrived for our flight back to Marseille. Cheap airfares are finally catching up with European airports. All the evening flights were either delayed or cancelled. And of course, we realized, as we waited, & waited, & waited, that this weekend was the first weekend in the annual French "VACANCES". Thankfully, we made it home.

As I look back on this Sicilian adventure, as well as the one 6 years ago, I realize how much I have enjoyed learning about Sicily's culture, food, history, & attitudes by reading Andrea Camillieri's books (I've read about 10 of the 20 or so available) whose main character is Salvo Montalbano, Inspector of Police. Each book has a theme, which is very well developed, & involves a murder, that he always solves. The characters (Salvo's girlfiend, his colleagues, the vicitims, etc) & the plots are all so varied & charming. And then there's the never-ending food he eats, most of which is prepared by Adolina (his cook) or Enzo (the owner of his favorite restaurant). This time, 2 books correlated directly with things we did or saw: one was about a Mafia drug ring, the other about a medieval story we saw at the Teatro di Pippi (puppet theater) in Palermo.

So, finally aboard the plane, as we said goodbye (caio!) to Sicily, I sent a big grazie to Signor Camellieri!

Next trip, next week (oh dear!) is to Lithuania! Just checked their weather! From Roman roots (Nimes) to Norman roots (Sicily) to Les' family's roots (Lithuania). Should be quite a bit different!

Arrivederci!

Elise & Les