Les Baux

Les Baux was one of my favorite towns.  It's a hill side town with a large medieval castle on top. There was an audio guide of the castle, so it talked about the history of the castle and the different large weapons used to protect the town.  The tour of the castle was one of the more comprehensive ones we went through.  

The surrounding areas of the town are protected.  In the valley below, there isn't any building allowed, so it's just vineyards, cyprus trees, and olive orchards. 

One of the coolest things we saw, though by far the hardest to explain, was the Lumieres.  It was a short walk from the center of Les Baux.  It was a large limestone cave that has been turned into a culturalspace.  They project movies onto the large limestone surfaces.  The program we saw was a collage of works by Michelangelo, Leonardo DiVinci, and Rafael.  It's really hard to explain, but here is a video from their site that is the closet I could find.  

https://vimeo.com/118717269?iframe=true&width=650&height=400

Arles

Arles is known for two things, Roman ruins and Van Gogh. Because the city is located on the Rhone, it was a key place for the Romans.  It was a cool city because most of the existing wall around the old city is still there, while most towns have torn them down.  

This is the arena that is still used for bull fights.   

This theater is still used by the town for entertainment.

This is outside of the arena, a site of one of Van Gogh's paintings.   

Another day in Nice

We spent our last day wandering Nice again. There was an Italian food festival going on, so we enjoyed some great Italian goodies. We also relaxed at the park while listening to a concert going on near by. It's the most relaxing day so far and our feet appreciated the break. 

In Nice, the flower market is amazing. The flowers are gorgeous and very inexpensive. I included a picture of my favorite flower combination, roses and daisies. 

Monaco

Monaco is a very interesting country. It's very small but it feels so different than the surrounding areas (Menton or Nice). The city has been built up very tall and it feels more modern. We visited the castle and saw some of the Prince's collection and then headed to the casino for some people watching. I'm not sure which was more interesting, the people or the cars, but it was fun to watch. 

Menton

Menton is the last town in France before you reach Italy. A friend of mine had recommended it to us. The old town was breathtaking. The city is on a hill so we had to climb to the basilica and cemetery but it gave us a great view of the Italian riviera and Monaco. 

Antibes

The beaches in Nice are very rocky so we went to Antibe, about 30 minutes away, where we had read there were nice beaches. We were not disappointed. The beach was sandy and the water was so blue and clear. It was awesome to lay out by the sea, drinking Orangina.  

After we went into the old town and wandered. It has an amazing city wall that goes to the waters edge. We had to drive on it to get to the beach so it was cool to walk it as well. 

Nice Day 1

We managed to sleep well last night so we were able to get in a full day in Nice. We started by walking the market in old town and then took the lift to Castle Hill. There once was a castle there, but now it is a public park with a cafe. It has amazing views of the city. The pictures above are from high above the city. 

The rest of the day was spent wandering the city. The weather was perfect  and we ended it with a nice walking along the beach (last photo).