Valencia - Beautiful Garden City

One of the first things you notice about Valencia, a port city on the orange blossom coast of Spain, is the gardens spread throughout the city.  Arriving the beginning of June, the Jacaranda trees were all in full bloom, covering the city in beautiful blue/purple flowers.  Interspersed among the Jacaranda were striking pink and white and yellow flowering trees, Valencia orange trees, and blocks and blocks of brightly coloured flowering boulevards.

JACARANDAS PAINT THE CITY WITH A BLUE/PURPLE BRUSH

At one time the city was split by the Turia river, which would often flood its banks.  After a particularly tragic flood in 1957 which destroyed or damaged many of the majestic old buildings and caused the death of almost 100 people, the city fathers decided to divert the river around Valencia.  After some debate on what to do with the 9 kms of dry river bed left running through the center of town - a freeway was suggested - the city fathers decided to turn the entire thing into a park for the people.  Full of ponds, fountains, walking paths, flower gardens, playgrounds, artworks, cafes and sports facilities (football field (soccer), track, climbing walls), this lovely park runs right from the downtown area to the City for Arts and Sciences which contains a huge aquarium complex, an imax, a science centre, a performing arts centre and a lovely sculptural garden.

ENTRANCE TO THE GARDENS AT THE CITY OF ARTS & SCIENCES

We spend an enchanting 4 or 5 hours at the Oceanografic (aquarium), which is the largest in Europe and still had to leave before visiting the shark centre as the museum was closing.  Here are just a few of the entertaining sights ...

STARFISH TRYING TO ESCAPE

THIS ONE GOT LEFT BEHIND

WHAT BIG FEET THIS GUY HAS - PERHAPS ET IN DISGUISE?

THE CAVE MONSTER WE ESCAPED FROM AT GROTTE DEMOISELLES (SEE PREVIOUS BLOG)

THIS BIG GUY REFUSED TO GO IN THE WATER - SHE FINALLY GAVE UP AND JUST GAVE HIM HIS FISH

The downtown area of Valencia is lovely, filled with stately old buildings, cathedrals, streets paved with marble or tile, fountains, and many, many sidewalk cafes.  The Plaza de la Virgen contains, among other things, the cathedral of the holy chalice.  This is purportedly the chalice used at The Last Supper.  One of 3 major contenders (the other 2 are in Jerusalem and Genoa), this chalice is make of dark red agate and is reported to have the most likely claim to authenticity.  We didn't get to see it as they booted us out of the cathedral to lock up for the afternoon lunch and siesta time.

THE CHURCH OF THE CHALICE

Seeming out of place and yet strangely appropriate, right in the middle of the plaza surrounded by cathedrals is a giant fountain of Neptune surrounded by eight naked women.  Completed by a local sculptor, Silvestre Edeta, it represents the Turia River and its eight irrigation ditches.  The pigeons delight in playing 'king of the castle' and fighting over who gets to sit on Neptune's head.

NEPTUNE'S FOUNTAIN IN LE PLAZA DE LA VIRGEN

 In Spain, everything closes from around Noon to 2:00 for lunch, then remains closed until 4 or 4:30 p.m. for siesta time.  We decided to enjoy sangria and pizza at one of the sidewalk cafes and enjoy the surroundings before heading home for siesta.  This band of street musicians showed up as we were eating and were very entertaining to watch.  Unfortunately, just as we were finding Euros to tip them, the Policia pulled up and made them leave the square to the hisses and boos of the lunch patrons.  You can spot them behind their car on the left of the picture waiting for the guys to finish their first number.

ENTERTAINING STREET MUSICIANS - BEFORE GRUMPY POLICIA ARRIVED

In addition to gardens, beautiful buildings, tapas, sangria, and really inexpensive beer and wine, Valencia has one of the top 10 beaches in Spain.  Wide and very clean with warm clear water, this is where Ken liked to spend his afternoons doing what Pat and I call the 'booby walk'.  One afternoon he reported counting 110 topless women on his beach walk, or 220 boobies.  He is usually so exhausted by the time he gets back he has to lie down for a nap - perhaps this is the reason for siesta time in Spain. 

 

OUR WIDE CLEAN BEACH WITH FIRST HALF OF LAST SUPPER SAND SCULPTURE

Pat and I enjoyed monitoring the daily progress of the talented sand sculptors.  Here's the first half of The Last Supper in progress - hopefully they'll finish all twelve figures before we leave.  The sculpture representing Valencia is also quite impressive.  Notice the masts for the hundreds of sailboats in the marina behind the sculpture.  There is also a huge ferris wheel to the side, and many (overpriced) beach cafes to sit and enjoy the sights, along with tapas or paella and a cold beer or glass of wine.

VALENCIA SCULPTURE WITH SAILBOAT MASTS IN THE BACKGROUND.

The French Countryside

One of the delightful perks of exploring southern France is that you never have to go far to discover a picturesque little village.  Take any road and you'll spot a huge stone house, a castle turret, the spire of a cathedral or a roman ruin that needs exploring. We'd often start off for a destination half an hour away and arrive a couple of hours later as we'd always find something fascinating on the way.

SETE

Just a half hour drive southwest from Montpellier where the Rhone river meets the Mediterrean Sea is the lovely town of Sete.  The river bank is lined by lovely old apartment houses, cafes and restaurants, and of course a boat for every slip.  Just a block in are rows of shops (Pat and I both bought shoes for 15 Euro) and a large open park where you can sit and watch the flea market vendors, enjoy a beverage and listen to the laughter of the children on the ornately carved merry-go-round.

THE LOVELY TOWN OF SETE

A MERRY-G0-ROUND FOR EVERY TOWN

LE GRAU-DE-ROI

A half hour southeast of Montpellier lies the interesting beach town of Le Grau-de-Roi.  With wide sandy beaches, walking streets filled with small shops and stalls, seaside restaurants serving crepes and buckets of mussels accompanied by local wines, and catamarans offering harbour cruises, this town has something for everyone.  The town is small enough that you could do it all in a day, and we did.

HOMECOMING

THE VILLAGE LIGHTHOUSE

Old meets new in Grau du Roi.  After lunching on crepes and wine while looking at the boats sailing in and out of the harbour, we then hopped on a catamaran to view the modern condos being build all along the sea.

THE MODERN SEASIDE

SAND SCULPTOR AT WORK

The beach was fairly crowded for a mid-week in May.  As this is a tourist town with lots of rentals, I can just imagine how crowded it will be in the high season.

LAROQUE

Having missed our turn on the way to our lovely cottage in Montoulieu, we stumbled across the medieval village of Laroque and stopped to watch the people playing and fishing in the river. An absolutely stunning little village, it became one of our favorite stops on our way into Ganges to do our grocery shopping.

LAROQUE BY THE RIVER

 LAROQUE CONDOS - MEDIEVAL STYLE

We would stop to wander the narrow streets, ducking through low portals or climbing up the hillside to see what was around the next corner.

Of course, we could also stop at one of the cafes along the dam to try the local wines.  France has many, many good local vintages and it would take years to sample them all.  So many choices, so little time.

THE DUCHY OF UZES

Our landlady, Danielle, suggested we might want to travel to Uzes on a Saturday to experience the market.  Uzes was originally established in Roman times (1st Century) as an administrative center to oversee the building and operation of an aqueduct to bring water to Nimes.  Over the next few centuries it came under the control of Jewish Scholars and then the Archbishop of Narbonne, before becoming part of the royal peerage in 1088 (with a lot of history and bloody battle between, I'm sure).  In the 1600's the title of First Duke of France was bestowed on Uzes, and the Duke's castle is still reigning over the centre of the town.

THE DUKE'S CASTLE IN UZES

Uzes is known for it's market, which takes over the streets on Saturdays and goes on for many blocks in all directions.  Stalls filled with fresh produce, cured meats and local cheeses (and of course wines) line the streets.  Uzes has historically been known for its fabric makers, and silks and local woven goods are in abundance on market day.  Unfortunately our suitcases are filled to bursting, so we were unable to pick up any of the tempting fabrics, table cloths, bed covers, scarves, etc.

Pat did have her first encounter with one of the gypsy merchants in Uzes.  She stopped to buy a 5E watch, and when she handed the merchant a 10E note he showed her another watch that she had supposedly dropped and broken, so he wanted to keep the 10E.  It quite upset her as he was yelling at her in French and I was yelling back in English and calling for the Gendarmie while trying to grab her 10E out of his hand.  After some more yelling and gestulating we finally got her money back (but not the watch). As we were walking away we saw the woman who had supposedly witnessed Pat drop the watch knock another one off the table for the next unsuspecting tourist.  My poor sister is going to have to get a little more hardened in her travels.  Oh well, another adventure and another story to tell.  And just a little dark blot on the delightful Duchy of Uzes.

AN UNKNOWN VILLAGE

On our drive back from Uzes, we spotted some fairy tale like turrets evoking visions of Cinderella's castle off to the side and took a detour to explore a small village.  I'm not sure what it was called, but we spent a magical hour exploring it's streets - not another person in sight.

WHERE FORE ART THOU ROMEO

Every building was covered with colorful rosebushes.  The one above looked like it had been placed for climbing up to the balcony - an illicit nighttime visit perhaps.  The one below added beauty to a cracked and weathered doorway.

A ROSEBUSH FOR EVERY DOORWAY

The patinas on the buildings, shutters and doorways were spectacular and made me wish I was a talented artist.  I could see myself wearing a beret and sitting with an easel while trying to reproduce the colours in oil.

BEAUTIFUL PATINAS ON EVERY DOORWAY

BEST GARAGE EVER

At the start of our tour we were picked up by one of the locals who decided to guide us through the streets, waiting patiently as we stopped to take pictures and comment on the multi-coloured roses at every doorway.  A double for the old TV dog 'the littlest hobo', he led us out of town, then walked us around the outskirts to find our car.  Once he made sure we were safely back where we belonged, he gave us a final wag and returned to wherever he had come from.

PAT AND HER GUIDE - 'THE LITTLEST HOBO'

Finally finding a spot to snap a picture of the turrets that had drawn us to the village in the first place.  We think this might actually be a private estate.  I had to laugh when I checked my shot and discovered I had been 'photobombed'. A perfect end to our exploration of a magical unknown village.

PHOTOBOMBED!