Tuesday, August 2, 2016

France: Impressions of Les Baux de Provence

Les Baux is another one of those iconic Provençal villages perched on a hill and overlooking paradise :)

Not many people (about 25 or so!) live in the actual town, so most people there are tourists. A lot of them! Plus the people who commute there to staff the cafés, shops and museum. See all the cars parked beside the road leading up to the village? Insane traffic!

Les Baux is located in the foothills of the Alpilles, a range of small mountains about 20km south of Avignon. 

The rocky crags have a never-to-be forgotten look about them. In Provençal, a bauc is a rocky spur. When aluminum ore was discovered nearby in the 19th century, it was named bauxite after Les Baux. 


The castle at Les Baux, Château des Baux, dates from the 10th century. 


We walked around the outside and up onto a large terrace with views in every direction. Up there was a collection of trebuchets and other war-related machines intended to knock down walls and marauding armies. 


There was an awesome lavender hedge up there, preparing to flower

Even the walls were interesting...



In town, everything was the sort of thing you want to remember forever, except for all the (other) tourists of course. 













Hmmm.....hungry?




Too early - let's shop instead!




Nougat, traditional Provençal confection


Beignets




Ok, maybe it's time for a snack...ice cream?




Mmmmm......perfect!

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