Into the Pyrennes

typical Andorran sidewalk

Andorra la Vella (week 25)

We decided to drive back to Puyloubier through the Pyrenees.  This course took us through Andorra.  The Spanish end was warm, +8 in the afternoon, so after an indoor picnic lunch we had a pleasant stroll through the capital of Andorra la Vella, and up along the Anella Verda.  This is the hiking path that rings the capital about half-way up the mountain, hard-surfaced and easy walking.  We encountered several locals walking their dogs and in one case wearing 3" spike heels (we would not choose to wear such footwear on an uneven path, but Andorrans are a hardy hiking lot).  Andorran towns are buried in the valleys, and the valleys are narrow, so its easy to understand why the population centres are so small (the population of the entire country is under 100,000).

We continued along the valleys and up (it's a steady uphill climb into the Pyrenees all the way to the French border).  Naturally, the amount of snow increased until we arrive in ski country.  We had been warned that the population of France goes skiing over the Christmas holiday, so we weren't surprised when traffic slowed to a crawl.  The northern part of the country is like a continuous string of Whistlers, so bottlenecks are caused by cars trying to find hotels, skiers in boots hobbling across the roads, etc.  The supposedly 30-minute trip from mid-way to the French border took 1.5 hours, plus another hour to get through Ax-les-Thermes (the delay in Ax was simply the mid-town roundabout, which was crawling with pedestrian skiers crossing the roads).

two views of Andorra, the same day: left is Andorra la Vella at the Spanish end, right is the French border

When we mentioned the traffic jams to the locals in Puyloubier, they offered an alternate explanation: French nationals were slipping over the border for cheap alcohol for New Year's Eve, since Andorra has no alcohol tax.  Regardless of the reason, the traffic meant it was a long night to get home, but we did find a restaurant in Avignonet-Lauragais that served traditional cassoulet, which is basically beans and weiners, with duck thrown in to make it truly French.

"Barça = football"

Basilica de la Sagrada Família

Barcelona (week 25)

Even in the last week of December, Barcelona is full of tourists.  We had planned for a morning outing to the Gaudí-designed basilica Sagrada Família, but the lineup was around the block by the time we got there just after 10 am.  So we just took in the exterior with a stroll around the church, which was very impressive in and of itself.  The cranes attest to the fact that even though construction started in 1882, the building is unfinished.  We then carried on to Camp Nou, the home field of FC Barcelona.  The club bills itself as the most successful in professional sports; even if Montréal Canadiens fans disagree, it's hard to argue when you walk through the trophy room and see their hardware.  The club is not just the soccer team - there is also professional basketball, handball, roller hockey (on old-style roller skates with field hockey sticks) and futsal (an indoor soccer variant).  They also run amateur teams in volleyball, ice hockey, wheelchair basketball, and various women's sports.

We took the stadium tour, which is quite comprehensive.  It starts in the Barça museum full of the aforementioned trophies and other memorabilia from shoes to videos of famous goals.  It continues into the stadium itself, visiting a locker room, press room (for press conferences), press booth (where the play-by-play announcers sit), etc.  You get to walk down the same tunnel as the players, past the very Catholic addition of a chapel on the way, and onto the sidelines (but not, naturally, onto the pitch itself).  It's also a good workout - at one point you have to hike all the way up from the pitch level to the press booth, which hangs from the roof.  Naturally you end up in the FCBotiga (botiga = boutique), a 3-level shop with probably the same area as a small Walmart.  For all its size, though, the selection is pretty limited, consisting of modern jerseys (three styles plus two goalie styles), soccer balls, jackets and other clothes, and various knickknacks like fridge magnets and water bottles.  It's not nearly as extensive as the gold standard of team stores - the Bruins shop in the TD Garden - because it has no historical items and no game-worn or signed memorabilia.

from left to right: the field-side bench, the chapel in the player's tunnel, the press booth above the stadium

Reefie revisited

fancy digs for a tourist bureau

Barcelona (week 25)

Barcelona's aquarium bills itself as the largest in Europe.  In terms of exhibit space, it doesn't seem bigger than Cité de la Mer, but then Cherbourg's aquarium has an entire ballistic missile nuclear submarine within its area.  On the other hand, l'Aquàrium de Barcelona has far more tanks and fish, so perhaps they have a point.  It's easy to see where the Ripley's Aquarium in Toronto got its inspiration - the layout, signage, and giant conveyor belt under the big tank were all pretty much the same between the two aquaria.  Andrew was glad to get reacquainted with the reef sharks (this time both black-tipped and white-tipped).

To get to the Aquarium, we came out of the Drassanes Metro stop and walked down past the tourist bureau, located in the base of the giant Mirador de Colom monument to Christopher Columbus, and over the Rambla de Mar bridge.  Catamarans for the 2-man-team around-the-world endurance race were moored at the harbour near the bridge.  The harbourfront was busy, even on a Sunday, as all the stores in the mall were open, and lots of people were going to the Aquarium and the movie theatre.  It's a vibrant and modern waterfront bordered by interesting buildings and not too marred by the industrial port facilities as you look seaward.

Leaving the Aquarium, we followed the roadway north-east until we came to the Parc de la Ciutaella, site of the Catalonian Parliament.  The park also hosts a population of wild parrots, the local zoo, and various other buildings.  We strolled along past orange trees and the big fountain (reminiscent of the Palais Longchamps in Marseille) and up the promenade to the Arc de Triomf that I mentioned in the previous post.  From there we caught the Metro back to our hotel.

Down the Via Domitia

Barcelona (week 25)

The reason the Romans settled Provence was to have a secure land route between Italy and Spain.  Thus, all along our drive from Puyloubier to Barcelona there were signs declaring that we were following the path of the Via Domitia Roman route.  We decided to come to Barcelona for our Christmas holiday.  To emphasize the old Roman connection, there is a large Arc de Triomf in the extended garden surrounding the Catalonian parliament building.  Like in Paris, this is not an actual Roman structure, but instead was built for the 1888 World's Fair.  Interestingly, the outside is brick-covered, as you can see in the picture.
  
The Catalonians are certainly in the Christmas spirit, with a skating rink covering most of the Plaça de Catalunya and festive lights adorning the main streets.  The ice was actually quite good in spite of the 10+ degrees temperature, since the rink was covered and perhaps also air-conditioned.  Craig, Andrew, and David went for a skate (no helmets required for those over 8!); they also had Wii U consoles set up, a hockey-shooting area reminiscent of the Hockey Hall of Fame, and video screens showing highlights of the Sochi Olympics (perhaps to support a fellow Olympic alumnus city).

We also took a stroll down La Rambla, checking out the market, which included a large fish market; stalls selling meats, candies, and fruit; and a "Dunkin' Coffee" (i.e. Dunkin' Donuts).

Christmas Day

Not exactly spontaneous Christmas picture

Puyloubier (week 25)

Joyeux Noël!

Christmas Day saw the boys hard at work on their respective Lego sets: David's that he bought at the JouéClub and Andrew's that he got from "Aunt" Jacki.  As was the tradition in Craig's household, the boys were allowed to choose one present to open Christmas Eve.  The great thing about Lego is that it will keep them busy for hours - allowing their parents to sleep in if they so choose.  We eventually all got ourselves moving and got our Christmas presents opened.  We had a very small tree, but a real one (and it was big enough to fit all our presents under).  Yolanda and Craig agreed not to get anything that wasn't consumable, so we wouldn't have to ship back even more stuff.

Miscellaneous: Turkey is expensive here, as is most meat (except pork), so we're having chicken instead; the small size of European ovens limits the size of bird that can be easily cooked anyways.   The English-language movie channel did not show any Christmas films.  The boulangeries in town were open this morning (closed tomorrow) because the thing to have for dessert is bûche de Noël - a Yule log - that you buy fresh that morning; everything else is closed but open tomorrow (they don't have Boxing Day).  The French equivalent of the Pot of Gold box of chocolates is the Lindt Champs-Élysées box, which we saw leaving the grocery store in pretty much every basket in the weeks before Christmas.

1993 Ferrari 456GT

 
P.S. If anyone wants to get Craig a last-minute gift, the used car dealer down the road in Rousset has this car for sale for a mere €38,500.

Christmas Eve

Les Pennes-Mirabeau and Trets (week 24)

We finally figured out where Marseille's box stores are: just north of the city, on the Aix-Marseille highway, there is a large complex of stores in Les Pennes-Mirabeau.  Probably the Aix people use it too when they aren't too snobby for such places.  We went there to visit JouéClub, the equivalent of Toys-R-Us, so David and Andrew could spend the money they've been saving (and receiving from relatives for Christmas gifts).  David picked up a large Lego Chima set (how are we going to get that home?) and Andrew splurged on ..... a Beanie Baby.  A single €6 Beanie Baby.  It is very cute, but there was no convincing him he could also buy more than that with his accumulated €100.  For dinner we discovered across from the JouéClub an honest-to-goodness Steak 'N Shake.  So to celebrate the Christmas spirit in the south of France, we grabbed burgers at the quintessential midwestern U.S. fast-food chain.

Christmas Eve found us at l'Église Paroissiale de Notre Dame de Nazareth in Trets.  There are 3 churches that share a priest - in Trets (the largest), Puyloubier, and Rousset.  Therefore, the 7pm Christmas Eve mass is at the largest church.  Even so, it was bursting at the seams.  We found a spot in the back where we had a thin line-of-site to the alter.  The service started with a Provençal carol (at least, the words looked like they were in that language), led by Trets's medieval club, who we've seen before at the Medieval Fair and other celebrations.  They also used traditional instruments (wooden flutes/recorders and drums) rather than the organ for all the music.  We were unfamiliar with most of the tunes, except for Les anges dans nos campagnes, which we know as "Angels We Have Heard on High" (the translated lyrics in English are similar to the original French).




The big show, however, was just prior to the service, with a torchlight procession through the town.  Since they take such things literally in France, actual flaming torches were used.  The parade also included three donkeys, at least four goats, and a couple sheep.  The medieval club led the procession (and the animals) in their period costumes and played music, again we assumed they were traditional carols as we didn't recognize the tunes.  The pilgrims then doused their torches in the fountain beside the church before going inside.

"Sur le Pont d'Avignon, l'on y danse tous en rond"

Avignon (week 24)

David on the Pont Saint-Bénézet

The tourist office bills the Pont d'Avignon as the most famous bridge in the world.  I'm not sure about that, but just as everyone learns that "London Bridge is falling down" in the English-speaking world, tout le monde in the French world learns that "On Avignon Bridge, we all dance around in a ring".  Curiously, both London Bridge and Pont d'Avignon are anachronisms: the former London Bridge is in Arizona, and there is actually no such bridge as "Pont d'Avignon", its actual name is Pont Saint-Bénézet.  The legend goes that a shepherd named Bénézet received a vision from God instructing him to build a bridge across the Rhône at Avignon, hence the name.  Only 4/22 of the bridge remains, the rest having been destroyed and washed away by the periodic floods that the Rhône is known for.

Windy day atop the Palais des Papes

There is a chapel built into the bridge, dedicated to Saint Bénézet, now the patron saint of bargemen.  Unfortunately, the day was windy, so our dancing on the bridge was short.  The bridge (and chapel) is part of medieval Avignon's world heritage site.  Another part of the site is the Palais des Papes.  In 1309, Clement V moved the papacy to Avignon, then owned by the Western Catholic church (it remained part of the Papal States until the French Revolution).  Upon the palace's completion, it was apparently the largest building in the western world.  Avignon was the official seat of the papacy until 1377, and after that hosted a few anti-popes (challengers to the pope in Rome).

Visiting the palace is interesting, and is much like Mont Saint-Michel, another combination fortress-holy building.  Naturally the rooms are now unfurnished, so you have to imagine the grandeur of its heyday.  There are a few rooms where the walls, floors, and ceilings are fully restored - multi-coloured and decorated floor tiles, mosaics or patterns on the ceilings, and elaborate patterned paintings on the walls.  These 3 or 4 rooms are beautiful, but unfortunately picture-taking is strictly forbidden in them (and they have guides posted in these rooms to enforce the rule).

Incidentally, medieval Avignon is considered the top Provençal site by one of our guidebooks.

Andrew the Artiste

Puyloubier (week 23)

Andrew has taken up the mantle of creativity in the family.  One of his favourite activities is creating new lands, both in Minecraft and on paper.  This is a picture of one of his maps, about 3/4 done.  He makes up city and country names, and sometimes even has competitions between their soccer teams.  This particular land is his favourite world, Diyoza.

His most recent creation is this frozen dessert, which he has named "Micullanium".  It's basically a frozen pudding-pop with Oreos in the middle.  However, he came up with the concept and most of the recipe by himself.  As you can see, the result was a little messy, but very tasty!

Two Towers

Meyreuil (and Paris) and Marseille (week 23)

Pictured here are the two tallest man-made structures in France.  On the left is the taller one, possibly recognizable to you (hint: it is is Paris).  On the right is the second-tallest structure: the chimney of the the Provence Power Plant in Meyreuil.  It is visible from anywhere along the Mont Ste. Victoire south face (including from our terrace).  I have scaled the picture to give you a feel for their relative heights, i.e. the Tour Eiffel is only a few feet taller!  Just a little bit of trivia for your reading pleasure.

The picture of the power plant is from the car travelling along the D6 highway, which we take to get to Marseille and the TGV station.  This week we had to go into Marseille to the OFII (Office of Immigration) to have our physicals for our long-term visa validation.  A Canadian passport is sufficient for multi-entry to a maximum of 90 days in the Shengen border-control area.  However, since we're staying longer than that, if we want to re-enter the Shengen zone (say, if we had to go to Canada, the U.K., or Andorra) after leaving it, we needed our visa validated.  As far as we can tell, it's main purpose is to keep tuberculosis out of the country - we had to have a medical that was a chest X-ray, a doctor listening to our breathing for 2 minutes, and a few desultory questions about whether we had daily medications.  They didn't seem to care if we had AIDS, SARS, or ebola.

A skating rink in the palms

Toulon (week 23)

The city of Toulon is undergoing an urban renewal, which appears much further advanced than Marseille's.  In the areas around the harbour, maybe 1/3 of the facades on the old row houses have been recently redone and another 1/3 are covered in scaffolding to allow their work to be done.  The activity, cleanliness, and wider and straighter streets combine to make Toulon quite pleasant for a tourist.  When we surfaced from the underground carpark, we emerged into the middle of their Marché de Noël.  Spread over several squares around the naval base, it included a weird animatronic elves' village, a forest of fake snow-coated Christmas trees, "log cabin" stalls selling jewelry and food, and a real skating rink.  The ice wasn't great since it was 16C when we were there, but there were many intrepid skaters trying it out (based on the skill level of some, they must have been expats from colder climes).  The cathedral was also in on the act, filling one of its bays with an elaborate nativity scene.  The Virgin who is normally the central figure was forced to peep over the backdrop sheet to look at the lights on the Christmas tree.


We went to the Musée national de la Marine, a naval museum next to the naval base.  It is quite small, and is mostly models, paintings, and videos - there are very few actual relics and no museum ships.  Compared to, say, the Maritime Museum in Halifax, or even the Fisheries Museum in Lunenburg, the exhibits are sparse.  There are some interesting actual ship figureheads, and two of the models are enormous - including the masts they would measure 15' high.  I also thought it was strangely emotionless, perhaps because the French have no particular defining naval moment - no Trafalgar or Spanish Armada.  In fact, the longest video dealt with the scuttling of the Vichy fleet in 1942, hardly a high-water mark for a navy!

Third sister

Le Thoronet (week 22)

The third Cistercian abbey in Provence is Le Thoronet.  It is almost identical to Silvacane in layout, right down to the size and shape of the church, the chapter house, and the cloister.  However, it seems like the restoration work is more advanced (or perhaps it hadn't deteriorated as much) in the church and cloister areas.  More outbuildings were open as well, and included a few relics such as one of the old olive oil/wine presses.  They are also doing a lot of work outside, expanding the parking lot and adding what looks like an aire (rest stop).  The forest was also alive with the sound of chainsaws as workmen were thinning out the surrounding wood.

In addition to the press, highlights include the gatehouse with a turret and bridge, a damaged but still colourful mural on the apse ceiling, the covered well in the cloister, and the scrollwork on the pillars in the chapter house, which appears to be more ornate than in the other Cistercian abbeys we've seen (or perhaps it is just in better condition).

Vichy's contribution to the Shoah

Les Milles (Week 21)

The village of Les Milles is best known today as being the site of Aix's box stores (it reminds me of Crowfoot Crossing in Calgary).  On the other side of town is a factory complex that, for about 70 of its 75 years, made clay tiles (ubiquitous in Provençal architecture).  For the other four years, in the midst of WWII, it was the site of an internment camp for Jews, Gypsies, and others considered undesirable to the Nazi (and therefore Vichy) regime.  The prisoners were arrested throughout Provence and collected here prior to their deportation to Drancy and thence to Auschwitz, Ravensbrück, et al.

the 1st-floor kiln room, with art on the pillars

The site was eventually turned into the Site-Mémorial du Camps des Milles.  Visitors can tour the space; it now includes interpretive signage although the camp itself hasn't been recreated per se.  In a way, the open, bare-walled spaces are more effective at communicating the dehumanization of the concentration camp system.  Most evocative are the graffiti and decorative paintings scattered throughout the living areas - many of the Jewish artistic and intellectual elite of Germany had fled the Nazis and ended up in Provence, so they were caught in the French collapse of 1940 along with the French Jews.  Thus, a large number of artists were interned here, and they expressed themselves in the Camp by writing verses on the walls or creating friezes on the concrete beams.  Unfortunately, because the living quarters were in the tile kilns, they were mostly lost when the kilns went back into use after the war.

This building housed up to 3000 internees. The suicide window is the open window on the second floor at the centre of the picture.  The infirm were housed on the 1st floor, able-bodied men on the 2nd floor, women and children on the 3rd.

there is a Star of David on the door

All the signage is in English and French.  There are a number of surprising tidbits, including the 2nd-floor "suicide window" from where inmates who wanted to try to kill themselves would jump.  We also saw the back-side skylight where the teenagers would climb up to the roof to hide when they were gathering people to put on the trains, the pathetically inadequate latrines, and an Auschwitz "cattle-car" sitting on the actual railway siding where they would load deportees.

mural in the guards' canteen

The best preserved prisoner art is in the former guards' canteen.  The artists managed to inject some ironic humour into the art, including the message, Si vos assiettes ne sont pas très garnies, puissent nos dessins vous calmer l'appétit ("If your plates aren't full enough, let our drawings curb your appetite").  One of the strangest things about the site is the level of security - the entrance checkpoint is more secure than an airport, with metal detectors and an "airlock" system that visitors have to be buzzed into and out of.

Marseille - MuCEM

view from the ramparts of Fort Saint-Jean

Marseille (week 21)

We were back in Marseille to see the "jewel of the new waterfront": the Musée des civilisations de l'Europe et de la Méditerranée, abbreviated "MuCEM".  It is in a modern (a few years old) building on the waterfront, surrounded by what Yolanda called the largest pétanque field in Provence.  The city clearly leveled a swath of the old waterfront and now the area only holds the museum and an underground parking garage, the latter covered over by the aforementioned gravel park (it's actually more aesthetically pleasing than it sounds, with nice views of the Med, benches, some trees, etc.).  The MuCEM proper (called the J4 building - whatever that means) is attached by a pedestrian overpass (over a water channel) to Fort Saint-Jean (built by Louis XIV in 1660, although you can still see parts of the old 12th century Hospitaller fort that were incorporated into the structure).  Although the fort is at the entrance to the harbour, it's guns were pointed inland, for guarding the King's interests from the local population rather than from attack by sea-borne invaders (too bad the French didn't apply this lesson to the Fortress of Louisbourg).  Several buildings within the walls of the Fort also contain exhibits, and you can climb the Tour du Roi René for a panoramic view of the MuCEM, fort, city, and marina.  The kids enjoyed running around the ramparts and climbing the various viewpoints.  They didn't so much enjoy the creepy circus diorama (about 30' of painted cardboard cutouts) or the even creepier marionette exhibit, both located in former Fort buildings (the old chapel and officer's quarters, respectively).

this is made entirely of bread!

As for the museum itself, it is airy and uncluttered ... but somewhat underwhelming, at least compared to, say, the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Ottawa (which apparently has a new name, but it's still a civilization museum).  The permanent exhibits feature agricultural artifacts from across the Mediterranean, but they are mostly small items and models.  Another permanent exhibit, on the Holy Land, is largely told through models and videos, rather than artifacts or recreated rooms and buildings.  There is also a very large area for temporary exhibits, currently featuring an interesting collection from photojournalist Raymond Depardon.  There was also an exhibit on food-related art that we didn't visit.