Actually, I should say that Grimaud was our second choice for an outing destination. We had originally gone to a place called Bormes les Mimosas, but when we got there we found it swarming with police and secret service agents, and very few real people. It turns out that the French president, Nicholas Sarkozy, had also chosen that day to visit! It was obvious in which restaurant he was going to have his lunch, since it was well and truly cordoned-off. The casual tourists were very evidently not welcome. So, driving on, we came to Grimaud....
The tour started in the car-park just below the castle. We didn't have the energy to go up to the castle - and anyway, it was nearly lunch-time!
Past the chucrh - squat and solid
Into the village itself - a maze of steep, narrow roads and alleys
Many of the buildings were festooned with climbing / hanging plants, amongst which Bougainvllea was prominent.
Past the iron-work bell-tower
Lunch in a little cafe / bistro. Lara enjoyed the pasta...
She also enjoyed watching the pigeons having a bath in the water-trough
And a pretty, (but shy) cat, lurking in the bushes.
After lunch, back to the car by a different route - casting some envious glances at the terrace of the rather more posh "Cafe de France" where we could probably have had a pretty fancy meal if it had been a suitable oocasion...
Every now and then you could catch a glimpse of the distant countryside down below, through a gap between the houses.
Back past the church again, completing the round tour.
Wherever you look in Grimaud, there are neat, colourful, elegant houses and gardens. I was struck by how "house-proud" the residents must be. Everything looked tidy and well-maintained, and not tatty and down-at-heel like some tourist destinations you go to. Well worth a visit if you happen to be in that part of the world...
Tough life, isn't it, being on holiday.
ReplyDeleteLucy
What a beautiful place thank you for sharing those photos.
ReplyDeleteRegards
Rhonda
Mark, thanks for taking us on a little tour of Grimaud, France! I loved how quaint and interesting it looked and it makes me want to travel! Lara was enjoying her pasta, but you didn't mention what delicacy you had!
ReplyDeleteI loved your tour of Grimaud! As an former Brit, I miss Europe and its history a lot and anything like this is very enjoyable to us here in the States. I glimpsed the Med through the alley? Wonderful pictures - thank you for sharing your vacation with us Mark.
ReplyDeleteWonderful post Mark! Such fun to take a tour of Grimaud through your lens. In one of the earlier pics you caught the great blue/tan color combinations of exterior wall color and trim/shutters. So pretty! I love the tidiness as well :) Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteOh Mark, I love love love these photos... you are so lucky to be able to pop over to so many different countries whenever the fancy takes you... And France - I love France. I don't think I have been to Grimaud, and what a pity because it is just beautiful.
ReplyDeleteLucky man :)
What a beautiful place, so pretty. I love those little narrow alleys and the shutters on the windows. Plan B worked out well.
ReplyDeleteI seem to remember visiting here once - it all looks very familiar - there are lots of tiny villages like that around Provence aren't there? Did you visit the lavender fields? - not sure whether it would have been flowering but as our lavender is nearly on flower I am assuming the plants there would be well ahead.
ReplyDeleteSue; No, we didn't see any lavender growing near Grimaud. In the area where we stayed most of the available cultivable land was used for grapes. And yes, of course we sampled plenty of the local wine!
ReplyDeleteI am always amazed to see plants growing so well when it is hardly no soil seen between these narrow alley. Wish we can travel to France someday. But at the moment I am rather home-sick:).
ReplyDeleteStunning pictures. It is so different than what we have in the US Midwest. I prefer where you were! Lara is precious!
ReplyDeleteHi, came across your blog by chance as I was googling Grimaud. We rent the house on the right in the third picture down every year. I see you ate in the Boubou bar, famous for its crepes and slow service (actually, I can't even remember if the crepes are good, as we have usually consumed so much wine while waiting for them...).
ReplyDeleteAnyway, great photos and loved your blog!
Jonathan, London UK