Vienna Prater Amusement Park

We flew from Bordeaux to Paris and then on to Vienna. While my wife got started with her meeting, I wandered across the Donau (Danube) to the Vienna Prater Amusement Park, supposedly the oldest amusement park in the world, dating from 1766. It was severely damaged at the end of WW2, but has been beautifully restored, retaining much of the historic feel, and is an amazingly colorful place to wander through. Here are just two of the many photos I took - more later.

Spectators in the Museum of Aquitaine

I like to take pictures of people in museums, contemplating the exhibits (or, occasionally, their companions). Here are two from the Museum of Aquitaine in Bordeaux, which has a rich collection of prehistoric art and artifacts.

In front of a replica of a cave painting from Lascaux

In a room of artifacts from paleolithic and neolithic times

Spookiness in the Medoc Wine Country

We spent a day driving around the Medoc wine area in western France, near the Gironde Estuary.

From an industrial pier in Paulliac, we looked out across the muddy estuary to what appeared to be a strange white city on the opposite bank. Consulting a map and Wikipedia when we returned to our B&B, we were surprised to find that the "strange white city" is actually the Blayaise nuclear power station, located in a marsh in the middle of the broad estuary.

The Chateau Cos D'Estournel in Sainte Estéphe, celebrated for its ornate architectural decoration. The spookiness (in my view) lies in the severely trimmed black tree, which seems fit to house a murder of crows.

French Atlantic Coast at Arcachon

As summarized by Google, "Arcachon is an seaside town on the ocean. Located in the south-west of France, it is famous for the harvest of oysters. Its 4 neighborhoods take their name from the seasons of the year. The Summer City is home to shopping streets, the main sandy beach of the city and a casino, housed in the castle Deganne, a building of the nineteenth century. The Winter Town is home to extravagant 19th century villas. South of the city is the Pilat Dune, a huge natural sand dune." We had a nice outing there on a sunny late October day.

The bright white pier was built in 1903 and rebuilt a century later. 

The Pilat Dune (Dune du Pyla), at about 150 meters, is the highest in Europe. This photo, which - like most - is quite inadequate in conveying its height and massiveness, shows the dune through a screen of pine trees about 100 meters from its base. 

Weathered Walls in St. Emilion

Some of the great charms of St. Emilion, aside from its fine wines, are its weathered limestone walls - the same limestone that comprises its chateaus and wine cellars. Centuries of use, repair, and reuse add layers of texture and meaning to various contexts.

Old Port of La Rochelle

La Rochelle is an ancient maritime city, on the west coast of France, that occupies an important role in French history. Its Old Port was once a key military and commercial port, but today is mainly noted for its recreational boating and numerous seafood restaurants. Nearly 100 years ago the Pointillist painter Paul Signac painted a colorful aquatint of the port that featured an ancient tower and wall, a red lighthouse, a large sailboat in the foreground, colorful reflections in the water, and a cloudy sky  on an otherwise sunny day. My wife and I decided to see whether we could photograph a contemporary scene that approximated the painting.

This was the best we could do: tower, wall, lighthouse, and sunny day OK, but lacking the sailboat, the clouds, and the reflections.

Here's another view of the harbor, from a different viewpoint, with schoolgirls eating lunch.

Contrasting Aspects of the St. Emilion Wine Business

St. Emilion, a small French town surrounded by endless acres of vineyards, is one of the world's centers for the production and marketing of fine wine. We visited a pair of chateaus, next to each other and owned by the same family, one of which uses traditional techniques, and the other the most modern, to produce its wines.

Here is a scene from the traditional winery: grape skins, seeds, and stems in a tub in the foreground, ready to be used as compost; a worker hosing down the floor in the background.

And here is a price list from a high-end retail wind merchant in town, with prices of thousands of euros for single bottles of historic vintages of Petrus and Mouton Rothschild. 

Vineyard Geometries at Sunset

We're spending a few days to the west of Bordeaux, in the wine region near Saint Emilion. Our B&B, Bleu Raisin, is in the farmiing community of Les Salles de Castillon. As sunset approached, the light, colors, and angles made for some striking images. Here are a couple of variations on the scene.

Dramatic Bordeaux Interiors

Bordeaux is an attractive, visually interesting city both inside and out. Two inside examples:

Aubusson tapestry of a siren behind the bar at the Ecole du Vin

Interior perspective of a hallway in the Museum of Contemporary Art Bordeaux (CAPC)

Two Bordeaux Museums

Bordeaux has many fine museums, but most of them are closed on Monday. Fortunately, two of the most interesting were open.

La Cité du Vin: An eight story, very modern, museum about wine, from all over the world and throughout history. This photo is of a panoramic image of a hillside vineyard, backed by the interior ribs of the building, which perhaps are meant to symbolize barrel staves.

Musée des Beaux Arts: The courtyard between the ancient and modern (nothing much beyond 1900, however) buildings was filled with a series of large portraits (landscapes on the other sides) with doorway-size holes cut in each for a walkway. Very well done, to striking effect.

Political March in Bordeaux

We drove from Cahors to Toulouse, and then took a train to Bordeaux where we will spend the next few days. After checking into our hotel, we walked across the bridge over the Garonne River, where we saw and heard a march, apparently about a Turkish (Kurdish?) political prisoner.

Winemaking Tour

On our last day in the Lot Valley near Cahors, we were treated to a tour of the winemaking facility in the Chateau Mercues where we were staying.

Our guide was the knowledgable, articulate, and attractive Miriam.

Wilderness Travel tour leaders Lolo and Annie listened to the bubbling of fermenting grapes.

Cahors Bridge and Market

October 13 was the last full day of our Lot River Valley tour in southwestern France. (On the 14th we drove to Toulouse and on further destinations.) We spent the day in the ancient (about two millenia) and colorful city of Cahors.

Ancient fortified bridge into the city, reflected in the utterly smooth water of the Lot River.

Tomato and grape vendor in the square in front of the cathedral.

Picnic in a Lot Valley Chateau

We had a good drive and walk from our Chateau Mercues outside of Cahors to the Château de Cénevières in Calvignac, both in the Lot River valley. On the way out of Cahors we stopped for some bread and other picnic food, to be eaten at the Château de Cénevières before a tour by the lord of the chateau.

Here are pictures of some of the good breads in the patisserie where we stocked up, and of our great tour leaders Lolo (left) and Annie standing behind the sumptuous picnic feast that Annie had prepared while we were hiking with Lolo in the lead.

Along the Lot River Valley

A lovely day for hiking along the Lot River valley in southwest France, from one small town to another, starting with the great cave paintings at Pech-Merle (a few photos to be posted later).

Glowing greens along the Lot River

Corner of a building as we were walking out of St. Cirq Lapopie. I was struck by the contrast in lighting, which looked almost white and black in the camera viewfinder.

Underground and Above-ground Rivers

The underground cave system and river, Gouffre de Padirac, is a unique feature of southwestern France. The colors from the lights, playing on the rocks and water, make beautiful paintings.

After gondoliering along the (approx 500 m) river and back, and going back up the 500+ steps to the surface (mostly by elevator), we had a good lunch and then a good hike (about 6 miles) to the pilgrimage town of Rocamadour along the Lot River.  The colors along the route were, in places, strikingly similar to those in the cave.

 Gouffre de Padirac

Figeac and Cele River Valley

In the morning, a tour of the medieval city of Figeac, focusing on its architecture.

An example is the impressive church, showing its building over centuries with rounded Romanesque arches below and pointed Gothic arches above.

After a tasty and bountiful lunch, a hike along the Célé River valley, showing the limestone cliffs, old chateaus, and brilliant fall colors.

Estaing

A longish hike this morning along beautiful (but steep) forested paths and farmland to the medieval village of Estaing, listed as one of the most beautiful villages in France - a designation that imposes a lot of annoying restrictions on building and remodeling. It is also the home of the family of former French president Valery Giscard d'Estaing.

View of some of the major buildings along the Lot River.

Rooftops of Estaing, recalling some of the paintings of Cezanne.

Sainte-Foy de Conques Ceremony, Part 2

The ceremony of moving the reliquary of Sainte-Foy de Conques from the Treasury to the church, delayed by rain yesterday evening, was completed today - though the transfer took place indoors because it was still raining intermittently.

I took many photos of the ceremony inside the church, but this one perhaps best captures the whole scene: the reliquary (amazing), the bishop, the cross, other church dignitaries. There was also some moving choral singing. A very impressive ceremony, even for this disbeliever.

Outside after the ceremony, the slate roofs of the back of the church glistened from the rain.

Sainte-Foy de Conques Ceremony

The town of Conques, where we're staying for three nights, has a famous church - the Abbey Church of Sainte-Foy de Conques - which is on the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostella, because it holds the reliquary of Sainte Foy. On the evening of October 6 the reliquary was supposed to be paraded through the town by candlelight, but rain delayed the parade. However, there was a moving candlelight ceremony inside the church, of which I caught a couple of photos.

Beauties of Aveyron

From the Camargue we made a long drive to the southwest of France, to Aveyron in the region of Occitainie. In contrast to tourist-oriented Provence, Aveyron is largely rural and undeveloped, though it has been an important part of France for nearly two millenia.

A hike through the countryside near Conques took us through vineyands growing the distinctive Marsillac grape.

The countryside was a spectacular panorama of  shapes and shades of green, punctuated with the beginnings of fall colors.

Camargue

Leaving Arles and vicinity, we drove southwest to the Camargue - a wetland region formed by the delta of the Rhone River.

Detail of an exhibit in the excellent Museum of the Camargue, showing the boots needed for work in the wetlands, and the salt that has been a major product of the area.

Wildlife observation center at the Museum, backed by the tall pampas grass that grows vigorously in the area,

Art in Avignon

We took an afternoon trip from Arles to Avignon, where we visited two of the main museums: the Calvet Museum of Avignon, and the Palace of the Popes of Avignon.

The Calvet Museum is the main general art museum of Avignon. It has a broad and interesting collection of European (mainly French and Italian) paintings and sculpture. I was pleased to be able to capture this panoramic view of one of the modern galleries, with the guard engrossed in her phone.

The Palace of the Popes of Avignon is a major historical monument: the largest Gothic construction of the Middle Ages, according to Wikipedia, and the place (rather than Rome) where six popes ruled Christendom from 1335 to 1394. It's rather empty now, but modern technology is used to help visualize what the place looked like when it was being used. Photographs of rooms with paintings are prohibited, but photos of sculptures are allowed - hence this one.

Provence Towns

Today (October 3, 2018) we spent the morning in Arles, and then drove to three small, picturesque nearby towns: Les Baux-des-Provence, Saint-Remy-de-Provence, and Tarrascon. Tarrascon is actually not so picturesque, with a huge but rather drab castle as its main attraction. However, the other two have some striking features.

An amazing attraction of Les Baux-des-Provence is the Carrieres des Lumieres (Quarry of Light), an abandoned bauxite mine that features light shows projected on its huge walls. The show when we went was "Picasso and the Spanish Masters". This photo shows a detail from Picasso's "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon". The scale can be seen from the tiny dark human figures in the purplish area in the lower left of the photo.

Detail of a door in Saint-Remy-de-Provence.

Reading in Arles

We flew from Paris to Marseilles, rented a car, and drove to Arles where we'll be for three days. Arles is notable for being the site of many of Van Gogh's most famous works (and where he cut off his left earlobe), but it also has impressive Roman architecture and picturesque narrow streets. I'll be posting many photos of these as time goes on, but today I decided to post two very different pictures of people reading.

Man reading philosophical treatise in the cafe where we had lunch.

Woman on the street absorbed in her cell phone