France and hopefully some sun!Jul 11, 2007
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Renaud and Harriett exploring 'Le Facteur's (the postie sculpture.) fascinating
Renaud and his brother Philippe, with Philippe's son Nicola
| We stayed the final Swiss night in Sophie (Renaud's niece) and Xavier's home, as Philippe and Inona have their apartment swathed in plasterers' cloth, fixing leak stains that they have been waiting to be done for over a year (is this the same Switzerland where the buses and trains leave exactly on time??) We got up at the crack of dawn (and 7 degrees) to leave for France with Philippe and Inona. We drove across the border - no such thing as borders checks now really, you just slow down and they stop you I guess if they don't like the look of your profile. We stopped to visit 'le Palais Idéal' - another example of 'Art Brut' that we had been told of in Hauterives that is now a historic monument. A simple rural postman Joseph-Ferdinand Cheval found an unusually shaped stone on his postie rounds (which he cleverly called his 'stumbling block', and is still to be seen in the middle of his massive sculpture) and this in part inspired him to begin an architectural work that took 33 years to build, from concrete, shells, stones, and anything that took his fancy. He built it in the back yard - 26m long, 14m high and ranging from 8-10m in height. An incredible work. His wife must have been a saint. You can walk in and out of it, up stairs, in tiny alcoves, and around the outside, and each time you will find something that you didn't see a moment ago. Definitely worth visiting. http://www.facteurcheval.com The temperatures rose as we got further south towards Camarque, the skies cleared and the vegetation became lower and sparser. We felt the heavy history of the cobblestone roads in the villages we passed and caught fantastic glimpses of castles and towers and cliffs and rivers. Drove in to Aigues Mortes mid-afternoon to check in to our hotel - just on the outskirts of the village, thank goodness, as it is very busy at the sea - lots of meandering tourists, shopping, fish restaurants and general mayhem. It is very windy and even cold in the wind, but hugely warmer than what we have been having. The hotel is a series of lovely tree-lined paths with bungalows scattered throughout - to me feeling very Spanish, with huge beams holding the ceilings and white-washed walls. We might even get to use the swimming pool here. Last night after a meal with the gang (Sophie, Xavier, and their kids Charlėne, Leá. and Noé - to be easier we call them Harriett's cousins, but in spite of Leá being the same age as Harriett, in fact they are a generation apart, being Renaud's brother's grandchildren) Today is a day of respite - Philippe and Inona have taken the car to go shopping, so we have enforced rest. Very nice to have no obligations and no agenda, although we have just discovered that they don't serve lunch here, and the nearest place to get food is miles away, so Harriett is going to have to make do with the fruit and biscuits that is remaining from our car-trip until the others get back! I don't think she minds |
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