A favourite location

One of my favourite spots around Armidale is Dangars Falls and the downstream gorge. Well, today we had Emily and Ella visiting - the latter's first time in Armidale - and the incandescent weather and warm early Spring temperatures lured us out to the gorge country east of town. So here we are at the edge of the gorge preparing to admire the stunning views.

One of the local streams, Salisbury Water, ponds up near the head of the gorge. The placid waters below reflect the local woodland dotted with Acacia bushes in full yellow bloom. This area is part of the Oxley-Wild Rivers National Park and that in turn is part of the World Heritage Listed Gondwana Rainforests of Australia region which stretches nearly 400 km north-south along the mountains of northern NSW.  

A little way downstream, past where we're standing here, the waters accelerate through the increasingly steep valley to the top of the waterfall. The third picture in the series looks down on that valley from one of the local network of footpaths.

And here we are gazing at the top of the waterfall as the stream plunges 130m (400 feet) in more or less a single drop to ponds below. Ella was impressed I think with this view!

The final picture shows Dot and Ella, with a nice smile on her face, looking at the beautiful scenery of the gorge country. The picture looks East and the gorges like this one containing Salisbury Water run tens of km towards the distant coast. One can walk days through this country and not see a single person! And it is biologically highly diverse with lots of cute little animals like rock wallabies.

 AS

Nancy

Nancy (pr. Nonsea) is, or perhaps I should say, was the seat of the Dukes of Burgundy, one of the most powerful families in pre-revolutionary France. Their impressive, though not that old, pile is shown here:

The town itself reminded me somewhat of Berne in Switzerland, which I profiled earlier this year, due to the extensive number of fluttering flags aloft in the various thoroughfares. However, the streets were much narrower and graced by often less substantial buildings. That said, the city's narrow streets conveyed a sense of elegant intimacy despite the inclement weather.

Note here the tight little courtyard - I thought I might see the Montagues and Capulets feuding on the circular staircase

And I loved this historic round-about for children.

AS

A Walk through Lyon

Our 3-day trip from Montpellier to Koln spent its first night in the great city of Lyon at the confluence of two major river systems - the Rhone (which has a source next to Phil's chalet at Saas Grund); and the Saone (which rises in northern France). Indeed, our accommodation was close to the junction of those two rivers in a sliver land housing the CBD.

Here are some images of the city taken the morning after our latish arrival on 24 August - see I'm behind a week on these posts, with comments on Nancy, Metz, the Moselle, Trier (Germany) and Koln still to come! Amble around the city with me, starting with a farmers' market on the banks of the Saone! The peaches I bought there were delicious.

And here is the Saone itself up-stream of the confluence with the Rhone, but still a large body of water. We went up to the church on the hill and, although a considerable edifice, it was undergoing full-scale restoration which made interior photography difficult. The structure on the west bank looked like a replica of the Eiffel Tower, but was much more mundane.

The central city is a maze of little alley-ways and squares like these examples - and difficult to navigate with cars.

To get to the hill-top there is a choice of funiculars like this one, mercifully saving tired feet after a long walk. Alas, the journey was mostly in tunnels offering few views of the city and surrounds. The final image shows what a great vista could be had from the top!

AS

Roman Remains

This time I'll introduce you two nearby masterpieces of Roman architecture and engineering. I am still stunned by how far advanced the Romans were perhaps 1600 years ago. Both structures are world class. They are the Pont du Gard (the aqueduct across the Gard river near Nimes) and the theatre at Orange near Avignon in the Rhone Valley. Again, go to Google to find out more about these MASSIVE structures! Here is the Pont du Gard. Do you recall seeing images of it in history books? By the way, I'm not the massive structure I was referring to!

Can you think of any modern aqueduct that rivals this for size?

And now to Orange. The theatre below, which is still in use today, can seat 10,000 people!!!! It is the most perfectly intact such theatre in the world! Enjoy it as we did.

Fabulous! You'll have to wait a while for postings on Lyon (where Emily once stayed for a few weeks), Nancy (home of the Dukes of Burgundy), Metz (after which a local Gorge in my home region of New England was named), the Roman city of Trier (now in Germany of course), the Moselle valley, and Cologne. I've made a record number of postings for one day already.

AS

Beautiful Village

One free afternoon from our paper sessions, Lucette took us to what must be one of the most delightful villages in France: Saint-Guillem-le-Desert, which is on the edges of the Massif Central. The village is one of the most easterly points on the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostella in NW Spain. At is core is a medieval monastery founded by a local nobleman (Guillem in the language of Oc, = Guillaume, = William) after his return from the Crusades. Come for a walk with with me through the narrow streets:

To find out more about the place, key its name into a Google search.

AS

Warm Waters

Lucette Laurens, our host in Montpellier, arranged some spectacular gastronomic experiences at the end of each day, and two were on the shores of the Mediterranean. Indeed, one was right on the beach. After several of us ... well, three Australians, a Japanese, a Korean and an Israeli ... had a long swim in beautifully warm, but suitably choppy, water, we towelled down and s headed for a feast. The swimmers included me, and I've now swum in the Mediterranean (or Adriatic) three times in 4 years!

The pictures of this event mercifully exclude me! But here is my friend Kim Doo-Chul who hosted me in Okayama for 8 days last year, plus a general view of the beach.

On the other occasion we went to Palavas-les-Flots between Montpellier and Sete. This meal was taken in a revolving restaurant called le Phare (note I did not lose my glaces this time!) after a stroll around the beach front. First I'll give you a general impression of the harbour area. To start with, we saw some familiar faces. Can you identify them?

Here are the harbour entrance with the marina beyond on the right and the beach volley-ball court, followed by le Phare looming like a flying saucer out of the dunes.

From the top of that you can see the Mediterranean coast and the setting sun as we downed bottles of expensive wine! Nice isn't it.

AS