A few images from the south of France

[trusty elf]

Last edited Mon Apr 24, 2017, 08:03 AM - Edit history (1)

My wife and I just got back from the south of France. I had been down there for a while doing some recording in an 11th century chapel outside of Nîmes, and she joined me for a vacation afterwards. My camera is on the blink, so I borrowed her little Canon point and shoot.

The 11th century chapel in a vineyard

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While doing the recording, I stayed with a friend/colleague who lives in Nîmes, just a few steps away from the Maison Carrée, a beautiful Roman temple built in the 1rst century BC.

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After Nîmes we rented a farmhouse on the edge of a little village in the country with a glorious unobstructed view of the Cévennes mountains. One evening, I serenaded the sunset.

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During our stay in that farmhouse, we made a trip to see the Pont du Gard, the amazing Roman aquaduct.

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Sorry, I'm incorrigible, I know....

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Finally, we went to Cassis for a few days and stayed just around the corner from the port.

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If you go to Cassis, I highly recommend driving up along the Route des Crêtes. It's breathtakingly beautiful.

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on edit: Notice the scale of the boat in the shot below. These cliffs are very high, positively vertiginous!

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Well, that's about it. Hope you enjoyed the pics.

[TexasProgresive]

1. Thanks

Is pic #2: "Where's the Doctor!!??"
Doctor Who?

[trusty elf]

4. You're welcome!

Yeah, eggzackly

[PoliticAverse]

2. Put down the mouse, step away from the Photoshop...

Nice pictures.

[trusty elf]

3. I know, it's worse than crack. (I think)

thanks!

[alanbudda]

5. Beautiful

Thank you for sharing. I envy you.

[democrank]

6. Stunningly beautiful

Thank you

[krakfiend]

7. beautiful pics

you have a great sense of humor

[northoftheborder]

8. Awesome!!!

I especially loved the ancient chapel and it's setting.

And the extra effects

[trusty elf]

21. That chapel is out in the middle of the countryside,

surrounded by fields and vineyards. Very peaceful spot!

Here's an aerial shot:

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[mountain grammy]

9. Very much.. thank you!

[trusty elf]

22. Welcome you are!

[Highway61]

10. Just Beautiful

Thank you.

[trusty elf]

33. Thanks for your comment.

glad you enjoyed them!

[TuxedoKat]

11. Lovely photos

You make me want to go back to France!!! Bookmarking for future reference! Thanks!

[Freedomofspeech]

12. Beautiful...

I hope to return to France someday....thanks for sharing your amazing pictures.

[trusty elf]

32. Thanks!

The light is very pretty there.

[Thekaspervote]

13. Thank you for sharing!

A refreshing break from all the terrible politics

[trusty elf]

35. My pleasure!

Yes, we all need a break from the dismal politics.

[malthaussen]

14. Now, if you serenaded the sunset with a lute...

... it would be perfect.

-- Mal

[trusty elf]

19. Funny you should say that....

I had two renaissance lutes with me as well!

That gee-tar is a nice old French one from 1829 that I'm very fond of.

[alfredo]

27. My grandfather played the lute and mandolin

I always heard that the lute is a bastardization of le Oud

[trusty elf]

34. That's interesting. What sort of lute did he play?

Do you have any pictures?

Regarding the etymology, I copied this from wikipedia:

The words "lute" and "oud" possibly derive from Arabic al-ʿud (العود - literally means "the wood&quot .[3] Recent research by Eckhard Neubauer suggests ʿud may in turn be an Arabized version of the Persian name rud, which meant "string", "stringed instrument", or "lute".[4] It has equally been suggested the "wood" in the name may have distinguished the instrument by its wooden soundboard from skin-faced predecessors.[5] Gianfranco Lotti suggests the "wood" appellation originally carried derogatory connotations because of proscriptions of all instrumental music in early Islam.

[alfredo]

37. That's interesting. I forgot he also played the cello.

I never saw the Lute, and dad broke the Mandolin over his brother's head.

His brother was a composer and publisher of Ragtime and light classical.

He wrote Ragtime under the name Mark Janza.

BTW, Mr Hodges is a real friendly guy.

This is one of my favorites by him

[genxlib]

15. I went to Pont do Gard

but it's been more than 30 years now. Incredible place that really left an impression on me. Especially since I am an engineer.

It is one of the experiences in my formative years that helped to change my world view. I think many people who are invested in the idea of "American Exceptionalism" have had limited experience with how exceptional the rest of the world can be. I grew up near St. Augustine and had a very particular view of history. Seeing such impressive structures that are more than a thousand years older really puts that view on in perspective in a way that history books cannot.

Thanks for the memories.

[trusty elf]

20. It really is an impressive feat of engineering,

especially considering that it was built without any of the machinery and technology that we take for granted.

Have you been to the Pantheon in Rome? That's also a stunning edifice-another great example of the Romans' amazing engineering skills!

[genxlib]

23. You took the words out of my mouth

The Pantheon is probably my single most favorite historical site in the world. Amazing that it was built so long ago with such primitive tools.

The only sad thing about the Pantheon is to see it in juxtaposition to the rest of the forum. It is amazing that the Pantheon was preserved but it is beyond belief that their was an entire City like that at that time. I wander through the ruins in the forum and it makes me sad that so much of that was lost. How incredible would it be if all of that would have been preserved.

But at least we have that one example that survived. It is the one benefit of becoming a church so that people took care of it. All the rest we just relegated to piles of scrap material.

[enid602]

36. Segovia

Also, the aqueduct in Segovia, Spain which is still in use.

[JudyM]

16. Merci pour les photos. How lucky you were to enjoy that time and place.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

17. My dear trusty elf!

Wow! These are magnificent and breathtaking!


And........funny!

Thank you for posting and sharing them.

[trusty elf]

18. Gee, thanks CaliforniaPeggy!

I'm glad you enjoyed them.

[Solly Mack]

24. The 11th century was obviously more entertaining than one expected.

Always a pleasure!

[niyad]

25. beautifu pics, especially the mothership and the horse.

[alfredo]

26. Lovely shots. I like the second one

[trusty elf]

30. Thanks alfredo

I got lucky with the second shot. Just as I snapped it, a wormhole opened and out flew a pterodactyl and a UFO! What are the odds of that happening?

[alfredo]

38. Such things were common in the sixties and seventies.

[drmeow]

28. I love Pont du Gard

Did you make it to the Camargue? We saw flocks of flamingos there.

[trusty elf]

29. We didn't make it to the Camargue....

but we did go see the Pont d'Arc in the Ardèche.

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[drmeow]

39. Nice!

I haven't seen that. Maybe next trip

[mnhtnbb]

31. Lovely! Hope you enjoyed your visit. My husband and I are flying home from Paris tomorrow.

We've been in Strasbourg, Lyon, and Bordeaux.

CurtEastPoint met up with us for lunch in Strasbourg! It's a veritable contingent of DU'ers here in France.

Why don't you enter a shot in our April contest? I'm closing submissions tomorrow when I get home...would love to see another
fabulous shot of France in the contest!