Venasque WWI Memorial

Today I bring you to the medieval town of Venasque in Provence.

Less than a dozen kilometers southeast from Carpentras where my parents lived for many years, perched up on a rocky outcrop, is this picturesque old town we often passed through on our outings by car.

Fortunately we stopped one time so I could capture this World War I memorial for Taphophile Tragics.

Venasque, 2007

While I liked the monochrome version, my honey preferred the color... so mouseover and choose your own. But he agreed that this handsome profile of the fallen soldier looked better in black and white.

The war memorial stands next to the Romanesque Church of Notre-Dame (12th-17th C).

And overlooks the Nesque valley below.

O is for Olive

For ABC Wednesday, where the week’s letter is O, I am taking you to a small medieval town in Provence, France. (I’d rather have posted something O about my recent trip in Guangdong, but my creative juices couldn't take me there.)

Prior to making my way to Asia in May 1985, I spent about half a year with my parents in their tiny apartment in Isle-sur-la-Sorgue; it was a mini-chapter between major chapters of my life. I had turned my back on a career in law and was experiencing a bad (and recurring) case of the what-do-I-want-to-be-when-I-grow-up blues. In hindsight, living among charms provençal was a terrific space to sort out the color of my parachute. (I now only wish I'd had a camera then.)

Flash forward twenty years, long after my parents had moved to a larger nearby city (and my father was no more), I returned for a quick visit... with my early model digital point-n-shoot. There's much I could say about Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, including that this 13th Century town sits among seven tributaries of the river named Sorgue and has a few lovely waterwheels... but I must get on to the letter O. 

Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, 2005

Among the attractions to the town is its Sunday market.  Along the river in temporary covered stalls an immense range of local and not-so-local products - fresh, cooked, processed and manufactured - are for sale. 

It is here one fine Sunday that I found one of my favorite foods: olives. From the unripe green French picholine to the ripe black Greek kalamata, there are thousands of cultivars.

Olives are cured/marinated and packed a gazillion delicious ways - such as with herbs, garlic or salt-brine - and I pretty much like them all (except the flat tasteless canned ones). 

Just thinking about spiced olives in Moroccan cuisine or an olive tapenade appetizer and I begin to salivate! And of course no other oils but olive oil go in my salads. In Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, the selection is almost overwhelming.

I is for Important Institution

Today over at Jenny's Alphabe-Thursday, the letter of the week is I, and I was inspired to take this instant to tell you a little about an important institution.

The Louise Weiss building in Strasbourg, France, houses the official seat of the European Parliament. This important institution of democracy is the only directly-elected body of the European Union, with 736 members representing all 27 EU countries. It plays an active role in drafting legislation that impacts on the daily lives of its more than 490 million citizens in areas such as environmental protection, consumer rights, equal opportunities, transport, and the free movement of workers, capital, services and goods.

I took these two photos of this contemporary institution inaugurated in 1999 when we drove by on a winter afternoon some years ago.

  Strasbourg, 2006

The EP also works in Brussels (Belgium) and Luxembourg.

Aqueduct in Provence

Whenever I visited my mother living in Carpentras, it was our habit in the afternoon to go for a little car tour in the vicinity. This region of Provence is a delight to explore and Carpentras is centrally located among countless charming villages and towns.

On the days we decided to head north out of town, we would pass the remains of the Carpentras Aqueduct.  It was built in the years between 1720 and 1734. With 47 arches, the aqueduct spans 720 meters (over 2350 feet) and stands 24 meters (79 feet) tall at its highest point.  The width at the top is 1.75 meters (under 6 feet), while the water canal itself is only .25 meters (10 inches) wide.

Carpentras, 2005

The source of the water that supplied Carpentras up to 1893 is on the slope of Mont Ventoux. On one of the days I stopped to capture this grand aqueduct, I also got an unusually clear view of the white capped mountain; no that is not snow, but bright white limestone, giving it a wintry look throughout the year.

Another stretch, perhaps, for Louis' Sunday Bridges. I'm always amazed and delighted at the different kinds of bridges there are around our globe.

Last of the Lavender

It's Mellow Yellow Monday... and I found this pretty yellow in my archives to mellow me on my very hectic day:

Provence, France, 2005

The link takes you to more takes on the YELLOW theme.