Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Plan B: The Medieval City of Aigues-Mortes


Tuesday, 19 May, 2015:

DAY XV OF THE CIRCUMNAVIGATION
OF THE IBERIAN PENINSULA


The weather would just not cooperate with our vacation plans in the beach resort of Le-Grau-du-Roi.

We awoke to overcast skies that threatened to rain making our desire to laze on the Med's shore out of the question.

Fortunately for us, Olivier Rival who has recently been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site for his amazing knowledge of all things French, came through for us again.

He had mentioned that if we had the chance to visit the 13th century, Medieval walled city of Aigues-Mortes, we should do so.

As luck would have it on this non-beach day, Aigues-Mortes was only a ten minute drive from our hotel in Le-Grau-du-Roi!

The name Aigues-Mortes comes from the surrounding swampland that was in the 13th century considered "dead waters."


First sighting of Aigues-Mortes


That is one BIG wall


What wonders lie inside the walls?


Reflections


Hard to penetrate these walls

An entrance


Sturdy


Our entrance


Stairs to the ramparts


Busy Medieval streets


OH, let's visit this store!


They sell COOKIES . . .


. . . and CANDIES . . .


. . . and lots of olive oil too


Across the street


We're still in France, after all.


DANGER!!!!!!!


Notre Dame-des-Sablons


Interesting interior


How did this get into a Medieval church?


Our Lady of Lourdes


St. Louis, a.k.a.,
King Louis IX of France


St. Louis is BIG in Aigues-Mortes


Actually, he is big in all of France.

He is special here because he pushed hard for the building of this fortified city.  It  was the launching point for two Crusades, one in 1240, the Seventh Crusade to Jerusalem, and again in 1248, the Eighth Crusade to Tunisia, which the good king led at the request of Pope Innocent IV.


Why not?


Getting hungry


Really hungry


The Republique


St. Louis yet again


This looked ok to me for lunch


Old


A tailor at work


Lots of blue in Aigues-Mortes


Colorful storefronts are the norm


Homey but closed for lunch


Not enough people to warrant our trust


Interesting cartel


Award winning but only open for dinner


Nice home


I would guess that about one half to one third of the walled city is still homes, not businesses related to the tourist trade.


Blue again


Just to drive Brian FitzGerald
a little crazy


Chapelle des Penitents Gris


Nice inside


How did they do this back in the day?


Laurie liked the basket


No, seriously, we have to
have lunch, SOON!


Blue is the IN color


Cool toy cars


Colorful toys

Olé!


Yet another colorful storefront


Tribute to the Huguenots


They were French Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who left predominantly Catholic France for their health.


An inner wall

What a woman!


If we get separated, at 1:00 p.m.,
meet at the corner of . . .

LUNCH AT LAST!!!


Rain wreaking havoc with the menu


Water and wine were good bets


So were the desserts


Between, our salads and meat inspired main dishes were wondrous. 


A baguette for the road


No chili peppers though


I had not had a haircut in over a month
and was feeling a tad shaggy


The barber had lots of tricks in
these drawers


Shaving the neck to finish the haircut
and beard trim


She was AWESOME and funny too!


I felt like a new man.


Chapelle des Penitents Blanche


I don't think that we want to sample
this particular vintage


The required municipal carousel


It seems that the French love them as we see one in practically every French city that we visit.


Meanwhile . . .


After several splendid hours in Aigues-Mortes thanks to Olivier Rival, we returned to our address for the day to see a bit more of this city.


Traditional fishing boats


Traditional local's meeting spot


The Sun was finally out and
so were these folks


Fishing boat returning


Lots of fishing boats in the harbor


The old VW van of years ago


The beach at Le-Grau-du-Roi


Someone used their beach day well


Sweet ride


They are accordion connoisseurs

We are gelato connoisseurs


Are Le-Grau-du-Roi and Aigues-Mortes
in this region . . .


. . . or this one?

Only Olivier Rival knows for sure.

Plan B turned out to be a wonderful alternative!


Next Circumnavigation Tour Stop: Tarragona, Spain

2 comments:

Olivier R said...

the answer to the question is : Languedoc as they are west of the Rhone river.

George said...

Merci Olivier!