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Gourdon

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8 travelers at this place

  • Gabrielle IngramEurope
    Day22

    Tourrettes-sur-Loup

     September 17, 2017 in France ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    I kid you not, Craig said he had a genuine stammer as we entered the car park in this place. It is a medieval village, well renowned for its arts and crafts such as weaving, painting, pottery jewellery and sculpture. Quite simply, this was so incredibly gorgeous and quaint and authentic that it was hard not to believe that a movie set had been created in all its perfection and put there for you to walk through. The fact that people can and do live in this type of village almost defies logic and of course, you have to wonder "where do they shop? where do they work? does driving a car here drive them insane?". The place is breathtaking.

    We parked in a square, bought a couple of baguettes and wandered through the narrow winding streets to find somewhere to eat. This led us to the panorama which gave an incredible view across the viaduct which were originally built in the early 1900s to provide train access to what was otherwise an isolated area, and out to the Mediterranean.

    We had lunch under a tree and then walked down the goat track (not knowing where it was going to take us) until we actually ended up on the viaduct looking back up to the village! Back up in the village, dating from the 16th century, we wandered a bit more through the tiny streets, had a peak in an art gallery or two, before buying some groceries and heading back home.

    A fabulous day out! Off to Nice and Monte Carlo tomorrow...    Read more

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  • Gabrielle IngramEurope
    Day24

    Gourdon and waterfalls

     September 19, 2017 in France ⋅ ⛅ 10 °C

    We found ourselves on the long and winding road to Gourdon today, which is more up in the hills than le Bar-sur-Loup. 'Twas a wee bit hazy looking out to the sea, but pretty spectacular views nevertheless. There were lots of lovely little artisanal shops in Gourdon, and similar to many of the other places we have visited recently, the shops themselves are irregular inside, with stone walls, uneven floors, low ceilings and tiny little off-shoot rooms.

    The kids have been enchanted by the various lolly shops we have come across in these places so today I relented and allowed them to buy a "strawberry" which was one big ball of tasty-looking sugar concoction!

    After leaving Gourdon, we took the roundabout route to Vence, which took us further up into the gorge, did a switchback to come down the other side, stopping at the waterfalls. In a "this would never happen in Australia" type of arrangement, a business had set up shop at the side of the road, built a stone house and restaurant, put a turnstile in which cost €1 per person to go through the turnstile to look at a natural phenomena. We obliged. There was no evidence of this being a state-run enterprise, so I can only assume that it is perfectly OK to hijack local beauty for your own profit. Similar to many beaches here I guess? It was spectacular, of course.    Read more

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  • Gabrielle IngramEurope
    Day22

    Gorge de Loup

     September 17, 2017 in France ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    We embarked on a little adventure today, leaving our lovely accommodation. We were headed for Pont-du-Loup to start with, which should have only been 10 minutes away, but somehow I accidentally added an additional stop to the journey which meant we left Le Bar-sur-Loup, did a windy loop for about 15 minutes on a narrow road only fit for a bicycle with some of the signs showing a 25% incline, only to end back up in Le Bar-sur-Loup before I realised. The kids thought it was great. I was issued strict instructions by the husband to never do that to him again.

    So, now we were on the road to Pont-du-Loup, looking for the turn-off to Gorge de Loup. We have discovered that signage is not a French forte. After a few terse words that saw us turning around on a stretch of road not fit for carriage for vehicles, we parked in Pont-du-Loup, wandered into the village and accidentally found ourselves on a path that followed the stream up through the gorge. It was magical.

    We followed that to its natural conclusion (ie: someone had set up a sign that said "private property", which meant we could go no further). Rather than go back the way we came, we decided a river crossing was in order. Hmmm. Brain freeze after eating a Big Blue Meanie Slurpee from 7/11 does not even come close to describing what happened to our feet from putting them in the Icelandic waters of this stream. Poor Kate, who is smaller than all of us, had a higher proportion of her body in the water so took some time to recover from the cold. But, we did all Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy fans proud - we had our towel with us, so could at least dry our feet before putting our shoes back on! [To quote: A towel, [The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy] says, is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have.]

    It was a pleasant few hours in the gorge. What is strikingly different over here is that these sorts of wonders are free from "nanny state" intervention. No guard rails, no signs dictating where you can and can't go (other than enterprising locals staking their claim on the land), no over-manicuring of the paths. It is quite refreshing, although even the kids are pointing out the non-compliant stair treads!    Read more

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  • Gabrielle IngramEurope
    Day22

    Le Pont-sur-Loup

     September 17, 2017 in France ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    After getting back from our journey into the Gorge, we stopped at a shop in Le Pont-sur-Loup called Florian Confiserie which made the most delicious and unusual confectionery. The place had been swarming with a bus load of tourists as we left for our walk along the Gorge, but on the way back it was empty, so we went inside, prompted by the kids having found out that it was a "lolly shop".

    But this was not any ordinary lolly shop. This place was full of delicious and exceptional quality yummy stuff. The lady had all sorts of things she was pulling out from behind the counter for us to try. Of note were their candied citrus peel which you just can't get enough of. There was also chocolate covered citrus peel, jams and jellies of unusual varieties. Despite the outrageous expense, we bought a jar of candied whole clementines, which the sales lady said was great with vanilla glace (ice-cream). We obliged and bought some ice cream on the way home - wholeheartedly agree on her recommended accompaniment!    Read more

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  • Gordon WildWilds of Europe
    Day12

    'Gourdon'. Must be an awesome place.

     April 30, 2017 in France ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C

    Now venturing beyond the cosy confines of Italian order and serenity. First night was here. They almost spelt it correctly too, tho meaning is the same: fortress. Can see a bit from here: that'll be Nice down there, and that's Antibe, and that's Canne....

    Very very long winding road to get up here. Very stressful driving for us both. Very quaint little French hamlet up the top of the hill in the old fort. Had planned to get to Verdon Gorge from here but couldn't find turnoff, so ended up at our next spot...    Read more

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  • The small trip
    Day45

    Gorges de Loup

     October 20, 2019 in France ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    Tak už to přišlo i na nás, spravedlnost existuje, konečně máme pořádně hnusně. Projíždíme malebné údolí Gorge de Loup, občas vyleze z mlhy majestátní vodopád. S deštníkem procházíme nejnaparfemovanejsi městečko na světě, Gourdon, ale po deseti minutách se s úplně mokryma nohama vracíme zpátky do auta, ještě že už umíme péct ty jablečné koláče a máme tak alespoň nějakou útěchu. Výlet podél aquaduktu s milionem tunelu, návštěva předražené čokoládovny a kandovny ovoce. Asi radši pojedeme k moři...Read more

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Gourdon

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