Alpes of Queyras

Month ago we attended a wedding ceremony in the Alps. In fact it is the second time we went to this beautiful place but we didn’t have enough time to explore as we stayed only for one day. It was the 30th birthday anniversary of the groom. The party was remarkably glorious but I will not talk about his birthday neither his wedding, well this blog is intended for travel right? So come with me and discover this divine beauty of the Hautes-Alpes situated in the South of France which is a  2 ½ hours drive from Marseilles.

We left Thursday afternoon to arrive earlier and to have more time tripping out in the village before the Friday afternoon mass celebration. So we have spent our Friday morning visiting the town. This time we took the pleasure to stay in a three star hotel in the village of St.Véran. We have stayed in this luxurious Hotel L’Astragale which is quite expensive but it was worth staying.  St. Véran is the most prominent commune and the third highest in Europe and is near Italian border.

Sorry about the pinkish background in the photo as I have a battery problem but at least it worked out anyway. This is the green lushes background up there. It’s quite warmer in the mountain but with the sun it was okay.

The bridge you see is actually the way up to the Alpes wherein you could see a whole in between the rocks and not a tunnel as an access for the vehicules going up to the mountain. You could also see The Lac de Serre Ponçon (Serre Ponçon Lake) which is an artificial lake with a catchment area of 3,600 km², Maximum length of 20 km with Maximum width of 3 km. the lake was formed to rule water flow after devastating floods caused by harsh damage and loss of life in 1843 and 1856. First projected in 1895, structure started in 1955 and was finished by 1961. After that morning walk kids were tired and hungry so then we look for a restaurant and eaten before heading to the mass celebration. So the celebration has ended and the reception was done in their Chalet. Very well organized. We stayed until 1 o’clock AM only to get ready for another walk in the near villages. Now, I took some pictures of St. Véran because of their famous old houses.

The view behind our hotel room.

An old house.

Church entrance.

Wider view of St. Véran

The fountain

An old door.

So that is about Les Hautes Alpes, I still need to learn about gastronomy and the everyday life of the villagers but I think 3 days was not enough and besides we were there for the party ! And for the final when we left the Alpes we saw this beautiful castle while we are on our way going down the Alpes.

After spending a wonderful 3 days we really plan to visit the site again as we were really mesmerized by the enchanting beauty of the place. It’s not far, the place is perfect for either hiking during the summer and skiing during winter season. There are a lot of activities, from cheaper to expensive hotels so when you want to visit Alpes I think this is really worth exploring.

These are the nearby cities that you can find in the Alpes :

Arvieux en Queyras 13 km, Briançon 30 km, Ceillac en Queyras 9 km, Chateau Queyras 11 km, Château Ville Vieille 11 km, Embrun 15 km, Gap 50 km, Guillestre 2 km, La Grave 50 km, Mont Dauphin Fort 4 km, Risoul 10 km, Saint Véran 20 km, Savines le Lac 17 km, Vallouise 20 km, Vars 10 km

Beaches Part 2 St. Florent

Now here is what I discovered in Corsica a white fine sand beach situated in St. Florent which is apparently rare in France. My husband was also surprised to discover this place because normally white sand is not a view common in France. From our village it only took us 1 and 1/2 hr travel passing by the  The Desert of the Agriates a rocky mountain and rather green panoramic view. The desert stretches between Alliso and Ostriconi villages measuring 16 hectares seeing bizarre geographical evolution which makes them more mysterious. From the beginning of the century, the Corsican farmers worked between thousands of olive trees, cultivates the wheat, harvests almonds, lemons and figs. While on our way to St. Florent the drive is just untiring because of the magnificent landscape. There are rocks with its strange formation. They called it the desert because there are no villages nor people living in that area, in short uninhabited area in Corsica.

This is the heart of of St. Florent with a lot of choices from budget wise, good deal to classy bars, restaurants and pizzeria.  Anyway, most of the restaurants will display their menus and tariffs to inform the tourists which is pretty more assuring . There are also little stores such as Petit Casino that will cater for you. If you are a type of person who likes picnicking  it would also be nice to sit and relax while picnicking near the dike.

You can get an easy access to the beach of St. Florent itself but it is not with a fine white sand. But If you really want to explore the La Plage de Lotu/Lodu and discover what is hidden behind this rugged mountains you need to take a boat and you can get them from the booth of Le Popeye which you will find in the Port of St. Florent. I would advise you to call them before for more inquiries.  Very organise and good service in traversing St. Florent to experience a breathtaking crystal clear turquoise water.

In our case we left at 9:30 to be there as early as possible but they have a time table to be respected and followed to avoid too much crowd at the beach. We needed to take our lunch in one of the restaurants in the Port because you will find no restaurant at La Plade de Lotu. You will only find white sand beach, yacths, tourists and trees.  So bring something with you especially water, sodas and light pack sandwiches. Do not also forget your sunblock and parasol as there are no shaded areas and it could be really really hot during summer season.

This is valid only for the months of July, August and September (summer season) out of season you may check the link given :

Departure/Return from Lotu
08:45 -  11:45
10.00 – 13:00
11.15 – 14:45
12.30 – 16:00
13.45 – 17:30
15.15 – 18:30
last trip 19:30 (return)

The ticket for adults cost 14€/head and for kids 7€/head. We were lucky they have given us free ticket for our daughter….how nice of them since she will not really takes so much place !

Finally, this is indeed a beautiful place and its worth traversing for only 20 minutes.

It was really surprising! Honestly, It was our first time to see such beautiful beach behind this rocky mountains of Corsica. Well, I must admit this will probably the second time as we already went to Porto Vecchio there are also white sand beaches but this one is exceptionally extravagant ! So what are you waiting for, next time you visit Corsica include this in your lists !

Beaches

I’ve been living in Marseilles for almost 7 years now and been to beaches quite well. This is what I like in our place we are just near beautiful beaches and not to mention to have an easy access for ballades near Calanques. The beach Les Catalans which has fine sand and clean is great because it is near Vieux port but this spot is quite crowded and busy and is a private beach and you have to pay an entrance fee. It is accessible at the beginning of the Corniche Président Kennedy by taking bus# 83 once again. There are bars, outdoor showers, toilets, and a first aid post as well. I’ve always seen organised Beach Volleyball in this touristic place accessible from the city center .

This is in Luminy where we used to have a short stroll 20 minutes from home.

When you trace Catalans further you will find the famous Corniche and for sure will also consider spending time in La Plage du Prophète with fine sand and personally I think it’s more cleaner than the rest of the beaches in Marseilles. Frequented by most of musicians with their music instruments because of it’s tranquility. You could also find a bar, the sailing club and especially the Leisure Center for Youth, a club of activities operated by the National Police. To continue farther around 2 kilometers there you would find the Prado Beach with the statue of David. Accessed by bus# 19 or 83. Pebbly beach more or less crowded especially during summer season. The beach is not bad but I would not advise you to go swimming. Has outdoor showers, toilets and a first aid post. But if you really insist in going to this beach you can but I would suggest you to go early in the morning because for sure there will be few people and the beach is cleaner. Otherwise, I think a little stroll or picnicking around the environ will be more practical. The next beach around this environ is Plage de la Pointe Rouge, a sandy beach located at Avenue de la Pointe Rouge is where you’ll find all the Marseillais during summer like most in winter, great atmosphere and there’s even an English Pub, The Red Lion. Only one bus passes in that destination so if you have the car good luck be very patient with the traffic. Walking distance from restaurants galore, outdoor showers and a first aid post. There are stores that rent parasols and mattresses and all other aquatic equipments. This is a well explored place by windsurfers, as soon as there’s a breeze so be cautious, no swimming off into the sunset especially when there is Mistral (a fresh or cold, often violent, and usually dry wind blowing throughout the year but is most frequent in winter and spring) which is unfortunately common in Marseilles.

Image from Wikipedia.

Point Rouge Beach Image from Environment Surfrider

Eco-Attitude

This is a post which I kept for a month as I was busy for many things. This picture is taken when Port Authority of Marseilles organized the “Nettoyage de la Plage Gracieuse”. (Cleaning of the beach Gracious). This is a 4 to 5 kilometers beach owned by the company.

The goal of this event is of raising awareness “Partageons L’Eco Attitude” (Let’s share the Eco-Attitude) of WFP staff of PAM, their families and all those associations and communities contributed in joining citizen involvement and the sustainable development approach.

This took place last 1st of June 2008 from 8:30 in the morning to 7:00 in

the evening around Port-Saint-Louis du Rhone on the beach adjacent to the Gracious Beach Napoleon.

The program is as follows:

• Welcoming participants with free t-shirt, cap and leather gloves and cleaning the beach during the morning

• Meals in community served with appetizers with champagne, wines and fruit juices, Paella for lunch and French pastries as dessert.

• Afternoon activities for adults and children, games and educational activities provided by WFP, associations and partners.

Employee charged of Garbage collecting

These were what we’ve got !

Mayumi’s fun coloring

Sébastien’s almost done

EVERYONE PARTICIPATING !

French Gastronomy

Most of you will probably agree with me that amongst the best culinary in the world is French gastronomy. Amid the best products are cheese, wine, pastry and charcuterie (dried meat food). My uncomplicated palate is used to experience Asian and Italian culinary while I was still working in the Hotel industry. When I arrived in France I was really thrilled to savour the French culinary as I’ve been hearing a lot of good remarks about them on television and discussions. I am not anxious to try and taste almost everything except for some out of the extra ordinary.

First off, I will talk about the cheese in France it depends on how and who counts them. There are different estimations concerning how many kinds of cheese France has. In reality, it’s not quite definite. Some says they’re quite the numbers between 350 to 500. Other says it’s closer to 1,000. Anyway, I am not here to debate for the statistics. Well known cheeses are Beaufort, Broccio, Comté, Brie, Emmental, Cantal, Laguiole, Reblochon, Roquefort, Mont D’or, Chamois D’or, Saint Albray, Mimolette, Coulommiers, Raclette, Camembert and a lot more. I just identified few of them that I have savoured otherwise this post will not be enough. The rest I can’t remember the names.

Now I will speak about wine. I am not an expert either a dependent. Theoretically, that it is not a part of the Philippine culture therefore I am not used to this modish tradition. But living in France made me appreciate and learn gradually the diverse European gastronomy. There are diverse kinds of wine such as red, white and rose wine. The ones I know are Bordeaux, Beaujolais, Burgundy, Chateauneuf, Pinot Noir (this is a cooked wine), Chardonnay. Before I was not appreciative of liquors especially beer (don’t like the taste of it). I can only drink Cali Shandy that’s how far I can only go. But when I am frustrated I can drink Lambanog, it is called “coco vodka” since its ingredients is originated from the living tree itself… Coconut tree! During celebrations and parties I welcome wine, champagne and hard drink…By the way, I drink with moderations.

This time it would be cakes, breads and pastries. I am not a fan of sweets and bread but when I have tasted breads, cakes and pastries made by the boulangerie (bakery) wow I can tell they are one of the best. Generally, during big occasions we buy cakes with a lot icing and decoration on it. In France it was my first time to see this cake called “la piece montée”.

The last but not the least is the Charcuterie (from either the French chair cuite, cooked meat, or the French cuiseur de chair, cooker/butcher’s meat). At first, I thought that saucisson should be cooked like we do for Longganisa but it’s not. There’s no need to fry it. It is ready to eat sausages. There are two kinds of sausages the fresh sausages that are dried and fresh one to be cooked. Dried one are generally eaten cold and will keep for a long time.

So far these are my personal experience about French gastronomy. There are many things I would like to share but this is too long for one post. So see you next time !