Montmartre and the Pompidou Center

Clip clop, clip clop. We were awakened to the sound of horses trotting by on cobblestones. Our apartment backs up to the Republican Guard barracks! We spent the early part of the morning watching them riding in and out.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_Guard_(France)

We took in the Basilica Sacre-Coeur in the morning. It sits atop a hill overlooking Montmartre.  The hill had been hollowed out by centuries of gypsum mining so it had to be reinforced by hundreds of pilings driven underground in order to support the basilica. The streets leading to Sacre-Coeur were filled with t-shirt and trinket shops.  The street hawkers were everywhere. We went inside the basilica but were through it quickly despite all the grandness to see. The crowd kept moving, in turn sweeping us along.  We opted to move away from the tourist area as we departed Montmartre.  We passed through some less affluent areas with a lot of evidence of homelessness.

Our next destination was the Pompidou Center which houses the Museum of Modern Art. We gaped at the unusual building which looks like it was constructed inside out! The Stravinsky Fountain (above photo) was a whimsical delight. Today the museum was free!  Adelaide certainly enjoyed this destination the most and was a joy to be with as she wandered amazed and excited though each gallery!  She kept making wonderful connections to lessons from school.  When I pointed out how Picasso's art changed and was influenced by the women in his life, she announced , " I know!  My third grade biography was about Picasso."  She also was excited to see artwork by Piet Mondrian whose style she imitated in art class. Thank you Mrs. Doherty!  She was enthralled with Robert Delauney, Wassily Kandinsky, and Otto Dix.

The Golden Tower

The Many Steps of Paris

We arrived in Paris with a 4th of July bang! After getting settled, we set out to explore. We decided immediately to master the Metro. We hopped on and got off at Champs-Elysees to see the Arc de Triomphe. It's huge! The friezes are so detailed and beautiful. This will definitely be some further reading.  We took the tunnel under the busy road and then climbed the 284 steps to the top. Well worth it. The views were great in all directions and you really get a sense how the streets in the area radiate out. http://www.arcdetriompheparis.com/

We then meandered our way through some charming neighborhoods on our way to the Eiffel Tower. Love the architectural details on the buildings here. I started really paying attention to the window or balcony iron rails and there never seemed to be a repeat of those intricate designs!

Luck has been with us this trip and we have not encountered any of the long lines we had been warned about. It continued today and we had tickets and within thirty minutes we were on our way up! Sadly we could only climb up to the second level (over 600,steps!) as the top level was closed.  The structure is much more impressive up close because honestly--on the first glimpse it looks out of place among the harmonious architecture of Paris. Oh alright--also excepting that big black building in the middle of the city. What is that?!

We walked along the Trocodero across the way and saw the Eiffel Tower cast gold by the sun. So many people taking selfies with the selfie sticks. Will be glad when that goes out of style! We stopped to watch some of the street hawkers offering bets on ball and cups games. Lots of money being moved around. We had fun guessing the winning cup (no bets though), trying to identify the "plant," and watching closely for a sleight of hand. These games were going on every five feet!

Back on the Metro with a ride out to La Defense. This is the financial district at the far end of the city. The Grande Arch constructed here made a wind tunnel. Since then, a giant canopy has been constructed to cut down on the wind and at the top of the stairs (yes even more on this day!) are glass panels that were also put up to help.  The breeze was refreshing after all our walking.  We ended up having fast food for dinner (Gasp! In Paris?!) a rarity in any case, but most enjoyable as we all sat companionably laughing and joking around. A terrific ending for a first busy day in Paris!

httphttp://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/holidaytypeshub/article-604792/The-One-Minute-Guide-To--br-The-Grande-Arche-Paris.html

Pont du Gard

An impressive sight!  And a World Heritage site! We are just knocking these off on our traveling adventures--no matter the year. Maybe we should just change the blog name to Notte Family Adventures while seeking out World Heritage sites!

It was still very hot despite it being late afternoon. So many locals and visitors were enjoying the river. We did a little splashing of our own to cool off.

Photobombed at La Defense!

Les Baux

We spent the early afternoon at this small village hugging the one of the Alpilles (ahl-pee) mountainsides. No cars are allowed in the village so we parked on the road and climbed the steps.  It was quite loud from the cicadas buzzing away! 

We made our way to the "Dead City" which is the ruins of a medieval citadel and castle.  It had plenty of history and picturesque views but it was hot, hot, hot!  We did as much as we could (which would have been fascinating, but we were quickly done in by the heat and hurried off the mountaintop to the village below. Bypassing the numerous gift shops, we made our way directly to a hillside restaurant with shade, cool drinks and delicious food.

Exploring Provence

Believe it or not, the backside of this field of sunflowers was more photogenic than the front!  We were really hoping to see the fields of lavender but we did not see any aside from the many fields we saw from the highway.  However we did see many olive groves and enjoyed the rugged beauty of the rocky mountains in the region. Sainte Victoire provides a spectacular back drop to Aix. Cezanne was known to spend many a day painting it.