After our second “Sea Day” we arrive in the Port of Marseille. We have chosen an excursion that will take us out of the city of Marseille and into the countryside. The tour is called “Aix-En-Provence & Lourmarin On Your Own”
This is basically transportation to Lourmarin, that is described as a charming village at the foot of the Luberon Range. The bus will take an hour and fifteen minutes to arrive in Lourmarin where we have 1:45 to explore on our own.
We arrive in Lourmarin just over an hour later.
It is a quiet little village with ivy covered buildings and limestone growths on it’s fountains. Due to drought conditions in Europe the founntains are not operating at the moment.
As with many European cities and villages it has some unique doors.
We found a few places to photograph The Travelling Fish with some of the local attractions.
Lourmarin has a castle named Chateau de Lourarin. Originally a 12th-century fortress, it was transformed in the 15th century by Foulques d’Agoult, chamberlain of King Rene I. of Anjou.
Cute little truck parked near our bus.
I discover that there is a Geocache close by. Alex finds it quickly. He is an experienced Geocacher!
It is time to return to the bus for the drive to Aix-en-Provence. This is a much larger town than Lourmarin. On our way here we expericence some rain. By the time we arrive, the sun has come back out, but there is water on the streets and sidewalks.
Aix-en-Provence is apparently nicknamed named “The Village of a Thousand Fountains” . We didn’t count, but there are quite a few. The one below is one of the more impressive one. We have seen many fountains so far that are not running water. None of Barcelona’s fountains are running and earlier today we didn’t see running water in any of Lourmarin’s fountains either. This is a water conservation measure.
The fountain itself is a mixture of marble, stone and concrete measuring 12 m x 32 m. It was created by four different artists in 1860. It now uses a recycling system is to save water, which is likely why it is one of very few that are currently using water.
We notice a group of people playing a game in a nearby park. They have grid lines marked out and are taking this game very seriously. This game is called “Boules” or “Petanque”. It is the French version of Bocce. From what I have read you “bowl” the ball in Bocce and in Boules they “toss” the ball.
It is time to head back to the bus and back to the Sun Princess.
There is a bar waiting for us! !