As mentioned in the first post in my set (Vienna and Austria), last year I spend a few weeks travelling around Europe, and it was one of the best times in my life. My last two posts were in France, first the Côte d'Azur, and followed up by some initial exploring in the countryside, La Sainte Baume area. Today is the next day of the trip, where we continued in the French countryside, still in the Aix-En-Provence area.

    This was one of the areas I was most looking forward to, and some of these pictures really reflect what I had hoped to see! Little towns, with small-town French culture. An escape from the busy hustle of a city, and at the same time, a glimpse into the past -- these little towns have been around for ages, and the culture has remained. The buildings get restored, the historical design and architecture kept alive. And the communities who live in these little communes actually reflect it! Unfortunately, that also means that none of them spoke English. It was a startling reminder that I hadn't practiced my French since high school, but also made me thankful that I could understand and communicate to these people (even if I probably sounded like a toddler to them!).

    The photo set of this trip is almost coming to a close, but next up will be Paris. So don't forget to follow. Alright, on to the photos!

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An Artists Dream

    I always have to start with the strongest photo in the set! So here we are, in the tiny town of Loumarin, in the middle of basically nowhere, and this place is just a dream. Artists, writers, and other creative types would adore the scenery here, and this is what I tried to capture in this shot. These two artists were just casually painting away during the day, just in the middle of town. It was adorable!

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Castle Courtyard

    This little castle was built in the 15th or 16th century, and some of the rooms around it were being used as art galleries, wine shops, and other cute little things! This is the courtyard which was unfortunately closed, but made for a good picture!

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Lourmarin

    Here's a shot from the hilltop near the aforementioned castle, looking over at the town. What stands out here is one of the churches in the town, up in the middle on a hill.

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The Countryside

    I don't often do panoramas, mostly because I forget, but this was one where I couldn't resist. Travelling on to our next stop in the countryside (Gordes), this vantage point turned out to make a wonderful panorama.

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Gordes

    This commune called Gordes, is built on top of a hill, and the view coming up to it was something else. A dark, dreary, and cloudy day left for a pretty impressive shot, I think!

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View From Gordes

    The city center of Gordes was not as interesting as I had thought, but the view from the side streets were quite impressive!

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On The Road Again

    Unfortunately due to the time of the year, we didn't see much in the way of Lavender fields, they were already picked. I was happy just seeing a few little patches here and there, planted in gardens by people instead of farms. :)

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Les Baux-de-Provence

    Les Baux-de-Provence is another small commune in the region, but this one is pretty special: its built on a hill like Gordes, but actually built as part of a castle! Well, a ruined castle, but hey that's cool too. This shot is of the little village.

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Fontaine de la Rotonde

    This is the fountain in the center of Aix-en-provence, called la Fontaine de la Rotonde. We didn't actually spend very long in the city, but this piece was nice to stop by and check out.

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    That's all for today! For those of you interested: Camera is Sony NEX-7, with a Zeiss 16-70mm lens.

    Click an image to enlarge to the 1920px version! They are, of course, down-sampled from my original copies, we can chat if you're interested in any full quality versions. As always, these are my original photos, and I maintain the copyright.

    Don't forget to if you like my blog, I will keep posting picture stories! Next up, will be the continuation of this trip within France, off to PARIS! Don't miss out!