Provence

Continuing the series, this Roman arch dating from the first century adorns the end of a park in the sleepy French Provence village of Cavaillon,

Well, actually what I mean is Facade in Nice, although to be honest, it is anyway a very nice facade, whether in Nice or somewhere else:

You need to have good peepers, but those who have them will immediately spot there are no balconies of any kind on this building – everything you see here is just painted onto the surface.

Continuing the series,

OK, more appropriately the name’s Blaze, Castil Blaze, in Cavaillon:

 

Oh, the stories of Monsieur Blaze that I could regale you with!  Oh, the glasses of pastis that have been lifted in a toast to Monsieur Blaze!  Oh, the tears of laughter that have been spilt over the stories about Monsieur Blaze!

Well, I am sure they all exist. And I am sure there is a good reason the inhabitants of the French Provence village of Cavaillon have chosen to erect a massive statue in his honor. But . . . I have no idea why. According to Wikipedia he was essentially a music critic.

Continuing the series, I thought this snap was quite “Provencial,” not for the least of which reasons it sports the word Mistral,

 

Continuing the series, I’m guessing it’s a safe bet they only pull out this when during the holiday season,

 

Continuing the series, here are more garbage receptacles in the French Provence village of Cavaillon,

Continuing the series, I am not sure why but I find it wonderful that nearly every small village in the south of France has plenty of room between the otherwise packed streets for little parks like this. It begs the question, how exactly did this type of landscape architecture develop?

Continuing the series, previously I showed a man-made ornamental street canal adorning the largest boulevard in the French Provence town of Cavaillon,

Many towns and villages have such man-made ornamental canals, so at first I thought nothing of this until I saw the following historical sign:

It’s a bit difficult to read at this resolution, but basically it points to this boulevard as a center for hydraulic power that drove a significant industry in this town,

I’ll also show an expanded view of the figures:

So, except for this historical sign, there is nothing really remaining in the town that would inform visitors like me that Cavaillon was once a quite important manufacturing village, relying strongly on hydropower.

Continuing the series, another paddlewheel sits on the river Sorgue which flows through the French Provence town of L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, but this one is not turning:

Continuing the series, here are some receptacles in the French Provence town of Cavaillon,

Continuing the series, these moments are wonderful for me – they are last glimpses at important history that are just a single ruin away from obscurity.

This shows a man made water way along the main boulevard in the French Provence town of Cavaillon,

In a forthcoming blog post I’ll explain why this street art is just the last vestige of something more significant.

I have a wonderful blog about a similar street in Strasbourg, previously a canal; but today, the last vestige of a canal is just a small garden in the shape of a canal.

What I mean by this is, Church in Nice – athough this church in Nice is also a nice church, to be sure:

Continuing the series, this seems to be the shop in the French Provence village of L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue were Ganesha got his tats:

It’s been less than 200 years ago that Nice became the property of France, rather than Italy. But nevertheless you can see many vestiges of its original Italian history, as this snap shows:

This is the hotel, and this is a statute of Miles Davis,

During the season when I was here, the hotel room prices started at around EUR 450 per room. It’s not that I object paying a price like this; rather, it’s a tourist hotel, and I fear that I would be sorely disappointed by what I found there.

Continuing the series, you better keep out of this guy’s way,

Forget Nandi the sacred Bull, this guy’s more happy on a HOG!

If you see a statue of a guy looking up and wearing a military cap, you don’t even need to look further, that is Charles de Gaulle,

Continuing the series, absolutely nothing spectacular about this one, just thought I liked the way it looked:

Continuing the series, seems to be some kind of tourist store in the French Provence village of L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue,