Eygalières in Provence

[bjd]

Last Friday we had to go to a funeral in Provence. It was a long drive and it didn't last long, so we went for a short walk in the village before coming home.

It was sunny but cold because of the wind. The village is called Eygalières and is located about 10 km east of St Rémy de Provence (known for Van Gogh's stay there) and is a bit north of Les Baux de Provence.

On the way, we stopped at the freeway stop to take a picture of Carcassonne:

[bjd]

ImageShack has been telling me some of my pictures are too big to upload (!), so I can't show you all, including one showing how the village is perched on a small hill. The rest will have to do.

A bit of Wiki-information tells me it's a very old settlement, with Neolithic and Iron Age relics found. The current population is about 1800, but we had the impression that many houses were holiday homes since everything was closed up and there was nobody around.

This is the centre of the old part of town. As you see, they prune the plane trees. Actually there is not much vegetation, since the climate is dry and Mediterranean, although I'm sure the place is nicer in spring when there are leaves on the trees and flowers in front of houses.



The church where the funeral took place


Climbing up the hill from the church

[bjd]

A clock tower on top of the hill and houses below






A house that is obviously lived in

[bjd]

At the top of the hill is a small church from the 12th century -- St Laurent, although that is also the name of the new church. There is a ruin of an old castle and what looks like another chapel.

The 12th c church


Its roof is made of flat stones


The entrance


And a bit higher up, what seems to be another chapel


The view from the top of the hill towards the north


I took pictures facing south, where you can see the range of the Alpilles, but I can't upload them because of the size.

[anshjain97]

Thanks for sharing- wonderful pictures!

[tod2]

Jan 27, 2013 13:19:20 GMT bjd said:

ImageShack has been telling me some of my pictures are too big to upload (!), so I can't show you all, including one showing how the village is perched on a small hill. The rest will have to d

bjd - Do you not have Zoombrowser?

This way I select my photo, then minimize Zoombrowser, then bring up ImageShack and click browse, this as you know takes you to 'Look in': XXXXX, this brings up all the image numbers. I click on the one I want which hi-lites it, then left click on the hi-lite and this brings up the selction of Resize Pictures, which then allows you to select a small screen, medium etc. etc.

You probably are doing all this already, but I never have a problem selecting the SMALL size.

I hope you find a way because your photos are wonderful! I want to see them all

[bjd]

Tod, I have never heard of Zoombrowser. When I finally settled on using ImageShack for my pics of Budapest, I was able to upload anything I wanted and have them re-sized. I am using the same camera, so I don't understand why they are now telling me my photos are too big to upload. And it seems to be random -- I could upload some and not others, whereas they are basically the same size.

I'll have a look at Zoombrowser, but they probably don't deal with Linux.

[Deleted]

Those old Provençal villages are gorgeous in any season!

[bixaorellana]

Extremely interesting, Bjd. Your photos of the austere beauty of the town against the clear blue sky are just wonderful.

That's a super picture of the house with the green shutters below the clock tower. It appears the Christmas lights have been left up over the street, but with the bulbs removed. Classic provincial French thrift?

I love the squatty ancient church & its elegantly plain roof, also all the stonework in the town.

Had no idea that Carcassonne was so large.

If you google resizing pictures in linux, you get a ton of hits, including this workable-looking one. Don't know if that's any good to you, as Linux is a complete mystery to me.

[bjd]

Thanks, Bixa. Being technologically challenged, I'll have to spend some time reading that.

Carcassonne is known for the old walled town, called La Cité. But there is a whole newer city around it. The population is nearly 50,000.

[mossie]

I always fancied going to Carcassone, too late now I'm afraid.

Many thanks for this report.

[bjd]

Okay -- I just went back to my Tinypic account and was able to upload some other photos -- one at a time in order to resize, and I can't modify anything.

This is the village from a distance (across the sports field in fact)



On top of the hill where the castle ruins are


The little church seen from the other angle


A little house


One of the few flat areas on the hill -- maybe for playing petanque?

[bjd]

There is a bit of greenery, and you can see the Alpilles range in the back



And a last view of the village

[htmb]

I have been enjoying your photographs very much, bjd. That must have been a long drive for you and your husband. The village of Eygalières looks most interesting. A good place to explore.

I've never been to Carcassonne except to get off at the train station. My train back towards Montpelier from Toulouse gave a good view of the castle. I've wanted to stop and visit, but wondered if the tourist crowds would be a little too much for me.

[Deleted]

The flat area does indeed look like it was designed for playing pétanque.