Martin M. Miles' photos

The village (mostly just named Moustiers) on the entrance of the "Gorges de Verdon", clings onto high cliffs. It even has a waterfall in the middle. No wonder, that it is one of the "Plus Beaux Villages de France". The parish church has this exceptional bell tower seen here. The tower was constructed within the 12th century in "lombardic style". But the best known landmark of Moustiers is not seen here: the star! Since centuries a long chain with a golden star connects both cliffs - and a phantastic story is connected to that star. When we visited Moustiers, the star was "in repair". Some weeks earlier "myshy" took a nice photo of the chain and the star - and there is the full story as well: www.flickr.com/photos/myhsu/4990518112/

The "Diocese of Riez" existed from the early 5th century upto the French Revolution. One of the first bishops was St. Maximus (433-460). Out of this time (5th or 6th century) is this baptistery, at the moment overgrown by trees - and (2010) closed, as under renovation. When it was constructed even older building material was reused. It belonged once to an early cathedral, which is long gone, and has a very interesting layout (seen only from inside. It is only about 100m away from the ruins of the roman Apollo-Temple.

The small town of Riez, seen here from the Mount St.Maxime, was pretty important long ago. The mount was a stronghold of a celtic tribe, before the romans took over and founded the town below (there are still some pillars of a roman temple). The "Diocese of Riez" existed from the early 5th century upto the French Revolution. One of the first bishops was St. Maximus (433-460), after whom the mount, I am standing on, is named. Out of this time is a still existing baptistery just outside the town of today.

The parish church in the village of St. Trinit was the church of a priory on the Plateau-d’Albion, mentioned first time in 1082, when it was given to Cluny. The church is only a little younger. Apse and the first bay were constructed early 12th century. The rest of it about 50 years later. A grout is visible between these two parts. During the Wars of Religion, the church got fortified. The fortifications were so heavy in weight, that later the vault collapsed. Meanwhile of course all is recontructed and renovated. There are two Wikipedia-sites about this church: French: fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89glise_de_Saint-Trinit German: de.wikipedia.org/wiki/St-Trinit

The words "Provence" and "Lavender" are stitched together in the brains of the tourist. Around the small town of Sault, on the southeastern slopes of the Mount Ventoux (known through Petrarca and the "Tour de France") even on a rainy day, the lavender-fields show their very specific colour.

The roman "Pont du Gard", more than 2000 years old, is not only one of the main touristic attractions, it is brilliant example of the abilities, the antique engineers had. The aqueduct was constructed to get fresh water from Uzès to Nîmes, a distance of only about 20kms, but full of obstacles like the valley of the Gardon. Here the Pont du Gard is seen from the beautiful village of Valliguières, about 8kms beeline away from the aqueduct.

The romanesque cathedral Saint-Théodorit destroyed within the Cathar Cruisade, was rebuilt but destroyed again during the Wars of Religion. The church of today was constructed within the 17th century. Just the 12th century bell-tower, named today "Tour Fenestrelle" survived the centuries. The structure of the round bell-tower is pretty complex, as to be seen here. In the middle the head of a ram, very common within that time. Below over the pillar a human face.

The romanesque cathedral Saint-Théodorit destroyed within the Cathar Cruisade, was rebuilt but destroyed again during the Wars of Religion. The church of today was constructed within the 17th century. Just the 12th century bell-tower, named today "Tour Fenestrelle" survived the centuries (though "reconstructed" in the higher levels). The tower is round - and seems to be a very close cousin of the italian campaniles.

On a "typical evening" pilgrims and other visitors will gather at 8pm in the church to attend a service, ending with the blessing of the pilgrims. After that the Prior of the "Prieuré Sainte Foy", where most pilgrims stay, will stand in front of the church and explain the different scenes of the tympanum. He is very entertaining! At 9pm, one of the monks starts and organ-concert and visitors are allowed to climb up the stairs and walk over the gallery for the next hour. Surprising views are possible, as "upstairs" the capitals are really near. One of the small decorative mermaids on the corner of the capital, now a little larger.

On a "typical evening" pilgrims and other visitors will gather at 8pm in the church to attend a service, ending with the blessing of the pilgrims. After that the Prior of the "Prieuré Sainte Foy", where most pilgrims stay, will stand in front of the church and explain the different scenes of the tympanum. He is very entertaining! At 9pm, one of the monks starts and organ-concert and visitors are allowed to climb up the stairs and walk over the gallery for the next hour. Surprising views are possible, as "upstairs" the capitals are really near. A very decorative capital. The main part shows a kind of "green man", the top row a fish - and on the top-corners two small mermaids. The decor on the very left seems older, maybe even carolingian. But compared to the the other parts - that cannot be.

On a "typical evening" pilgrims and other visitors will gather at 8pm in the church to attend a service, ending with the blessing of the pilgrims. After that the Prior of the "Prieuré Sainte Foy", where most pilgrims stay, will stand in front of the church and explain the different scenes of the tympanum. He is very entertaining! At 9pm, one of the monks starts and organ-concert and visitors are allowed to climb up the stairs and walk over the gallery for the next hour. Surprising views are possible, as "upstairs" the capitals are really near. High on a capital in a corner is a mermaid. She is hardly visible from the ground of the nave.

Where the graveyard of Espalion is today was once a monastery, that got destroyed during the Wars of Religion. The only remaining structure is the "Eglise de St. Perse", built in the 11th and 12th century. Legend tells, St. Hilarian was beheaded here by the Saracens around 730, and that´s why the monastry was founded here. The interesting church has some phantastic carvings. One of the corbels over the tympanon shows this very weathered and damaged small mermaid. She has lost both arms, but the scales on the lower part of her body are clearly visible. As well as the left fin.

The cloister next to the cathedral "Notre-Dame du Puy" was constructed within the 12th century, influenced by the moorish architecture. IN the mid of the 19th century, the cathedral and the cloister got renovated and in some parts reconstructed, this is still today well disputed. The mermaid was widely used symbol, mostly connected to human vanity and sexual lust. Here is a siren with one tail, many old ones have two tails. On the left you see the black vulcanic stone, that is typical for the Velay-area.

Heading north again. This time, we did not follow the valley of the Tarn, like we did some days before. Now, we "flew" over the valley. Here are details of that huge bridge: English: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millau_Viaduct French: fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viaduc_de_Millau German: de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viaduc_de_Millau

Thanks to the brilliant swing of "Smoky Joe Combo", we had a remarkable and very jazzy evening in Nissan-lez-Enserune. Merci beaucoup! Meet the band here: www.myspace.com/smokyjoecombo

Like most other "bastides" Revel has a layout like a chequerboard. Right in the very center here stands a belltower, surrounded by the wooden structure of "la halle central", filling the central block. Pierre-Paul Riquet has lived in Revel, before he started the construction of the "Canal du Midi" in 1667. The nearby "Lac de Saint-Ferréol" was created at that time, to provide water to the canal (about 30kms south). - When I reached this place walking the Via Tolosana in August 2011, the battery of my camera was flat. I ould not take a fresh photo. So just recycle this shot. Nothing had changed over the year.

In the background the medieval bridge, crossing the river Sorgue in Saint-Affrique. On the left the massive neogothic church, constructed in the end of the 19th century, on a place, where a church has been since the early time, over the tomb of Saint Affrique. Nearly nothing is known about him. The very large camel, standing right in the river, surprised me. The camel was real. It moved from time to time and drank water from the river. I tried pretty hard, but I found no connection between this wonderful animal, known from the north-african deserts - and Saint-Affrique. Later that evening I met the owner of the camel. It actually belonged to a small circus.

Saint-Affrique is a little town in the neighbourhood of the very small village of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon, world famous for it´s Roquefort cheese, made from ewe´s milk. Through St. Affrique runs the river Sorgue, crossed here by five (!) bridges. The oldest, seen here, was constructed around 1270. In the background the neogothic from the late 19th century church with it´s towering steeple (81m).