gorge-ous

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when i saw a friend's pictures of verdon gorge, i was sure i had to go there. and it totally lived up to my high expectations of grandeur.

we drove inland from villefranche into the parc naturel régional des préalpes d'azur. the "pre-alps" mountains, just minutes away from the coast, are stunning ... our drive provided some truly spectacular scenery. we stayed overnight in a super random and tiny french village, where there happened to be a medieval fair going on...!

in the morning we drove past verdon gorge to spend a bit of time exploring the darling town of moustiers-sainte-marie, set right into the waterfall-bedazzled mountainside. then we drove back to the gorge and rented a little motorboat to cruise up the outrageously coloured water. (we were thrilled that there was a good alternative to the pedal boats - that would have been a bit tricky with two wiggly boys along for the ride!)

i don't think i'll ever get over that verdon gorge water!!

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^^ ^^ views from the church on the hill ^^ ^^
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^^ there were loads of people dressed up, some stalls selling medieval-y handicrafts, and a procession down the street that our airbnb was on. so random, but pretty cool! ^^
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^^ our airbnb had a little balcony, from which we could see the hilltop church and, after the kids were asleep, this luscious sunset. ^^
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^^ ian got up early with the boys in the morning and walked with them back up the hill for these amazing sunrise views! ^^
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^^ a view of the gorge from above, in the earlier morning light. ^^
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^^ moustiers-sainte-marie and the lake of sainte-croix (which verdon gorge flows into) ^^
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i found this little town so hard to capture with a camera (especially with a baby on my chest and a toddler to chase after ;) ) ... but it is just as charming as you could possibly imagine.
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i'm just going to put that picture from the top of this post in here again. because ... can you believe this is real?!
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^^ moses picked out those sunglasses (somehow he gravitated to the most unstylish pair, haha) in villefranche. and they will forever be sitting at the bottom of verdon gorge... :( ^^
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^^ ian driving the boat in tie-dye and neon green glasses like a boss. ha! ^^
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incredible, incredible spot on earth. verdon definitely puts the gorge in gorgeous.

the last stop on our road trip was...
...to be continued...!

Comments

  1. The part about the unstylish sunglasses sitting on the bottom of the gorge forever made me laugh. I'm not a fan of littering but I can't think of a better place for a pair of unstylish sunglasses to end up.
    Your photos really make me want to go to the French Riviera now!

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  2. I have such travel envy right now! I used to live in Aix, and have visited many of the places on your trip. It makes my heart ache a bit! France is such a beautiful country.

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  3. So incredible! The earth is amazing!

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