Saturday, April 28, 2007
We landed in Nice at about 10am in the morning, and met up with the rest of Erika's friends who were heading to the Chateau to celebrate her 40th birthday with us. Most of the people were band members that I only had a passing acquaintance with, but it was great to see Martine and Jerome again, former neighbours who had moved back to their native Montreal. This would be Martine's first trip to continental France, and she would also be celebrating her 50th birthday a few days after Erika celebrated her “official” birthday bash at the Chateau.
Outside Nice Airport
Erika took one car full of people to the Chateau while I acted as navigator and guide in another one, driven by Jeremy and with Charmaine and Dave as passengers. Things went went well, paying the expected tolls and finding our way along the Cote d'Azure. But then I missed the turnoff for St. Tropez, and it turned out that there was no subsequent turnoff until we hit Toulon, many, many kilometers out of our way. Instead of taking the highway all of the way back we ended up taking a more scenic route, which took us up the side of a mountain. A fun ride, but one in which the driver had to pay keen attention to the road to ensure that we didn't end up plunging down into the valley several hundred feet below. Every now and then there would be a bouquet of flowers taped to a fresh guard rail, where someone clearly had “gone over”. I felt my ears pop as we neared the summit. The view was beautiful, and as we passed through Grimauld we briefly noticed what seemed to be most of the male population playing Boce ball in the town square.
We eventually made our way to St Tropez, and from there I was able (with some help from the peanut gallery in the back seat) to make our way to the Chateau, where we met up with everyone else. The warmth of the Mediterranean sun seeped through our attire, as we were still dressed for a cool Toronto in April.
On this visit we were situated in the Blue Room within the chateau, one of my favourite bedrooms within the Chateau, with a generous washroom, very comfortable bed and the usual magnificent view looking over the Mediterranean coastline. I changed into something more comfortable and took advantage of the sun to walk the grounds and start taking pictures.
Annie Finds a Play Car
Bob the Dog, or is it a Mop Without a Handle?
I had been told that the destruction caused by the fire was extensive, and while the hillside leading up to the chateau was certainly denuded of many of its trees, the damage to the vineyards and to any greenery up the hill past the chateau was much less than I expected. There were dead trees to be sure, and I was amazed by the resilience of the cork trees, which in several cases would be charred on the outside but were festooned with green leaves around their periphery.
A Charred Tree that Still Sports Green Leaves
A Burned and Dead Tree
The North Face of the Chateau
Young Grape Vines
Young Grape Vines in the Vinyard
One of the other seeming effects of the fire were the bright purple thistle plants that seemed to grow everywhere, especially in places where there was suddenly lots of cleared ground that had lots of direct sunlight. Pretty from a distance, but you definitely wouldn't want to go walking through it.
Thistles Everywhere
After my walk of the grounds and vineyard north of the chateau, I returned to the building to see how everyone was. I found Erika and her fellow bandmate trumpeters already practicing, getting a terrific view of the Mediterranean as they played their tunes from the second floor balcony.
Trumpeters At The Chateau
Afterwards there was a scrumptious dinner, local Provence style. Erika's father has a chef who will be cooking for us the whole time we are here, so we will certainly be eating well.
Then finally bed, after staying up straight for over 24 hours.
Labels: Chateau Volterra, France, St. Tropez, vineyard
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