Les Alpilles 2014

2013 - a year without France! We have been in Croatia.  But in 2014 we had withdrawal symptoms concerning France. So we four (Ute, her sister Ingrid, Ingrid's husband Wolfgang and me) started on May 23, 2014 again to a journey in the Provence, this time in the departement Bouches-du-Rhône, in the small village  Mouriès at the southern slope of the Alpilles. We had booked a vacation domicile at Interchalet .The vacation home was okay, even if there was some little reductions .

The total distance of 1300 km from  Halle to Mouriès we don't complete in one day . After 800 km we have a stay in Besançon  in the hotel Zenitude. We have been there. It is located in the western outskirts of the city next the medicine department of the university and very reasonably priced

Mouriès

Olive plantations -far and wide

[Click on the photos to enlarge]

Mouriès is a village south-east of Avignon, on the southern slope of the Alpilles, a mountain range even not all French are knowing. The maximal height of the most white looking limestone rocks is 400 meters. The mountain ridge is visible on the horizon in the north. 3500 residents live here and have to do -mainly- with oil. With olive oil of course. Around the village are large olive plantations. There is the main and biggest growing area of olives in France. There are some oil mills there - even with factory shops. But the oil prices are so high (15 - 20 euros per liter)that we prescinded from purchase.
But also almonds and grapes are grown there.