Tyre Time, and The Psychedelic Caves

Nimes, Baux de Provence and back
Ron's bike still needed a new tyre, and we'd located a Ducati dealer in Nimes, with an appointment at 9 am - early start for a 45 minute ride. The guys were really helpful, and Ron opted for the full set replacement. An hour later, and the usual joshing about how much better a BMW would be, especially as they happened to have a used 1200RT on the lot, and we were away. Result. Where to now??

Ron's Noo Tire
Well, last year Jen and I had been in Toulon, not so far away, and had found the town of Les Baux-de-Provence, and the Carrieres et Lumieres show. This seemed like an opportunity not to be missed, so we headed east over to the repurposed quarry (carriere) in the  nohills of Provence.


Simply, Ron and Jim were stunned by the astounding visuals, sound and immersive experience. This year's show is Bosch, Euler and Arcimboldo, and was brilliantly done. We entered during the finale, which involved a recorded live performance of Stairway to Heaven backing scenes from Bosch's Garden of Paradise. Amazing. And the place is cold, really cold. Marvellous!
No show

With show















After four cycles of the show, and lunch in the handy cafe, and a viewing of the film about Jean Cocteau, who started all this off, we were ready to move on to the town.

Les Baux-de-Provence is a hilltop town, with an astounding view over the surrounding countryside, dating from Roman times. it's pretty touristy, but hey... We took a very hot stroll round the castle, enjoying the view if not the heat, drinking 3 litres of water between us!

Haas's Arcimboldo Statues




One of the special exhibitions at the castle was the 5 m tall statues, 3D versions of the Arcimboldo Four Seasons pictures shown in the caves. Cool.

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