Cotignac (Pt 1)

The flight from Venice was uneventful and we're now ensconced in Cotignac, a beautiful village in Provence where Nick and Jodie have had an apartment now for about a year. They've done a fantastic job setting it up and doing renovations. The village has lots of character and is set at the foot of a massive cliff, that used to be a waterfall before the river was diverted centuries ago! Yesterday we travelled up to the Verdon Gorge which was pretty spectacular, then today down to St Tropez which was very impressive. Here's some pics....

Cotingac - one of the three squares. The apartment is on the first floor to the left, looking toward the 15th century clock tower......

Nick and Jodie's apartment living room overlooking the square....

Second square where restaurants have al fresco dining under the trees. It's also the location of the Tuesday market....

Some goodies shared from the excellent patisserie very near by.....

The town has retained some old olive presses in a public park at the top end of town, below the cliffs where people lived centuries ago ('troglodytes').....

And why not.....

Note the 'trompe l'oeil' on the end building facade. There's a woman in a window - but also painted on are all the white window architraves and the little round window at the top. Also, the array of shutters on the right hand building are also painted on (only two shown in photo)....

View over Cotingnac from the cliff walks.....

Verdon Gorge - the colour of the water is amazing. It runs into a large dam....

We visited Moustiers-Sainte-Marie after the gorge - it's a great little town with raging water running through it and cliffs towering overhead. Lots of arts and crafts throughout, and a Westie that Marian liked very much next to us at lunch.....

Today we went down to San Tropez. It was very pretty and well organised. In summer it's apparently a madhouse....