Aix-en-Provence and nearby

[Vladimir]

Aix-Marseille, where I live, is nowhere near the actual Rhone which is in the far west of the region.

The sign represents the Bouches du Rhone division of the CGT union, which has a lot of power in Gardanne because of the industry,
When the mine which supplied coal to the power station closed a few years ago, union members flung a few petrol bombs in the direction of the pit head.

[trickntoots]

Sounds scary Vladimir. Terrifying in fact. What ever happened to the rules to protest legally and to keep oneself and ones brothers in arms safe at all times?

[Vladimir]

Fun at the beach



At the entrance to the most polluted lake in Europe.

[trickntoots]

Such beauty spoiled by industry.

Have you ever read the book Blue Gold? We really need to start protecting the worlds waters.

Is the mine fully closed now? Industrial change is so hard. How is the town coping?

[Vladimir]

The town still has its aluminium works. Imagine Motherwell, smaller and run by the communist party, that still has its factory, thats Gardanne. The photos above show a fairly prosperous town, still making money from oil refining as well as steel etc. The place wasnt beautiful to begin with, its just a flat boggy wasteland, but im sure damage was still done to the 'ecosystem' or whatever.

[Vladimir]

Mural in Biver, an old mining town, which my old dentist was based in, probably the worst dentist in the world



These radar/watchout towers are at Port-du-Bouc just to the west of Marseille in the oil refining belt. The whole area has a kind of dead feeling to it, its not just the hundreds of abandoned buildings (left as demand for the ports declined) , with the exception of the towns (which do their best to look good, lots of flowers etc.) the place is totally empty of life. Its mostly an oil saturated wasteland.




Even the highrise had some kind of a lookout post.

[paladin]

Mural in Biver, an old mining town, which my old dentist was based in, probably the worst dentist in the world

Nice Mural, shame about the Dentist (He wasn't an ex-miner was he?)

[Vladimir]

She was a she so there wasnt much chance of her being an ex-miner


Im sure I had my teeth filled with aluminium straight from the nearby plant and without anasthetic

I changed dentists when I moved to another town thank god

[paladin]

She was a she so there

What? A lady dentist with no pulling power........

[Vladimir]

[Vladimir]

These are not from Provence, but the Basque country, but I thought id post them anyway.

This is a Basque house (on the left ) and a WW2 German Blockhaus. As you enter the beach you see a sign warning you of it, the base has been eroded and it stays up only with its own weight.



These are rocks found at the very Atlantic end of the Pyrenees, the pressure that forced up the mountains created some interesting rock formations.





And this is a war monument.

[Vladimir]

Le Grand Pavois, certainly not hidden, Marseilles tallest building (100m).

[Vladimir]

A diving board type thing.