That sums up quite well our Saturday :)
Another sunny weekend, though much more windy & cold, another local area to explore (very very close to the other one) ...
So we went to discover Viviourès Castle (512 meters high, built in the 12th century, half destroyed in the middle of the 16th century & has been in the same state -of ruins- since then) , but first we stopped by a random wild area. Over here, in the south, wild areas are called {garrigue}.We understood that autumn is here for good now, the cold winds told us so. Everything is dry or drying, but there were still lots of plants, herbs & flowers living & blooming.
Then we took the car again & drove little to go to our second place. Where we were standing, the Mediterranean Sea was, 120 millions years ago. Wow, that's a lot. So when Chris told me this, I decided to take a photo of the sand (not very fine sand), and my eye got attracted by something ... yes, a fossil.
This is a planorbis (Planorbis is a genus of freshwater air-breathing snails, aquatic pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Planorbidae) and, thanks to the good books we own, and to the internet, we could estimate that it must be around 100 or 120 millions years old. Do I have to add that this kind of discoveries totally made our day ?! (and weekend, and week !) I found a couple of others, and frankly, I could have spend the whole afternoon doing this ! (Chris & the boys too !) And when I uploaded the photos to the computer, I discovered the tiniest fossil, that was in my hand as I was taking a photo of the sand. It's in the middle of the "O", on the photo.
The rest of the afternoon was spent hiking in the nature, admiring its seasonal beauties ...
And then ... we climbed (yes, almost literally) to Viviourès Castle.
It really was amazing to see all this, to see where people sat in their outfits of the period, for the last time 550 years ago ... I took a little video for you to see it too.I will end my post today with two last photos ... I hope you had a terrific weekend too ! :)
Please take good care & have a wonderful week ahead ! oxox
PS : changed the header (told you so, last week). Like this one too, do you ?
Another sunny weekend, though much more windy & cold, another local area to explore (very very close to the other one) ...
So we went to discover Viviourès Castle (512 meters high, built in the 12th century, half destroyed in the middle of the 16th century & has been in the same state -of ruins- since then) , but first we stopped by a random wild area. Over here, in the south, wild areas are called {garrigue}.We understood that autumn is here for good now, the cold winds told us so. Everything is dry or drying, but there were still lots of plants, herbs & flowers living & blooming.
Then we took the car again & drove little to go to our second place. Where we were standing, the Mediterranean Sea was, 120 millions years ago. Wow, that's a lot. So when Chris told me this, I decided to take a photo of the sand (not very fine sand), and my eye got attracted by something ... yes, a fossil.
This is a planorbis (Planorbis is a genus of freshwater air-breathing snails, aquatic pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Planorbidae) and, thanks to the good books we own, and to the internet, we could estimate that it must be around 100 or 120 millions years old. Do I have to add that this kind of discoveries totally made our day ?! (and weekend, and week !) I found a couple of others, and frankly, I could have spend the whole afternoon doing this ! (Chris & the boys too !) And when I uploaded the photos to the computer, I discovered the tiniest fossil, that was in my hand as I was taking a photo of the sand. It's in the middle of the "O", on the photo.
The rest of the afternoon was spent hiking in the nature, admiring its seasonal beauties ...
And then ... we climbed (yes, almost literally) to Viviourès Castle.
It really was amazing to see all this, to see where people sat in their outfits of the period, for the last time 550 years ago ... I took a little video for you to see it too.I will end my post today with two last photos ... I hope you had a terrific weekend too ! :)
Please take good care & have a wonderful week ahead ! oxoxPS : changed the header (told you so, last week). Like this one too, do you ?
Gorgeous, as always! Such adventures you're having and such a beautiful Autumn!
ReplyDeletebest wishes - xoxo, Kara
Hello Sonia, it's so pretty, I love the videos, it's such a special area, the garrigue is so pretty & there are wild herbs. I love your header too. Thanks for such a gorgeous post. Hugs
ReplyDeleteFantasatic post, Sonia! You sure give you boys a wonderful education with all your adventures! They'll probably want to grow up to be archaeologists! How cool to find fossils! We are close to the ocean so we have them in our local hills/mountains, too, but sadly NO CASTLES! :D (((Hugz)))
ReplyDeleteI love these pictures and your adventure. I would have loved tagging along on this hike with you. Thanks for the videos, makes it feel like being there :)
ReplyDeleteCiao Sonia! What a lovely life, full of adventures! :) Love all the pics, thanks for sharing them. Have a lovely week, hugs!
ReplyDeleteLovely, lovely photo series. So glad I stumbled into your beautiful blogland!
ReplyDelete