By Michelle Alten
Dramatic ochre cliffs of Roussillon
All photos © Wolfgang Kaehler, phototours.us
We continued researching our 2018 photo tour with a visit to the Luberon, with its picturesque Provencal villages that cling to the hillsides. At the time of our tour, the lavender and sunflower fields will be in full bloom, turning the placid countryside into a symphony of color. On this trip, we are too early for the flowers but still able to experience the dramatic ochre cliffs of Roussillon and Lacoste with the impressive aerie of the Marquis de Sade, the 18th century writer whose dubious works led to the word sadism.
My first day with the Camargue horses. Here a stallion is rearing.
Now we have arrived in the Camargue, the marshland home to myriad birds and the famed white horses. Wolf went out today with our local photography expert who has arranged fabulous photo shoots with the horses galloping along the beaches and through the marshes. Today a stallion splashed in the surf, delighting in the spray of millions of water droplets. On the beach it reared and threw its head in the air, its mane waving in the sassy mistral wind. Our day ended with the Parc Ornothologique where hundreds of pink flamingoes waded in the waterways. Calling, greeting other birds and soaring over the placid pools, the flamingoes provided a dramatic spectacle for photographers. For us, the Camargue is living up to its marvelous reputation as a guardian of nature.
Close encounter with Pink flamingos in the Camargue.
Flamingos show different colors depending on their food.
Portrait of a Pink flamingo in the Camargue.