La Trophee des Alpes a La Turbie

Saturday 19 May 2012

I slept poorly that first night - as I expected, between jet lag and not being able to sleep well in new places, I knew it would be an interesting evening.  Tim and I made another run to the local grocery store for some breakfast items.  I learned that you must weigh your fruit before going to the check out.  Otherwise you either do not buy it or you have to go back.  Interesting process and difference between France and the US. Tim, Cindy, Marissa, Erica, Minda, Bryce, and myself took the shuttle back to the airport to meet the rest of the group.  This time I did remember to exchange my money. :)  Much better prepared to explore France now that I had money.  Most of the group met up fairly quickly - we had to wait a bit for David and Nathan. Their walk from the hostel they stayed at was much longer than they thought and they underestimated the amount of time it would take them.  Once we were all loaded up we headed out of Nice and our study abroad experience was officially started.

I tried to enjoy the view out the window of the bus, but there is something about moving vehicles that puts me straight to sleep, so I actually did not get to see too much.  Our first stop was Carrefour, which I thought was a town until it was pointed out to me that it was the name of the really, really large hypermarket store.  You name it they had it - its like their version of Walmart, only this particular store was absolutely huge!  Our mission was to purchase items for breakfast and lunch for our time in Vergons, as there was no store of any sort there.  A few of us hit the buffet in the mall for lunch.  In stead of getting your food first, you order your food, get a ticket and deliver the ticket to the grill where they make your meal.  Interesting process, but it works.  Buffets in a mall in France is very similar to at home - lots of families with small children who have meltdowns, but eh what can you do?

From Carrefour we took the bus to La Turbie.  Now La Turbie is a modern city with ancient beginnings and the roads were defiantly not designed for a large coach bus to enter on.  Giles, our driver, had to get creative on where to drop us off and hang out while waiting for us to come back.  He somehow made it work.  La Turbie itself provides an amazing view of the Mediterranean Sea and of the city of Monaco.

View of Monaco from La Turbie

Our destination in La Turbie was not actually the town itself, but the Trophee des Alpes a La Turbie, a very large monument built by the Romans in honor of Emperor Augustus following the Roman victory over the Gauls living in what is now Southern France.  It was dedicated in 7-6 B.C.  It stood on the hill for hundreds of years, but slowly was dismantled by the local people to recycle the stone in other buildings.  It was listed as a historical monument in 1860 and restoration was begun in 1905.  Interestingly enough, funds for rebuilding part of the monument were donated by an American named Edward Tuck.

Postcard Picture of the Trophy

The Trophy itself is isolated from the rest of La Turbie by a nice park and grounds with a fence surrounding it.  We were able to have a quick look at the one room museum with the artist rendition of what they think the Trophy may have looked like when it was first built.

What the Trophy may have looked like

Following our time in the museum, we were able to explore the grounds and see the monument for ourselves.  The most impressive part for me was the sheer size of the monument.  Do not let my photographs fool you - it took some creativity to get the whole thing in one picture.  For reference check out what it looks like when I stand next to it.

Cullen and I standing at the base of the Trophy

How on earth were they able to construct such a large monument?  I would be impressed if someone accomplished this feat today, but can you imagine doing this without the aide of modern machines?  The monument was designed to impress, intimidate, and tell the world without words that the Romans conquered the entire people in this land.  You can't read it in the photograph, but the smooth part above our heads is full of the names of the different tribes of Gauls that were conquered by Rome.  Message received - don't mess with Rome!  We were able to climb to the upper part of the monument, but this was not quite as enjoyable as it sounds.  For by this time the rain had arrived and it was windy and wet at the top.  Thankfully it did not last long, but we did not linger at the top.

Before we left La Turbie we walked a little through town, following the part of what was the original Roman Road to the local Catholic Church, seeing the WWI memorial inside before heading back to the bus and continuing on our way to our next destination - the tiny village of Vergons, which would be our home for the next several days.

Archway over the Roman Road.

For more pictures go here.