Balazuc Rooftops in Ardeche, France

Bird’s Eye View of Balazuc, Ardeche, France

The tiny French village of Balazuc snuggled deep within the timeless county of Ardèche is a place you go to lose yourself in another era, another way of life. Sun kissed hills are woven with ancient villages, a patchwork of medieval architecture fused seamlessly with the brown earth and golden fields of southern France. Balazuc is one of such places. A veritable labyrinth built of golden stone, the village’s narrow alleys wind up and down, dipping half-underground, through other buildings, around and through the hills in a completely random and at times mysterious manner. Hole-in-the-wall cafes dot the facades, and a hilltop castle and church duo seem to be trying to outdo one another. To access the steep hilltop village, one must first cross a surprisingly high bridge over the Ardèche River – not a bad place for a quick dip! And just a stone’s throw away is the equally-beautiful and heart-throbbingly medieval village of Largentière as well as the ever-impressive Gorges d’Ardeche. Get ready for a coup de foudre – French for love at first sight!

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Other Amazing Medieval Villages in Europe

1. Kazimierez Dolny, Poland
2. Santiallana del Mar, Cantabria, Spain
3. Pérouges, Rhone, France
4. Tallinn, Estonia
5. Olliergues, Auvergne, France
6. Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert, Occitanie, France

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Berlin Wall’s Car Crash, Germany

Berlin Wall’s Trabant Car Crash, Germany

Crash! One of the largest canvases in the world, West Berliners began painting on the 14-foot wall in the 1980’s while the corresponding East Berlin Wall remained immaculate – guards would not let East Berliners approach the Wall on pain of death (fearing escape attempts). First constructed in 1961 to separate the two countries, the Berlin Wall (especially the western side) later became what Facebook is today: a relatively uncontrolled blank slate on which people can express opinions, feelings, and dreams. In one mural, a car – a white Trabant – is depicted crashing through the Berlin Wall. Trabants were a popular East German car brand, and despite being cute and bug-eyed, the reinforced plastic cars were poorly made and notoriously hard to drive – though East Germans were desperate to get one, so desperate that they had to sign up on a list just to be considered for ownership. Trabants then became a symbol of the communist East Germany, and ceased to be manufactured after the fall of wall. It’s not hard to understand what the artist was trying to depict here: an East German in his or her iconic East German car crashing through the oppressive and separatist Berlin Wall after it fell in 1989.

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See Other Berlin Wall Murals

1. Brandenburg Tor – Berlin
2. Swirls – Berlin Wall
3. “I painted over the wall of shame…” – Berlin Wall
4. Colourful dancers – Berlin Wall
5. Escaping over the Berlin Wall

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