Summary
Another gorgeous day, blue sky and a high of 78. Had a leisurely morning and picnic lunch at our inn. Drove to the unusual village of Roussillon. “Roussillon is a stunning hilltop village in the Luberon region of Provence, France, renowned for its vibrant red and orange cliffs—the world’s largest ochre deposit. Listed among the “Most Beautiful Villages of France,” it features narrow streets, 18th-century homes…” It also has a beautiful hike called,the ocher trail which we did. Went from there to Gordes, probably my favorite Plus Beaux Village. Spent a bit of time admiring the view of the town from “The Belvedere”, walking the narrow streets and enjoying a nice dinner.
Details
It is 55° outside when we wake up. We crack open the windows and doors to cool things off inside. It feels lovely. It’s another sun-shiny, beautiful day with blue skies. In the quiet of the night, we apparently slept past 8 AM. Very civil. We head down to breakfast to meet Ron and Nancy.
Our hostess is an ex corporate executive originally from Germany. She details for us what’s on offer and asks if we are familiar with the operation of their particular coffee maker. I assure her that I am, and reach for one of the pods. “DON’T TOUCH THAT!” she snaps. Obviously she is not done explaining how things are done here and the various traps visitors invariably fall into with the complicated machinery. Fully briefed I do make coffee and we load up our plates for a filling breakfast. Our hostess seems nice otherwise, but I guess that having their coffeemaker jam drives her crazy.
Our plans for the first half of the day (at least) is to just relax and catch up with life. This is to make up for our long day of driving yesterday.
At lunchtime we convene under the front covered patio and dig out all our leftovers from our refrigerators. It’s an odd assortment of cheese, sausage, breads, nuts, chips, wine and beer. It’s enough for us to call lunch.
Sufficiently rested, we head out by car, this time to Roussillon, a small village known for its natural ochre, an earthy red soil that’s been prized for 100s of years by painters. Today is Sunday so many shops are closed, but there are plenty of tourists. It’s a popular destination. Car parked, we duck into an unattended display in an old olive oil mill. They have machinery cleaned up and on display but also a fun video showing how they grow and produce all kinds of local food products. We’re not hungry but the fruit and nut pastes look luscious.
Further along, through the weekend crowds, we pay our entrance fee take the longer (55 minute) loop hike to see the ochre cliffs. Back in the day painters collected the earth, ground it and sifted it, and mixed it with (?) oils and whatever to make paint. Given the color it’s easy to imaging. Today it is strictly forbidden to remove any of the rusty brown soil but we’re sure it happens.
Our second stop is the hilltop town of Gordes, back closer to where we’re staying. It’s Sunday here too so the closed shops and wandering tourists parallel what we experienced in Roussillon. We have dinner outside at a fun little restaurant with a fun owner. We’re sitting outside, literally on the outskirts of the town proper. There’s an old, steep narrow stone road, bordered by an old city stone wall. It seems to be for pedestrians now and the restaurant has expanded its footprint out on to the road. The place is a mix of indoor tables, tables on various balconies and three picnic tables on the road. We have one of the picnic tables reserved and enjoy one of our better meals in a while.
One and a half bottles of wine later we make the long walk back to our car, make a quick visit to the Belvedere for an awesome view of Gordes and then drive back to out farm/hotel. We head out on foot for a long walk, enjoying the cool evening air and the occasional prolific flowering plant adding color to our walk.
Photos
[Note: to view the photos in chronological order, start at the bottom :-/ ]
