On Friday morning I headed out north, back into the Alps de Haute Provence region, to first visit a small village that I had passed by on a previous drive, and then to head to a morning market. The route is one which essentially takes you over a section of the Luberon mountain range, so the roads are curvy and narrow and the views as you climb pretty spectacular. It’s a change from the landscape in this area, which is hilly, but more of a large valley.
My destination was Saint Michel de Observatoire, which is a Medieval village sitting on a low hill amidst farmlands and lavender fields, and is the “gateway” village to the Haute-Provence Observatory. I had thought that this meant that the Observatory itself was there, but I sorta missed the word “gateway” in my understanding. So, the village itself is small and charming and has an astrology museum (which was closed), but you can just see the actual Observatory on the hill a couple of kms away. There’s one active church — the Eglise St. Pierre, which has a tall campanile on top — and a large 12th-century church sits higher up the hill, but still below the top where the ruins are of the original fortified village. This is called L’Eglise Haute (the Upper Church) or Eglise Saint-Michel.
The nearby Haute-Provence Observatory was established in 1937 so it is assumed that the name of the commune had the suffix “L’Observatoire” added about that time. The Observatory is only at 1,900 ft elevation, but the site was chosen because of its generally very favorable observing conditions. About 60% of the nights are suitable for astronomical observations. I’m not generally a “stars” geek, so I didn’t drive over to it (and I worried it may not be open), so instead began the drive to another place I hadn’t been for its village market.
Manosque is about as close to a city as I’ve visited yet. Sorta suburban sprawl Provence-style. It is most well known for being the headquarters for the L’Occitane company, which turned traditional lavender, olive oil and almond based products into a global phenomenon. The town is known to it’s fountains, and there was one section that reflected the long history — an archway leading to what it now a pedestrian shopping street. The St. Savior Church was consecrated in 1372, and is best known for its campanile — one of the most finely worked in the Mediterranean area, and dates to 1725. I found the organ to be one of the most beautiful I’ve seen — built in 1625 by some famous organ builders in Avignon, it was quite unique. Last bit of somewhat interesting tidbits from the town is its coat of arms — 4 hands —manus in Latin — which might have also represented the 4 city gates to the town, and the 4 separate quarters for different “classes” of people. The market was fairly typical and not terribly special, but provided the bread and fruit and vegetables necessary for the day!
On Sunday, a morning run into town to the boulangerie resulted in a warm baguette and croissants to start the day. I then headed to Saint Martin de Braques for the market and the promised poultry guy. This market featured one section of flea market vendors, and a lively 5 piece band playing some music, and an oyster bar. Quite a nice vibe to the village. My big experience for the day was a drive south of Aix-en-Provence to pick up Kimberly from the TGV train station there. It was slightly delayed, but after traveling for 24 hours, she had arrived! We enjoyed a lovely, low-key dinner on the patio, and she had her well-deserved sleep.
An there went the weekend.
Kimberly!!!!!