September 1: In search of lavender

Along with the calendar the weather shifted today. Still sunny, but a chilly morning and a pleasant 75 by midday, but very windy. A nice change from the very hot days of the past 10 days. We set off to the northwest to what the books call The Lavender Trail, which we knew was already past cutting, but worth a visit to the area nonetheless.

As we headed towards the market in Lourmarin, a first stop, the mist still hung in the creases of the mountains, a beautiful act of nature calling for a stop along the road and a photo. The market was a good one, and Kimberly had been interested in going, and I used it as an opportunity for some last minute souvenirs of my time in Provence. The route was taking us up through Bonnieaux again, which was the narrow, curving, steep road that took lots of concentration. We were headed for Gordes, another 10km further, and suddenly it was there, hanging on the edge of a cliff.

Parking was easy to find — these towns that draw tourists understand the need for it — and it was a short walk up a hill to main town square. Dominated by a large castle, there were mostly cute shops and restaurants around it, and The Church of Saint Fermin, built in the mid 1700’s. Originally Romanesque, and built on an ancient church site, I have never seen anything quite like the interior — the painted walls a riot of color. The castle was expanded to it’s current form in the 1500’s, from the original towers built in 1031. It is used mainly for exhibitions now. The stairs and walkways though the village are rough cobblestone and lead to some amazing views overlooking the valley — rows of grapes and fields of wheat checkerboard the landscape.

Then it was a short drive to the Abbaye de Senanque, a working Cistercian monastery since 1148. It is very picturesque, and sits just beyond some lavender fields that make it a stop for photos while in season. We had missed that season as well as the opportunity for a self-guided tour. But it was still quiet and beautiful.

One more hillside village on today’s itinerary — Roussillon.  Known for it’s ochre cliffs and processing of the tints from them. The village sits at the site of the massif de Ocres du Luberon, which are the results of nature and man, who have used this colored sanded for centuries. The color comes from iron-rich sand deposited into the sea over a hundred million years ago, and the tectonic shifts and tropical climate caused a chemical change, developing these amazing red and yellow colors. It is now processed and turned into powder to be used mostly in art supplies and of course the buildings. It was so interesting to see a “red/orange” village after all those of the pale limestone around the region. The shops all sell various tints of the sand for use in painting, but it involves adding water and some sort of gum mixture and some fixative — a more complicated artistic process. The village was charming and the views quite beautiful.

On the way back, we passed by the Pont Julien, a Roman stone arch bridge over the Calavon river dating from 3 BC. The supporting columns are notable for openings to allow floodwater to pass through. Originally, it was built on the Via Domitia, an important Roman road which connected Italy to the Roman territories in France. It was used for car traffic until 2005, amounting to approximately 2000 years of uninterrupted use!

Then it was back through the village of Bonnieaux — I began to dread the difficulty of the 10km curvy, narrow road — and back to the house. It is our last night here, so a dinner on the grill and some laundry and packing were the evening activities. And tomorrow I’m off again to explore more of Provence and then west to see more of France.