10th June

Today we took at tour into the Luberon which is 3 mountain ranges and the valley that lies between.  It is recognised for its cultural heritage as well as the fabulous primary produce and since 1977 the whole 600sq kms has been declared a national park.  Once St Tropez was the place to have your European Getaway but these days the Luberon is attracting movie stars, artists, designers etc, who are buying up chateaux for weekenders.  We drove through wheat fields, vineyards, olive groves and almond trees before the first stop at Louramin where a very popular market was being held.   Like many of the villages, it is dominated by a castle and has characteristic narrow winding streets, today filled with colourful street stalls of every kind. On the next leg we passed the first lavender fields I’ve seen in the region, I’ve been expecting them ever since we arrived.  And once we saw one, we saw hundreds. These and the 3 kinds of oak trees that have the fungus locally called ‘black diamonds’.  Last season truffles sold for 1000 Euro for just 1 kg.    The next stop was Roussillon, once famous for its ochre mines this industry is now topped but the cliffs and pits remain a remarkable reminder.  Every building in the village is painted in the range of ochre options, and why wouldn’t you?  Not only are they warm and rich but everything would end up stained this colour palette anyway.  Our tour then took us to the Romanesque style Cistercian Abbey of Silvacane founded in the 12^th century.  This valley was a very remote part of the world when the monks first established the abbey and took their vows in solitude, poverty, chastity, manual labour etc.  These days tourists troop through 7 days a week, much to the Abbott’s chagrin, but the money comes in handy for restorations. Our final stop was at the village of Gordes.  This has been declared the most beautiful village in France and is famous for its drystone wall construction.  We had the chance to walk into an original one-room, one door building that is completely constructed by the drystone method, even the roof.  No supporting structures at all, just stones placed much like an igloo made of iceblocks.  Its amazing that it has stood here all that time.  Even the modern homes being constructed on the outskirts of this village are finishing their exterior walls with a drystone veneer to keep with the theme.  We finally returned to Aix for our last night in our very comfy apartment before leaving for Montpellier.