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A Trip through the Countryside
of Southern France
Written
by Rick Archer
March 2013
On the final day
of our Barcelona 2009 cruise, we stopped in Marseilles,
France. Marla and I decided to take a bus tour through the
beautiful countryside of southern France.
We visited a
castle and a village in Lourmain (#2), an amazing former
"Ochre Quarry" in Roussillon (#3), and a delightful French
town named Isle Sur la Sorgue (#4).
Here is the
story!!
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Rick's Note: In
July 2014, Marla and I are considering offering a River Cruise
through Southern France along the Rhone River.
The journey would begin by flying into Marseilles. From
there, we would take an hour's bus ride to Avignon about 50
miles to the north.
The ship would leave from Avignon and first
visit Arles, the town that Vincent Van Gogh made famous with
his artwork. From there we would head north.
At Lyon, the ship
would leave the Rhone and
cross over to the Saone River. As
the map shows, the trip would end at Chalon.
Marla had
hoped to add the 3-day Paris extension to the trip as well.
As they say, once you're there, you might as well see it all.
This is an expensive
trip, no doubt. That said, this is what people refer to as a
"dream vacation." To many people, the price of seeing this
exquisite part of the world makes the trip worthwhile. Now the
question is whether we can get enough people for Marla to go ahead
and actually schedule the trip.
In early March 2013,
Marla put out a feeler and got some very positive response. By
coincidence, I was working on this story about our 2009 visit to
Southern France. If you read my story and think the 2014 River
Cruise to this same area is a trip you would be interested in
taking, by all means contact Marla (
marla@ssqq.com ) and show
your support.
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Our first stop
took us to the small village of Lourmarin located
about 35 miles due north of Marseilles.
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Lourmarin was
filled with narrow, winding streets far more suitable for
walking than for any cars.
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I don't think
cars could even fit in this narrow alley way. That odd line
turned out to be a path for rain to drain off quickly.
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There were
larger streets for cars, but we got there so early that
practically nothing was moving in this sleepy hamlet.
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There were
flowers in every window. The town was ridiculously
clean and cheerful in appearance.
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Marla and I
treated ourselves to a guilty pleasure: French pastries!
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We ate our
pastries complete with delicious French coffee down in this
cellar converted into a small restaurant
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Marla discovered
the most beautiful gift shop I have ever seen!!
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Marla found all
sorts of things to interest her.
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I could not get
over the richness of all the color.
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People were
starting to move around the town. As you can see, even
the roads the cars were allowed on weren't very wide.
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Lourmarin Castle is located in the
Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region.
This castle is the main reason we had come to the charming
town of Lourmarin.
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I regret to say
I didn't find the interior of the castle particularly
interesting, but the views around the castle were stunning.
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These foothills
are part of the French Alps which descend all the way the
edge of the Mediterranean Sea. Therefore the
countryside is extremely hilly. Lourmarin is located
in a luscious valley that is perfect for farming.
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France has been
called the breadbasket of Europe.
This picture on
the left evokes images of the fertile land and the ease with
which crops are raised in the farmland here.
On the right is
a lovely pond. Trust me, the castle was far prettier
on the outside than the inside. No one has bothered to
make the interior even remotely "comfortable".
After the
conclusion of the French Revolution, the castle slowly
descended into ruins.
Finally, in 1920, Robert Laurent-Vibert, who was a producer
of cosmetics, bought the ruined castle & restored it.
Upon his death,
he donated the castle to the townspeople and the area.
The proceeds from visitors are meant to benefit the
community.
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One last look at
lovely Lourmarin. Now we were on our way to Luberon
Valley (see below) located to the north ten miles away
on the other side of the foothills.
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Luberon
ValleyLuberon
Valley lies in the middle of
Provence in the far south of France. The valleys north and
south of them contain a number of towns and villages as well
as highly fertile agricultural
land.
The total number of inhabitants
varies greatly between winter and summer.
The area fills up in the summer due to a massive
influx of tourists during the warm season.
Luberon Valley
is full of many farms and green fields as far as the eye can
see. In every direction one can see the valley framed
by rolling hills that can just barely be described as
"mountains".
The valley is
surrounded by three separate mountain ranges
known as the Little Luberon, the Big Luberon and the
Oriental Luberon. Just to the
north of the valley, these foothills turn into the rugged
French Alps.
Although the
mild climate is somewhat arid, there are plentiful rivers
and streams flowing down from the Alps to the Mediterranean
Sea that can be used for irrigation.
Provence
is the name for the entire area. Due to its proximity
to Mediterranean and its mild climate, Provence has some of
the earliest known sites of human habitation in Europe.
All sorts of primitive artifacts and drawing are constantly
being found in caves around the region.
Over the
centuries, the Gauls, the Greeks, and the Romans have fought
many battles for control of the rich farmland.
Today this area
is a favorite destination for French high society and
British and American visitors because of the pleasant and
picturesque towns and villages, comfortable way of life,
agricultural wealth, and the rich history
of the region. There are vineyards
throughout the region plus a multitude of fascinating biking
and hiking trails.
Some of the
favorite hiking trails are located just south of Roussillon.
Known as the "Ochre Footpaths", the paths wind through a
bizarre world of red dirt.
Ochre is a
natural dye that has been used since prehistoric times. At
one time, 17 different ochre tints were quarried in
Roussillon. The ochre business was at its best towards the
end of the 19th century and ochre from Roussillon was
exported all over the world. The area of ochre in the
Luberon valley is the biggest in the world, giving the area
the nickname the "Colorado Provençal".
The small French
town of Roussillon is world-famous as the site of the one of
the richest lodes of ochre clay in the world.
However, at this
point, I think the townspeople are more interested in
preserving the remaining supplies as a tourist attraction
than they are in selling it commercially.
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Here we get our first look at the weird landscape created by
the mining and the erosion of the ochre hills near
Roussillon.
The place is so
rugged and uniformly red, I swear you feel like you are
walking on the surface of Mars!!
The quarries can
be visited via the 'Sentier des Ocres' (Ochre Path),
a walk of 30 to 60 minutes through the old workings
depending on your pace.
Roussillon
is a small village in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region
in southeastern France. The current population is
somewhere around 1,200. It is said that in the summer
the tourists outnumber the townspeople.
The village lies
within the borders of the Parc Naturel Régional du
Luberon, the French name for "National Park".
The large ochre quarries of Roussillon were mined from the
end of the 18th century until 1930.
Back in those
days, thousands of people found work in the quarries and
factories. However the discovery of less expensive and less
fragile synthetic pigments rendered the mining obsolete.
Nowadays the
ochre quarries have been permanently closed to further
mining. This prohibition was put in place in order to
protect the sites from degradation and further destruction.
Using Google
Earth, this picture shows the extent of ochre hills with
their distinctive red hues. These ochre hills stretch
for one-third of a mile. This fragile area was named a
conservation site in 2002.
As you will see,
the townspeople of Roussillon have turned the area into a
delightful tourist adventure. They have created a
labyrinth of delightful footpaths that take you through the
former quarries that are now being returned to nature.
And now its time
to walk with Marla and me down the amazing Ochre Path.
We were shocked to be instantly transported into one of the
most extreme environments imaginable.
I honestly felt
like I had been placed on a different planet.
Welcome to the Red World of Mars!
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Faces in the Crowd:
Maite Rombado
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Faces in the Crowd:
Millie Cagle &
Carolyn Novogradac
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OMG! It's the
terrible Red Ochre Monster!
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After lunch, we
left Roussillon and took a short trip over to L'Isle Sur la
Sorgue, a quaint village built on both sides of the Sorgue
River.
In this part of
France, it seems like there is a river every five miles.
All that rain and snow up in the French Alps to the north
has to go somewhere. As a result, there is a series of
rivers taking the rain waters down to the Mediterranean.
The town has many attractive water wheels that are still in
working order.
The town is fun
to visit. It has many waterside cafés and restaurants, all
within walking distance of each other. L'Isle
Sur la Sorgue is famous for its many antique shops. It hosts
antique markets most Sundays that are visited by both locals
and tourists from far and wide.
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There were all
kinds of lovely canals to look at.
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Marla and I got
a little bored, so we decided to walk through the park.
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So what is Marla
doing down there? We came upon a bunch of ducks.
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I fished a box
of Cheerios out of my back pack and gave the box to Marla.
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Instantly Marla
became the most popular human on the planet.
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Marla created a
feeding frenzy of the greatest magnitude.
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Marla's
popularity didn't end after the Cheerios were gone.
The ducks followed her everywhere. She was the Pied
Piper of ducks!
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The village of
l'Isle sur la Sorgue was truly a very charming place.
We loved seeing the restaurants, shops, canals, flowers and
of course the ducks.
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That night after
we got back to the ship, we had a small Going Away Party for
the group. Here is Mike and Jan Davis.
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MG and Gay
Anseman
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Linda and Jon
Monteith
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Jeff Gobeli and
Becky Bratton
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Wendy and Jim
Felker
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Ann and Mike
Harrah
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Nancy McCormick,
Rick Archer, June Singh
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Marla and I
absolutely adored this day. We loved our visit to the
countryside of southern France. Everywhere we went
during our visit we saw beauty. I can definitely
see why the world flocks to southern France.
There is of
course the rumor that the French are not always the nicest
people. I do remember a small incident in Paris where
a waiter snubbed us to wait on French customers first.
However I would like to put in a good word for the French.
The people we
met today were warm and gracious. Everywhere we went
we were greeted with smiles and helpful attitudes.
Personally I can't imagine why not. Who could possibly
be unhappy when surrounded by so many blessings? Rich land,
warm climate, lovely rolling hills, forests, and stunning
mountains looming in the distance. What more can you
ask for?
Marla decided
the 2009 Barcelona Cruise was her second favorite trip of
all-time with 2007 Hawaii as her first pick. I
disagreed. This trip was without a doubt my own
personal favorite. I would take this trip again in a
heartbeat.
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