Our first full day with Fabienne we decided to stick close to home (since the car is so crammed and uncomfortable) and visit two nearby villages: Roussillon and Gordes. We had heard over and over again about the beauty of these villages so were excited for the day... Somehow we managed to get out of the house by noon and drive the ten minutes to the town of Roussillon which we had skirted a couple of days ago on the way to the ochre factory. Having read about the 'ochre trail' we headed out for a loop through what is called the 'Colorado Canyon' which ended up being amazingly beautiful! The 30 minute walk through towering red cliffs and striped pink and yellow rock faces left us stunned and impressed that this place is not more famous (although maybe it is famous- the same group of German teenagers that we'd shared a cinema with in Nimes yesterday traipsed next to us through the canyon). It was amazing to think about 4 generations of miners working this area and how it now remains a cultural asset to the region. We also discovered that Samuel Beckett (writer of Waiting for Godot) hid out in Roussillon for two years after his work with the French Resistance was discovered during WWII. My mom joked, "was he a redhead?" as she looked at how I blended in with the cliffs...
In front of Roussillon...
The casing of the chestnut! Yikes!
Taking home a little bag of Roussillon clay.
GORDESAfter walking through the town of Roussillon for a while and admiring the houses, the doors, the art galleries we headed off to the other famous village of the area where a lot of artists and people in the film industry call home: Gordes. Set up on a rocky mountaintop, the houses of Gordes appear to grow out of rocky outcroppings. We enjoyed the old cobblestone paths and streets, gorgeous vistas, fantastic pastries and it didn't make any difference to any of us that nothing seemed to be open (although in a little out of the way street Fabienne did somehow find the inauspicious door of the church right before we left). The town seemed to be almost like a stage set of what Provence should look like and, dazed and afraid that we wont ever see anything so lovely as Gordes and Roussillon, we headed off to our last goal of the day just a few minutes down the road: Le Village des Bories.
Fabienne
Gordes Castle, built in 1031.
"I WANT TO EAT!"
Le Village des BoriesI was not very excited about this stop and was afraid that the kids would be bored by a bunch of old stone huts, but it ended up being a fabulous way to end a day... set deep in the olive groves outside Gordes is a little enclave (bought up by a private well-doer) of ancient stone huts that have been meticulously restored. Made with no morter, these huts were unassuming and sweet, and inside sheltered items that had been dug up from the area: tools, pots, etc. The little enclave of huts is probably a couple of hundred years old, but the tradition of stone huts goes back 6 centuries. Photos show these huts to be cute and rustic, but in fact they are quite large, beautiful and carefully constructed (no morter!).
Coming home we made pasta and were served by the little restaurant girls living in our house... and we didn't even have to tip!
Jump!
Us with our fancy Octoberfest gear.
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