Fall is Coming to Provence...

..and soon we will be headed home.  Last Friday one of my oldest friends, who lives in Zurich, joined us for a week. In 2001 , the TGV(Train Grande Vitesse)Mediteranean link with Paris was launched.  Peggy was able to  travel down from Zurich in 6 hours linking with the TGV in Lyon and on to Avignon.    The very futuristic station is  situated just outside the city and  was surprisingly easy to reach.

We decided to head for the South Luberon the next day and the delightful village of Cucuron.  It is best known for its immense  walled pool of water (an etang)
in the main square.  It is shaded by stately 200 year old Plane trees..a cool spot on a hot day. Cucuron is unspoiled and harkens back to the middle ages. Streets and houses wind their way up to a castle at the highest point. From here you can see Cezannes' beloved Mont St. Victoire,the Alpilles, and the South flank of the Luberon mountains.  Sublime.

Our hosts Roselyn and Jean Marie had a little evening at their place, as they always do for their guests, and we got to meet our next door "neighbours" up the road, who were leaving the next day.  We had all been busy setting out in different directions and hadn't even said hello.  They were very amusing and the next day as they left,they brought us over a huge tray of their perishables that they could not take with them.  We haven't been to the store since!!(just kidding)

We also met the reclusive neighbour next door.  He  has a gite off in a nearby field and when he realizes a guest over the fence speaks French(me) he becomes pesky and wants you to spread the good word  back home about his gite. God , we couldn't lose him.  Twice we misunderstood him and  did not turn up at his gite..we thought we were supposed to go around to his house and he was politely perturbed. He brought us over a bottle of 1999 Cotes du Rhone so then we really  had to head over there. Peg and I went for a snoop today (when we were sure he had left) and WHOA!! was it ever nice..a tiny bastide..very simple, private, and looked  smartly turned out   through the windows.  You just never know. He belongs to an association and gets good evaluations, but unfortunately has no clue how to advertise.
He gave us his business card which in fact was his dental appointment card with some scribbled info on the back. Say no more. He has a dog called  Oh La La..the little sucker barks a lot..you know how I love dogs.  The beat goes on.

Vendange, the grape harvest, is in full swing and depending on the type of
grape, is in some cases over. It is beautifully warm during the day with cooler temperatures early am and pm..Perfect weather ,and the vines are beginning to turn shades of red and orange...leaves are falling..sort of hard to believe as  it is still so hot. In the Camargue,rice is ready to be brought in.  Walnuts are picked, and in the  Maures,sweet chestnuts are collected. The woods also yield rewards for mushroom hunters,and in the Vaucluse,truffles are harvested from the oak woods and  sold on the market stalls,notably at Richeranche.

We visited Roussillon,another hilltown close by and
I might add, a photographer's  paradise.The deep ochre colours of this village are  stunning. No other village looks so warm and  rich. Its hues come from at least 17 shades of ochre discovered in and around the village,notably in the dramatic former quarries along the Sentier des Ochres. The quarries are to the east of the village and  are a hiking area now.   There are many levels of hiking available  in this unique terrain.
Before its recent housing boom so to speak, Roussillon was a typical Provencal backwater. In the 1950's, American sociologist Lawrence Wylie spent a year there with his family and wrote a book about village life,Un Village du Vaucluse.
I found the book very dry, but it put Roussillon on the map.  The town has been extensively restored and is rather exclusive but has kept the feel of village life. Mining has long since ended and has been replaced by tourism..we go back again and again..you simply pick your times to avoid a lot of people. My favorite hour is about 7:30 am  just as the village is coming to life and the light is pretty fair for some photos.

As you can see, the above are midday pics!! Sorry..

Perched on a hill overlooking  a valley of cherry trees and vines is  Lacoste,a tiny village of 430 people...a fantasy of tranquil rural life.Only the imposing ruins of the castle that once belonged to the Marquis de Sade hints at a darker truth of  feudal lords, who for centuries ruled over the village. De Sade's chateau , said to have inspired the gothic settings for his novels of sexual perversion,is at the centre of a different outrage.  The new rich owner is accused by villagers of trying to take over as a self styled feudal lord!!

(The first castle photo is borrowed)
Pierre Cardin, the zillionaire Paris fashion designer and businessman, has spent millions restoring the castle and is claimed to be trying to turn the village  into a St. Tropez of culture. After establishing his own music festival, he has started buying up scores of  properties in the small village plus many of the local  businesses.
Lacoste,once a Protestant,then a communist stronghold is no stranger to rebellion, and a rebellion it is. Tribunals have been set up to prevent him from building a Greek amphitheatre in the quarries...Rue la Basse, the main street, now hosts 12 building  sites bearing the Pierre Cardin crest. As an outsider I ask myself..well who is selling him these precious properties ?  He has been known to offer a million Euros for a property worth 300 000 Euros. You just can't have your cake etc....He is an ageing man in a hurry to realise his dream..who knows where it will all end..just don't sanitise our wonderful terrace restaurant on the outcropping Mr. Cardin!!
Hope to get one more blog in before heading home!!