Touring the Luberon villages has been on the top of our ‘must-do’ list since the early stages of trip planning.
We signed up for a ‘Luberon Sunday’ tour through the Aix TI to simplify life for our driver (me) and to avoid the major hassle of parking in the smaller villages. Our driver, Noelle, is great as are our tour-mates. Dale & Patty are from Minneapolis and are having an exciting adventure – they’re off to Kenya for a safari after France (interesting mix!).
The Luberon region is gorgeous with hilltop villages, fantastic landscapes, and interesting flora. It was made famous by Peter Mayle’s book ‘A Year in Provence’, recently made into the movie ‘A Good Year’.
Lots of stops on the tour. First up is the Sunday market of the village ‘Isle-sur-la-Sorgues’, considered the finest in Europe for antique marketing and shops. It’s a total zoo with crowds, but really cool. We can’t imagine what the crowds are like in the peak season of August. Not far down the road is ‘Fontaine de Vaucluse’ with its’ spring and river running through the village. Lunch is in the hilltop village of Gordes, incredible views. On to Roussillon which is known for the ochre deposits that surround the village. We finish up with a meander through the artist (and well-heeled) village of Lourmarin.
Dinner is modest – wine, cheese, & ham in the apartment. A nice way to finish off a full and wonderful day.
D.
The hilltop villages of the Luberon beckon today. Many of these are about an hour away, still within the Provence department. The villages are all quite small with very narrow streets and very little parking. We have decided to outsource the driving to a small tour group so both of us could enjoy the adventure.
Our group is split between 2 drivers, the French speakers go with one guide, and the English speakers go with Noelle. Our tour friends are a very nice couple from Minnesota that also do a lot of international travel. It’s fun to share stories of common places we have both gone, while in route to the Luberon.
Our first stop is Sunday market day in Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, it is one of the largest antique markets in Europe. An incredible array of offerings is on display on the main road, further back into the back streets, the market transitions to textiles, clothing and a farmer’s market. There are people everywhere, what fun! Dick and I do split an éclair from one of the many patisseries that abound as we wander the streets.
Fontaine de Vaucluse is a nice stop down the road and it is the source of water for the Sorgue river. For most of the year all you can see is a deep blue pool of water at the bottom of towering cliffs. But during spring or very heavy rainfall it lives up to its name, with water gushing out at 52,000 gallons every second – this is one of the largest springs in the world.
Our next stop is Gordes, an extremely hilly hilltop village. We have an hour here, should we eat or shop? We decide to have lunch at an excellent Italian restaurant on the square. Both of our pasta dishes were great. A brief photo stop at the ancient Julien bridge, then off to Roussillon.
Roussillon has the largest deposits of ochre in Europe and was a mining village for many years until WW II. After the war, synthetic dyes replaced ochre and the mines were closed. The entire town is painted some shade of ochre. The houses need to be repainted about every 10 years, and each one has a custom color paint. Very colorful. We finish our tour in Lourmarin, an upscale artists village, long on looks but not much to do. Noelle does take us to what in her opinion is ‘the best place for ice cream in the Luberon’, I might have to agree. The dogs here are amusing too.
It is well past 7 when we get back home. After the lunch and snacks during the day, we decide to stay home and have a light snack instead of dinner.
M.