Today was spent visiting some of the prettiest towns in the Luberon, four towns all super close together. Menerbes especially is on the tourist trail after being the setting for Peter Mayle's book A Year In Provence. Peter moved from England to the area in the late 80's, and the novel is all about his first year there. I read it a few years ago when I found a copy in a Used Book store in Kensington, and I've wanted to visit ever since.
We started our day in Lourmarin, the furthest town from our B&B and where Peter Mayle lives currently. The road to get there is long and windy, with many twists and turns taking you through the Luberon mountains. We got there relatively early, knowing that it can get busy later in the day.
The town was quiet when we arrived, with most people lingering in one of the many cafes in the town square over their morning coffees.
The town is tiny and takes only a short time to wander around. The houses are made of the same beautiful stone as the neighbouring towns in the Luberon area. The houses are all tightly packed together, with pastel coloured shutters over the windows and rose bushes creeping up the side.
Just outside the town is the beautiful Chateau de Lourmarin, set amongst rolling green fields home to a herd of donkeys. We tried to coax them closer but they were having now of it!
Having grown tired of being ignored by Donkey's, we headed back the way we came through the Luberon mountain range, and on to the village of Bonnieux.
Bonnieux is set high upon a hill, with the old church dominating over the village and the countryside below. The village seemed to be popular with cyclists, indeed the whole area is full of cyclists of all ages. Travelling by bike is one of the best ways to get around the Luberon - for people fitter than me anyway!
We parked at the top of the village and made our way down the steep streets to the village square. The Church is the highest point in the village, so before we started the descent back up, we stopped for lunch and a coffee to refuel.
There are 86 steps leading from the top of the village up to the Church, which sits at a height of 425 metres and offers some of the best views of the Luberon. From the top we could all the way to Gordes and Rousillon where we visited the day before.
The old Church is no longer in use, and the new Church was built further down towards the main village in the 1870's, providing easier access for the locals.
Surrounding the towns we could also see fields of poppies, bright spots of red surrounded by green. I can imagine in lavender season the purple fields would be an amazing sight from the top of the village.
Our next stop was the village of Menerbes, just 10 minutes down the road form Bonnieux. Menerbes went through a period of being extremely popular when A Year in Provence was released, especially with American tourists, all hoping to find the house Peter Mayle lived in when writing his book.
The craze has since calmed down and when we arrived it was super quiet, with only a handful of other people around. The majority of those were American from what we could hear of the accents, so Peter Mayle is still a big draw to the area even 20 years later.
Like Bonnieux, Menerbes is perched on the side of a hill, and offers excellent views over the Luberon. There is not much to do in the village itself, most of the shops were shut and there are only a few cafes. The best thing is just to wander the winding streets, you can't get too lost since most of them seem to loop back onto each other.
After exploring every inch of the small village, we stopped outside an ice cream parlour and sat down outside with our gelato to people watch in the sun. The few other people in the village had the same idea and we were happy to sit for a while until thew sun moved away from us and across the street.
We left Menerbes for the tiny village Oppede les Vieux. Easily overlooked on most maps of the area, we were advised to stop for a visit by our B&B hosts at breakfast. It was hard to find much information about the village, it's not mentioned in many guidebooks and even an internet search does not give away too much.
To visit the town, you park in the carpark at the bottom of the village, and can make you way up either along a lovely path that winds through a large garden, or the more eager can head straight up the shortcut via the steps.
There is little to see in the old town itself, most of Oppede's residents live down in the newer Oppede itself, and the village is extremely quiet and relaxed. Again rose buses trail up the side of each house, and all the houses are beautifully taken care of.
The main draw here is the old church and the ruins of a castle up the top of the hill. It's a 15 minute walk up a relatively steep hill to get to the top.
The church itself is currently being restored, so we couldn't go inside. Instead we wandered around the outside, admiring the views over the village below.
The old castle ruins are also interesting to explore, though there are some steep drops off the side so we didn't go too close to the edges!
Although the town might not have too much to see, it is a great stop if you're in the area. The town is almost deserted and you really feel like you've stumbled across a great secret.
great blog guys I too loved Peter Mayles book.
ReplyDeleteKevin would love to bike in Provence on the to do list Ithink