Today we went and hired a car again for three days, and went straight back into the Luberon villages. Last time we went it was sunny and in the mid 20's...... today it was foggy, some rain, and struggling to get to 13 degrees, yet we had a great time!!!!!!
In the last few weeks the autumn colours have just taken over, and with the mist and fog ccoming in some areas were quite magical. We initially drove through the vineyards below Menerbes on our way to Lacoste and the scenery although wet, was beautiful.
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| Overcast Yet Magical |
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| Vineyards, Mist and Menerbes |
Shortly after we drove up into the beautiful hillside village of Lacoste.
Lacoste is dominated by an old ruined chateau that sits at the top of the village. This is the old chateau of the Marquis de Sade dating back to the 16th century, and although in ruins is now owned by Pierre Cardin. We parked near a little cafe called Cafe de France that had an outdoors eating area with the most spectacular views across the valley across to the hilltop village of Bonnieux, and in this weather looked even more spectacular with the mist lying on the valley floor.
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| Bonnieux Village In The Distance |
The little village of Lacoste is an amazing little village that seems to be untouched by time... the original cobbled streets were a bit of fun getting up and down in the wet.
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| Steep Cobbled Streets |
There were beautiful little buildings and lane ways at every turn.... I think I got a bit carried away with the number of photos that I took here...it was hard to stop.
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| The Beautiful Scenes Around Lacoste |
There was not much point going up to the chateau as it is in such bad condition no-one is allowed into the grounds, so one photo looking up at the chateau made us happy...it was really hard walking up the cobbles when they are so wet.
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| Looking Up To The Ruined Chateau |
We walked around Lacoste for quite a while, taking in nearly every street and lane this little village had to offer, we loved it.
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| The Old Boulangerie |
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| Going Down Hill Was Quite Slippery |
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| Beautiful Old Clock Tower |
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| Ochre Rooftops |
There was just one drawback with Lacoste, nothing was open, not even a cafe, so we made our way back to the car and headed to Roussillon that appeared to be quite busy when we visited it previously.
On the way we happened across the lovely old bridge, Pont Julien.
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| Pont Julien |
We then wound our way up the hillside, through the ever thickening fog towards Roussillon.
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| The Red Buildings Of Roussillon |
The great thing was there were a number of places open to eat, we chose the Restaurant Des Couleurs in the main square. It had a great view across the town that kept appearing and disappearing as the fog rolled through the village.
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| Restaurant des Couleurs |
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| Lovely Views |
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| Nothing But Fog |
Now I happened to order one of the tastiest meals I have had in France, a slow cooked duck and olive dish, with garlic potatoes and green beans....I could easily have had a couple more helpings, no problems! Lesley went for a healthy aubergine dish.....I know who got the best meal!!!
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| Great Food |
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| Yummy Dessert Selection |
We then headed back to Avignon, just making a quick detour through Gordes, that seemed to be disappearing in the fog.
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| Gordes Town Square |
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| Looking Towards The Chateau |
On the way out of town we decided to stop and take a "Selfies" photo at perhaps the most spectacular view in the whole of Provence....we had taken a photo here a couple of weeks ago, but wanted another with us in it.
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| We Took This One Two Weeks Ago |
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| Gordes Is Behind Us....Somewhere!! |
So, the weather may not have been the best, but we had one of our best days in France yet!
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