Menerbes and Beyond...Part One

Today was quite overcast, but the weather bureau promised no rain, so we headed back to the Luberon area to visit some more of the hilltop villages of the area. To start with we headed to the village of Menerbes, the original French home of the famous author Peter Mayle. On our way there we drove through lots of vineyards, all of which were in the beautiful colours of autumn, with their yellows, oranges, reds, and browns, it looked quite spectacular, even on a grey day like today.

Autumn In The Vineyards

Menerbes On A Distant Hilltop

As is the way with many of these towns we parked on the edge of the village and walked into the town.

Always Somewhere To Park On The Village Edge

Great Views

The views across the valley from where we parked the car were beautiful. it was so quiet up there, we could hear a car driving along a road, miles away, and farmers calling to each other in fields so far below us. As we walked into the town we soon realised that here was another quite different looking Provence village....we had seen the white stone buildings in Gordes, the Ochre rendered buildings of Roussillon, and now the shale grey and sandstone coloured buildings of Menerbes....you start to realise how "local" all of the stone and materials used in all of these buildings really is.

Walking Into Menerbes

Great Looking Old Buildings

Menerbes is actually a very narrow villages that has its length along the ridge of the hill that it is built on...you can walk through the narrow part of the village within a couple of minutes. The worst thing about this layout is the going up and down the hills, the up hills especially. So we puffed and panted our way along the length of Menerbes and I can honestly say..its worth it. One of the great things about a hilly village is that you always have the chance to see great views of the village itself.

Up Or Down? Down Looks Easier!

Menerbes is a lovely little village that has views all over the surrounding contryside. At one point we must have been above the local school as all we could hear was the children laughing and playing below us as we took in the lovely views.......children laughing must be one of the best sounds in the world!!!

Beautiful View Pity You Cannot Hear The Children Laughing

Looking Back At Menerbes

Lovely Places To Walk

The Walk Up To The Church.....Steep

Too Tired To Walk Up There

We stopped for a light lunch that we washed down with some local wine, we spent well over an hour just relaxing taking in the locals going about their day to day business...mind you half of them must have joined us in the little cafe for their lunches as well.

Lunch Outside At The End Of The Road

We eventually found ourselves on the other side of the village from where we came in...it looked even nicer on this side!

Vineyards and Menerbes

Welcoming Statues

Approaching Menerbes From The Other Side

So eventually left Menerbes and headed of to our next destination, the village of Bonnieux.

 

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Saintes-Maries-De-La-Mer

When we arrived in Avignon our host, Anne-Sophie, gave us a list of places that would be nice to visit. On the list was the Reserve Naturelle De Camargue, a national park on the River Rhone delta where it meets the Mediterranean Sea.

I did a bit of investigation and we decided to visit the town of Saintes-Maries-De-La-Mer, perhaps the biggest town in the region right on the coast, and only about 60 kilometres away from Avignon. For those of you that love history, this town is very interesting.....

According to a long standing French legend, the three saints Mary Magdelene, Mary Salome, and Mary Jacobe, who are believed to be the women who were the first witnesses to the empty tomb at the resurrection of Jesus, set sail from Alexandria in Egypt with their uncle Joseph of Arimithea and a servant girl named Sara. They either sailed to or were cast adrift - either way they arrived off the coast of what is now France, at "a sort of fortress named Oppidum-Râ". The location was known as Notre-Dame-de-Ratis the name was later changed to Notre-Dame-de-la-Mer, and then in 1838 to Les Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer.

So this is a place of quite a bit of religious significance, but the great surprise to us was the town itself and the people. Now yesterday we were surprised by the Spanish feel of Roussillon....well, that was nothing compared to Saintes-Maries-De-La-Mer.....everything about this place felt like we had left France and ended up in Spain.

A Very Spanish French Town

Spanish Architecture Everywhere

The buildings all appeared to have very Spanish architecture, and were whitewashed the typical way many Spanish towns finish their buildings....it felt quite surreal. The more we explored, the more we liked this place..it has lovely sandy beaches, that stretch for miles, and on a beautiful sunny, blue skied day like today they were great to walk along.

Sand, Sea and Sun

Yacht Masts In The Distance

One funny thing today.....where we parked the car there was a sign that had me intrigued...it warned of the dangers of Equestrian and Bullfighting Events......in the streets!!!! Lesley had not noticed the sign, so when I suggested she get out of the car firsst and have a look around before I got out, she knew I was up to something.....finally she saw the sign...I think at that time she realised that I really do care for her and love her a lot, but calling me what she called me was a bit uncalled for.....lol.

I'm Staying In The Car

Our Little Peugot

Saintes-Maries does have a number of strong links to Spain....they breed these large Camargue black bulls here, some of which are transported to Spain for bull fighting. They actually have their own form of bull fighting here which we would have love to have seen.....they do not hurt/kill the bull..thank goodness. The bull fighters have to get a rosette from the bulls horns to win, some fighters even leap the bull, they show daring by patting it on the face...but it is only a summer event..oh, well.

The Bull Fighting Arena

Bull Fighting, French Style (Not Our Photo)

Black Camargue Bulls Roaming The Grasslands

Big Bull Statue

Another link this area has with Spain is the White horses...they are everywhere....you can find them roaming (semi-wild) in the grasslands, there are also dozens of riding schools in the area. There are refences everywhere to the Andalosian white horses of Spain, but these ancient Camargue horses are famous in their own rights, and are used extensively by the French Camargue cowboys..........yes, I did say Cowboy, only in this region they are referred to as Gardians.

In The Riding School

White Horse Fountain

This area is also famous for its Pink Flamingoes that flock here in the winter months in the tens of thousands. Now I was led to believe that I would see bucket loads of them, but we did not even glance a single one.

Bucket Loads Of Flamingoes...Okay, Not That Funny!!

We spent quite a while walking around the town, and the more we did, the more we were convinced we had somehow wandered into Spain....the people, the restaurants, the shops, the buildings...everything had a Spanish feel.

Are You Sure This Isn't Spain??

Gardian and Bull Statue

Great Streets and Buildings

Cafes Everywhere

Spanish Towers

The shops were full of local produce that we had not seen in other places....their own beers, sweet wines, pastis, bull sausage, and lots of other things very local to this area.

Local Beer

Jars Full Of Everything You Could Imagine

Local Sweet Wine

As we approached lunch we started checking out

Cafes and Church

Cafes and Statues

Restaurant L'Escale

We finally chose the Restaurant L'Escale...not the best looking restaurant, but definately the best local menu by far. Lesley was in her element with an amazing fresh seafood platter, while I went for the very tasty local bull steak. We also tasted the very nice local pastis, Le Camarguais...loved that.

A Very Happy Eater

Very Happy...No Bull...Well.....

The Local Pastis

On the way back back to the car we came across the locals playing the French game of Boule and sipping Pastis....a great way to be with friends and relax!!

The Very Popular Boule

We are thinking of coming back here is a few days for a big festival that they have each year involving the Gardians, the bulls, and the horses...sounds to good to miss!!

 

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Gordes and Roussillon - Part Two

We were quite surprised at what we saw as we looked up towards the village of Roussillon......all we could see was a wash of colours...reds, browns, ochres, oranges......we had expected to see the same white buildings that we had seen only a few kilometres away in Gordes.

The Lovely Colours of Roussillon

It was like we were looking at what we imagined some Spanish towns to look like. Don't get me wrong, we were far from disappointed, quite the opposite, but it was a contrast we had not expected at all.

Roussillon is surrounded by amazing coloured cliffs....so this is where the colours of their buildings come from, everything is rendered using this soil...beautiful.

Beautiful Coloured Cliffs

Coloured Cliffs and Views

Great Buildings, Unusual Trees

Like all hilltop villages, there are lots of amazing lanes and squares to explore.

The Fantastic Coloured Buildings In The Square

Looks Incredible When The Sun Shines

Still Think We Could Be In Spain!!

Cobbles and Colours

Love The Old Architecture

As with all hiiltop villages there is one large building that dominates the landscape, this time it was great old church.

Roussillon Church

And of course there is no escaping the stairs when moving around Roussillon they are everywhere.

Steep, Narrow, But Pretty

Stairs With A View

We came across some fantastic shops and lots of friendly people in them, Roussillon really is a "beautiful village"..

Lots Of Local Produce

Olive Oil Selections

Great Art, We Loved The Figurines

As the afternoon shadows started to grow very long over the town, we made our way back to the car and headed back to Avignon......another fantastic day!!!!

 

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