‘Roussillon, the red town of provence’
Perched on a hilltop, this saturated fairytale town is one of Luberon’s favourites. It differs from neighbouring towns due to its unusual awash of colouring, from faded pinks to rusty reds as it sits on a goldmine of ochre. (Ochre is a pigment used in painting) The surrounding is quite unbelievable (you can walk a trail through the quarries), the sand beneath your feet is orange and the land is rich in minerals. Roussillon boomed in the 18th century when the textile industry was hungry for ochre pigment and today you can still visit the factories and discover how the colour was made. Naturally, the houses are made from ochre that are all warm tones of orange, yellow or red that is a strong reminder of its past. Roussillon is perhaps a little bit more popular with tourists than many other towns due to its unusual ambiance and it’s worth the visit before crowds of people come in during mid day.
Galleries, ceramic shops and cafes stretch out into the pavements, cyprus trees and colourful window shutters add that provincial charm proving its camera friendliness as we walk along the darling roads. We stopped for morning coffee here before heading out to a countryside resort for our anniversary lunch, hence dressed in lacy white…
This is possible the nicest town hall I’ve come across. I literally can not get enough of these french windows and how they dress balconies with so many flowers.
Baumaniere & Village de Venasque
We ate lunch at the luxury hotel Baumaniere to celebrate our wedding anniversary that holds 2 Michelin stars. We ate fish roe amuse bush, escargot, tuna, pork, chocolate cake and an assortment of petit four. The estate was beautiful surrounded with cyprus trees and we had an amazing romantic culinary experience. We sipped on dry wine from the region enjoying each others company, taking in the beauty of it all after dish after dish.
With our stomachs satisfied with french delights, we then drove through the darling countryside to another picture perfect village de Venasque that is perched at the summit of a rocky outcrop. We stopped to great some horses and possibly the cutest mule along the drive and admired the lush green vineyards and amazing chateau’s. Venasque is listed as one of the ‘most beautiful villages (plus beaux village)’ of provence that is small with a few ruins, restaurants and shops and cute 18th century fountain right in the middle. We took a relaxing walk around the village, we spotted a few painters sketching the view and visited a 12th century church that was rather breathtaking inside. At this hour the town was empty as everything stops for two hours at lunchtime when the streets become isolated and calm. Nevertheless, it was the perfect post lunch stroll for us, witnessing colourful virginia creeper climb up walls and spotting petit earthy houses and colourful doors.
Read more about other cute Provence town: Saint Rémy de Provence, Lourmarin, Uzes
