Beautiful French villages abound ...

Bonjour mes amis,

We continue to be amazed at the number of absolutely beautiful French villages and towns. Particularly, the villages; they seem to be all over Provence. As you would imagine, tourists abound in many of these alluring communes.

Last week, we joined Natasha, Lawrence (oldest daughter and son-on-law, living in England), and Annika on a tour of the Provencal villages of Roussillon and Gordes, about fifty miles or so from Aix-en-Provence. These gorgeous, adorable villages seem to abound in the Provence region here. We continue to delight in their combination of history, antiquity, quaintness and the stunning beauty of the surrounding countryside.

The elements that make for this beauty start with their antiquity. The villages/towns are built on hills or hilltops--clearly for purposes of self-defense against possible invaders. Virtually every village has a castle and a church of some sort--all elegantly hand-crafted by the artisans of the era. Cobbled streets (made of stone), passage ways, steps and archways are everywhere to be found.

On our day tour, we visited the village of Roussillon, famous for the ochre that lines the hillsides, many views of which can be enjoyed over lunch or dinner (it was lunch for us). Ochre (pronounced oker) is a clay-like pigment used by artists in their painting. It is also used for general painting and decor. During the period of French colonization, the French would often have ochre shipped to their colonies to remind them of their homeland. After the French left the colonies, for a time, the use of ochre was disdained. However, it has apparently been making a comback in recent years. In any event, glimpses of this ochre are all over Roussillon.

We next visted the village of Gordes (pop., around 2,000), with its steep climb into the town center. As you approach (up the hillside), the community, built of stone, just sits there, chiseled, it seems, into the hills. At the viewing stop, tourist's cameras were non-stop, trying to capture the beauty of the visage.

We strolled the narrow streets and walkways, showing off 11-month old Annika and Niko (the dog) along the way. (Can't believe all the sights Annika has seen and, of course, will not remember.) The village of Gordes claims that everything in the town is made of stone. In fact, no fences are allowed, only stone walls.

The castle in the town centre was built in 1031, rebuilt in 1525 and no doubt upgraded, as needed, over the passing decades.

On leaving Gordes, we drove a few kilometers to the renowned Romanesque Senanque Abbey, whose construction dates back to 1148. The entrance to the Abbey features fields of lavender plants, an irresistably stunning and pictoresque presentation for the visitor. You've perhaps seen some of these beautiful lavender fields on postcards over the years. We browsed briefly in the Cisterian Abbey bookstore and learned that the Abbey is still inhabited by five monks.

Soon we were on our way back to Aix for our last couple of days with Natasha, Lawrence and Annika. We continue to be grateful for these special times with family. Yesterday, their month-long visit ended and they returned to England (in a phone conversation earlier today, I could hear Annika's perky voice, chirping away in the background).

We return to South Florida one week from today. Lots of details to take care of, but we're looking forward very much to getting back.

A bientot from France ...