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Published: July 30th 2011
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Ochre soils at Rousillon
The ochre strata are red, brown, gold, orange and cream. Lindsay and I headed up the road behind Le Boisset before breakfast to find the walking track that we couldn’t find yesterday. Some way up the road we found signs and headed up on what appeared to be a farm track but didn’t appear to have any destination. Eventually, Ray came running up behind us and we continued on to the top of a ridge and came across a road, and also the hiking signs we were looking for. After one and a quarter hours we arrived back at the Gite for breakfast.
Then the rain arrived. And lightening. And thunder. We spent the rest of the morning holed up inside until lunch and we then headed out regardless. It’s one of the joys of having a car and not a train to catch for a change.
The first place we went to was Rousillon which is reknowned for it’s ochre deposits. These are not just small ocre deposits but a whole ridge running for miles. The town is built of ocre coloured stone and ochre coloured paint blending into the red soils surrounding the town. The town of course, has souvenirs based on clay of various colours. We
Abbey de Senanque
The abbey with some of the lavendar field in front of it. It is surrounded with large lavendar gardens which it is famous for. went and did the Walk through the formations which are very impressive. They form pinnacles and clay cliffs with colours ranging from red, red/brown, purple, gold, pale gold and white. The soil is sandy and was buried beneath the sea millions of years ago. The layers have cross bedding which are usually associated with beach sand dunes.
Not far from Rousillon is Gordes, a hill top town which we visited next. It was jam packed with visitors which we are rapidly expecting to be the normal at this time of year. It has a huge castle on top of the hill and a superb view looking out over the lowland area mountains of the Luberon. The best views of Gordes is actually driving up to it and seeing the houses climbing up the steep hillside. It is a well known town and is populated by well to do people it seems. However, we felt that other smaller towns we had visited were much more impressive and memorable.
Not far from Gordes is the Abbey de Senanque which is reknowned for the well known photos and posters of the abbey with lavender gardens in front. The drive to the
A street scene in Rousillon
The town of Rousillon is lovely with it's ochre coloured buildings. This scene was more colourful than others in the town and seems quite typically French. abbey winds down a rocky, deep gorge with a view down over the abbey and lavender fields. It is a strange place for it to be – an isolated and austere place. In fact, I imagine in the past that the monastery was an austere place without the lavender to enhance it. The abbey itself inside is undecorated and certainly not like churches we saw in Italy. It was undecorated and there for the specific purpose of prayer, worship and contemplation – no distractions like paintings, statues and stained glass. The location now looks quite lovely with the gardens and trees well cultivated and the lavender provides a most photographic view. Very nice.
We visited Gagas next with the view to seeing the ochre mines that had been recommended but we decided not to go in them, just look from the outside. They are essentially tunnels through the ocre clays which have been mined in the past. The location is now set out as an amphitheatre for concerts.
We arrived back in Les Boissets at 7pm. The rain has stopped and over the whole area there are patches of blue sky.
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