Apt, Le Boisset - St Michel, La Bastide, Brambois, la Motte, Cucuron, Lourmarin

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Lindsay and I started the day with a walk up the hill to St Martin de Castellan and back. By 8am the cafe was already frequented by some regular custom. From the main road nearby it is only 3km up to the village.

We spent the rest of the morning relaxing by the swimming pool reading, and having an early lunch also by the pool. It was a lovely morning – warm and sunny with a light breeze. This was really like being on holiday. We were not off and about somewhere and lying in the sun is not something we ever do.

In the afternoon, our last, we headed towards the east where we haven’t been before. We wanted to visit the Observatory at St Michel but at first could not find it from the village. Eventually we did find the location only to find that you could only get in by appointment. The observatory appears to be a national one run by something like GNS in New Zealand. It would have been nice to have a look around as there were 7 observatory telescope buildings.

We were at the tail end of the east/west running Grand Luberon, a range of hard limestone in the Luberon on one side and Valcluse on the other. At the east end we drove up and over the range and down on to La Bastide. The views out over Provence in all directions was superb. You could see far away into the distance to the mountains beyond. We took the road close to the hills to Brambois, la Motte, Cucuron and eventually to Lourmarin for drinks. This turned out to be an unexpected gem. The town was beautiful. It seemed to have been completely refurbished with the houses pristine and the streets full of very nice shops of art, French products, clothing and many restaurants. There was plenty to look at and admire. I would recommend anyone to visit this town. There are many old towns of great age around Provence, but many are run down in places and are just another clone of others. This one has made an effort to make itself different.
We cut back through the range along the scenic route which winds through the Aigue Brun gorge and onto Apt where we needed to fill up with diesel for tomorrow’s journey to the TGV at Avignon.

Today ended our week in Provence. Provence is a bit like Tuscany – it has a worldwide reputation to live up to. It is different. In some ways it is rough and Spartan but it also has a special charm of ancient villages, vineyards, olive groves and other crops, big areas of trees and forests, and rocks everywhere. It is not a beautifully manicured area and make no pretense of needing to be. We have enjoyed it. It is nothing like Switzerland and no one should expect it to be.

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Photos

Windmill near St Michel
Windmill near the town of St Michel and the regional observatory

Street in Lourmarin
The piazza (sort of) part of the town lined with restaurants, art, jewellry, and typical local shops