Provence highlights

I liked wandering around Avignon, and seeing the amphitheater in Orange, and I’m curious to explore the art trail in Aix-en-Provence, but these are all bigger towns – and I prefer rambling the backroads between the villages north, south and east of Carpentras much more.  Definitely read some Peter Mayles before/while you go.  These are just my brief highlights of Provence so far - I'll do some more detailed posts soon.

Markets:  Almost every village has its own market day. You’ll find a list of who has one when here. Some are very small – for example, Le Barroux had just 3 vendors. Bedoin had 2 blocks worth.  Carpentras is a bigger town, and has the biggest market – get there before lunch to do the full long stroll along the city boulevards, up into the city center’s old alleys and plaza, before they start packing up during the lunch hour.

Carpentras is sort of the western gateway to the Vaucluse (Provence). It’s the biggest town of notable size and services – everything east of it is more a small, rural village. So gas up and get supermarket groceries here.  Carpentras also has, by far, the biggest Provencal market on Fridays.  They start packing up by lunchtime, so plan accordingly.  Allow two to three hours to stroll the entire market.

South of Carpentras:  Isle-Sur-La-Sorgue and Pernes-les-fontaines are famous “water” towns. Isle-Sur-La-Sorgue has a cute downtown (antique) shopping and dining district along the river’s many little switchbacks. And Pernes-La-Fontaine has a ridiculous number of fountains scattered around town. Gets a little overrun with tourists. Further south is Cavaillon, famous for their melons.

Côtes du Rhône loop, © 2012, Joan Klau

Northern villages: The Côtes du Rhône loop is perfectly sized for a lovely day-long ramble through the Dentelles mountains and their vineyards with picturesque hilltop villages, and interesting Roman ruins and churches (Vaison-La-Romaine). Pack your camera and don’t hesitate to stop on the side of the road for pictures or tasting wine. I like to make the circuit counter-clock-wise from Carpentras to Malaceune, Vaison-La-Romaine, Seguret, Sablet, Gigondas, Vacqueyras, and Beaumes-de-Venise. The wines in Sablet and Gigondas are great with a steak or grilled lamb, and Beaumes-de-Venise is famous for its sweet white muscat.

On our last trip, we rented a house in the vineyard flats of Le Barroux, which was lovely.  Nearby at the Abbaye du Barroux, we attended Mass conducted by Benedictine monks, who are silent except for chanting. The church itself is fairly modern (70s), but it’s really interesting to follow along in silence using three mass books – one Latin, one French, one English. And the chanting is beautiful. In the hilltop village, Les Geraniums has delicious food overlooking the vineyards at sunset. 

L'Abbaye de Senanque, © 2012, Joan Klau

Lavender is mostly grown in the more arid flats of Provence just east of the Cotes du Rhone loop, and it’s harvested in July/August. I keep missing full bloom, but the nubby gravel fields in Sault and Senanque are still pretty. On your way to Sault from Bedoin, look for words of encouragement chalked/painted on the road – they’re for the Tour de France riders.

Central/south villages:  Rouissillon is famous for its natural ochre pigments which were mined for paint and textiles use until the 30s. The Sentier des Ochres is a short, pretty walk through an old ochre quarry with pretty views of Provence and other hillside towns. It’s also a good place to feel/hear the mistral winds, and notice the effect on vegetation.

On the Sentier des Ochres, © 2012, Joan Klau

A borie outside Gordes, © 2012, Joan Klau

Gordes is apparently where the rich helicopter in for the  weekend.  The view of and from the village in the late afternoon light are stunning.  Look for the “bories” on the south-westerly way out of town.
Bonnieux, Lacoste and Menerbes are classic, small, picturesque hilltop villages. These are the towns that Mayles wrote about. 

Things I need to explore more:

After we dropped Ben at the airport in Marseilles, we had lunch in Cassis and drove along La Ciotat, one of the highest maritime bluffs in Europe. I’d like to go back and take a boat tour of the calanques – inlets sheltered by steep cliffs – and swim in the ocean. I’d also like to explore further east of Cassis, along the Mediterranean.

La route de Crête above Cassis, © 2012, Joan Klau

• I’d like to see the Camargue marshlands with its wild horses.
• Dad and I really wanted to see (and float under) the Pont du Gard, just outside of Avignon. Sadly, our car’s onboard navigation took us the wrong way into a 2 hour freeway nightmare which ate up all the time we had before our train back to Paris. I guess it just gives us a good excuse to go back.