Journey Through The Luberon Part 3 (Recounting our 2001 Trip)

Following the red and yellow

In the Country of the Marquis de Sade

We woke up this morning in Roussillon and after some discussion we agreed that we would walk to Bonnieux.  The weather continued warm as we walked across the pleasant valley that separates these two villages.  We were following our IGN maps and the red and yellow marks that pointed the way.


We arrived in Bonnieux at about 2pm and we hadn't bothered to phone ahead for a hotel, so we had to do a little searching before we found one: The Hotel Cesar, near the top of this perched village.  We were hungry too, but trying to find anything open between 2 and 4 was hopeless.  We did manage to find a Boucherie and grabbed some snacks and cheese and crackers and a bottle of wine and had it on our balcony, where we could look across to the neighbouring village of Lacoste, where the Marquis de Sade's Chateau stood out like a beacon.  We should probably have made the walk over to Lacoste to see the Chateau up close, but that would have to wait until another year.

Journey Through The Luberon Part 2 (Recounting our 2001 Trip)

The Beauty of Gordes

I was up early enough in the morning to see the sun come up over Gordes.  One of the advantages of the location of our hotel was that it was on the opposite side of the gorge from the village, allowing stunning views of its hilltop location above the valley, and you can see the village in all its photogenic glory.

Morning light on Gordes

It was going to be another beautiful day.  After our petite dejeuner at the hotel we donned our packs and bid goodbye to our hosts.  It was going to be a very short day, a 9 or 10 km walk across the valley to Roussillon, but we were in no hurry.  We still wanted a last look around the village on our way out and time enough to explore Rousillon when we got there.  There wasn't a cloud in the sky as we set out from our hotel.


We were following the GR6 trail, as it wound its way through the village and then down across the valley.


Leaving Gordes was visually one of the most stunning experiences we've had so far on this trip.  Every time we turned a corner we felt we had to take another picture, as we passed the medieval ruins of buildings and crumbling walls.

Leaving Gordes

Borie Village

Not far from Gordes is an ancient Borie Village.
These dry stone buildings are mortarless and can be spotted on private properties throughout the countryside around Gordes.  The village itself, consists of about 20 mortarless buildings date from no older than the 17th century and are a popular tourist attraction.

Journey Through The Luberon Part 1 (Recounting our 2001 Trip)

Our second trip to Europe was in 2001 and we were trying to recapture some of the magic that we had experience on our initial trip the previous year.  Again, we had travelled back to the South of France, not far from the Dentelles Range previous trip.  But this time we were in the Luberon, another one of those magical places in Provence; of quiet hiking paths, hilltop villages, and of course, the famous thirst quenching wines of the Rhone Valley and the Luberon.

The hilltop village of Gordes in the Luberon

Journey Through The Luberon

 

We woke up to the sound of bells ringing on Easter Sunday morning in the town of Avignon in the South of France.  It was April 15, 2001 and we were once more in the South of France with our good friends, Dave and Dianne.  After breakfast we went to the train station and then the bus depot looking for a ride to L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, but nothing was going that way until much later in the day, so we found a taxi that had us there in 20 minutes.

L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue

L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue is a beautiful little medieval village that is built on the islands of five branches of the Sorgue River.  The town is well known for its 30 antique shops located across from the railway station, as well as its antique market held every Sunday.  We had arrived not only on a Sunday, but Easter Sunday as well.  We naively had expected to find accommodation, but had not considered the holiday and the number of tourists that were drawn to this area.  All the hotels were full; and the neighbouring village of Fontaine-de-Vaucluse, where we were going to start our hike was also full.