Europe 2010: July 11 Provence

July 11

Our first full day visiting in Provence. We concentrated in one area called the Luberon. Provence is a Region, equal to a province or a state. We were in the Department of Vaucluse, which compares to a county in Canada or the U.S. The Luberon is a valley in the department of Vaucluse. The town in the first photo is Menerbe.

This is the view from Menerbe, of the valley below. Almost all the villages and towns in the Luberon (and most of Provence) are perched, which means they are built on top of hills or on mountain sides. This was done in medieval times to protect them from attacks and most were walled. Some walls are still visible today. The Luberon is full of vinyards, olive groves and other produce.

This is a street in Menerbe, everything is made of stone: buildings and streets.

The next village we visted that day was Lacoste, another perched village.

This is actually a street in Lacoste. Click on the photo to blow it up and notice the vehicle further down the hill! Most of these villages have very narrow streets, built hundreds of years before the automobile. Most of them have a parking lot at the entrance and encourage or insist that visitors park there. This limits the traffic to locals and is more pedestrian friendly.

Lacoste's claim to fame is that it was the home of the Marquis de Sade. This is his now ruined castle, at the top of the village.

The temperature that day was well above 30 C, so we stopped at this Lacoste cafe for a bottle of water, a beer (needed both) and lunch. Notice the view below. The perched village in the background is Bonnieux.

Not far from Lacoste was this Roman bridge, called Pont Julien. It is about 2000 years old and was part of the Roman route from Italy to Spain. (The railings at the top are modern, for protection of pedestrians)