Provence: June 2009

Ancient Village Doors

If the doors to this village house could tell tales, they would speak of the long history and richness of the events that passed through these portals.

Charming House Sign

An example of the folk art of Provence can be found everywhere, including this house sign, on an ancient wall.

Violet Petals on the Cobblestones

Violet petals of spring time fall from the trees to ancient cobblestones below.

Three Tiers

Here you can see the three tiers of a hilltop village. I am standing on the low tier of the village. The upper tier has a broken down wall from the days of yore.

In the beautiful hilltop village of Gorde (where ex-French president Mitterand had a place), there is a balcony bar. The balcony sits perched high over the streets with an incredible view of the valley. They serve a clove beer.

The spices in the beer are wonderfully refreshing on a hot day.

The Highest House

This is the highest house of an ancient hilltop village. In spite of the fact of being rooted in stone, there are flowers and plants everywhere.

Geranium Window

The amazing thing about Provence, is how people use flowers to add colour to a drab window, doorway or balcony.

Here a pot of geraniums colour an ancient window sill.

Ochre

These are the ochre hills of Provence. Ochre permeates the history and life of Provence.

Palm Trees in Provence

We were walking in the Lovely One's favourite hilltop village. This village is where what Neil Young sang "all my changes happened" for her.

As I was framing the picture, I didn't notice the palm tree to the left of center. I am so used to seeing them in the tropics where I work that it went by unnoticed, until I was looking over the day's pictures on the computer screen. Then it jumped out at me.

Peugeot and Backyard Vineyard

I took this shot of the Peugeot. The Lovely One dislikes the size of this car because it is difficult to maneuver in the narrow streets. The passenger door is open, because I spilled a liter and a half of water all over my diary and notebook that organises my life, and the carpet had to dry out.

As I looked at the pic, I was tickled to see that the vineyard in the backyard was in the picture (highlighted area).

Medieval Walls

At one point, this hilltop village was walled as a fortress to prevent attacks. On this road around the bend, you can see an arch through the wall. The wall has fallen down, and you can see up top where it abruptly ends.

Poppies and Old Vines

Poppies grow wild in the margins of an old vine vineyard. The grape branches are cut back every year since grapes only grow on new wood. So the bottoms of the vines grow thicker and thicker with age.

Hen And Chicks

This is a close-up of the huge clay pot of Hen & Chicks on our patio. It is just brimming with these beautiful garden plants.

Cat on a Stone Balcony

A ginger cat does its morning ablutions on a balcony of a village house as it watches the world go by.

Irises and Orchards

Irises grow wild in a cherry orchard. The scene is remniscent of a Van Gogh painting called "Irises" which was painted in Arles.

Wood Fired Oven

Part of the charm of Provence is the perfumed wood smoke everywhere. Almost every morning, farmers are burning vine prunings, branches, brush piles and such. You can look across the valley and see the rising woodsmoke.

Then you go into the kitchen and smell the woodsmoke in the baking oven, and you know that you are in heaven.

Vineyards and Orchards

Vineyards and orchards line the Provencal hills in neat rows, tracing the contours of the land as far as the eye can see.

The Blue Door

This is a laneway in a mountain-top village. The blue door is an entrance way to a village house.

Apricot in the Making

A baby apricot is well on its way to becoming a Provencal jam, preserve or a delectable baked item once it matures.

Winding Mountain Road

A view of a winding mountain road through 17th century buildings.

Changes

If you were driving a car on this narrow village lane, you would be majorly surprised. The road ends in steps.

Notice that in the medieval days when the mountain top village was different, there was a doorway in the wall. Now it is all bricked in except for a small portico for the milkman.

A resident told me that if you lived in a village house, you may have a passageway through someone elses house, or that the room directly above you belongs to the house next door. Village houses are fascinating.

Grape Buds

Bunches of grapes are starting to form that will end up being this year's vintage of Provencal wines. This is the promise spring in Provence.

Apricot Roses in a Hedge

Apricot roses form a hedge along a Provencal roadway.

Provencal Lunch

The perfect Provencal lunch. You have carrots julienne, a crispy tomato salad, asparagus spears topped with crumbled egg, St. Semillon cheese, a baguette, and a Cote de Luberon Rose wine, and a tangy dash of Fleurs de sel from the Camargue region.

Winding Roads, A Beamer, Mountains and Courtyard

This pic has all the elements in it. You have a BMW convertible zipping along en plein air, on a winding mountain road past an elegant courtyard with the view of forest draped hills in the background.

The Perfect Way to Explore Country Roads

Certain roads in Provence are designated bike routes along with excellent signage. They tend to be scenic back country roads.

One day while I was sitting in a medieval mountain-top village, writing software while connected to the outside world via a cafe's WiFi, I was inundated by a group of British middle-aged men on bicycles. These were well-to-do Brits who paid a pretty penny to do this, and they had the carbon-fibre touring bicycles to prove that they were in an upper socio-economic class. One of them was a surgeon. Let me tell you, there is nothing as unflattering as a pair of bicycle shorts on a middle-aged man.

They had bought an organised bicycle tour of Provence. They flew to Marseille along with their bikes. There was a chase car that provided snacks, drinks, a videographer, and spare bike parts. The chase car had a very fat man in it who couldnt even ride a bicycle.

The group was going to bicycle up Mont Ventoux, which is a significant mountain. I saw the group the next day, half way to the mountain, pedalling in the pouring rain. It didn't look like fun.

But pedalling through the vineyards and orchards on a back country road with nothing but the birdsong can be idyllic. The bicycle on the left is the bike that the Lovely One brought to France several years ago.

Sleepy sunny village lane

Medieval village lanes too narrow for cars, studded with the flowers and vines at the doors of the village houses are the hallmarks of the picturesque Provencal villages.

Over the cherry trees

There is nother sweeter than being surrounded by a cherry orchard while looking over the patchwork quilt of farms in the valley. The birdsong is wonderful as well, because it is not only the humans that like the cherries. If you click on the pic to enlarge it, you can see the ripe cherries on the trees.

I stand in orchard where the farmer cannot see me, and I gorge myself on the delectable fruits.

Rose Garland Doorway

One could publish an entire book on the doors of Provence. Here a real rose garland frames a doorway painted with a mosaic. If you click on the picture (all pictures can be enlarged by clicking on them), you will see the cats painted on the bottom of the door.

Flowers and Bees

Flowers, flowers everywhere in Provence. There are wild flowers, cultivated flowers, exotic flowers, and flowers of every description. Here a bee busily gathers nectar for honey.

Hilltop Village Tier

This village has three tiers, and this is the approach to the third tier. Tour buses play chicken with you on the narrow road and try to make you back up to let them pass.

A Table Centerpiece

This very simple table setting of ours, quietly oozes Provence. The ochre yellow in the typical Provencal fabric of the table cloth is seen everywhere from the pottery to the hills. Sunflowers are a Provencal motif as well, and the roses are almost like weeds in the south of France.

Cook Buying Herbs

A cook carries a bag of herbs that he has purchased along a village street back to his own kitchen, while the owner of a cafe stands at the doorway of his own establishment.

Tile Roofs

The tile roofs on the buildings are ubiquitous. You can even buy old tiles if you are renovating your house. They cost a pretty penny. On this roof, yellow lichens and mosses grow.

View Across the Valley

This is the view of the valley from our patio. The trees in the foreground are cherry trees.

Guesthouse Patio

A view of an 18th century guesthouse patio.

Vierge Vigne

The ivy like stuff covering the buildings is called Vierge Vigne or Virgin Vine. I suspect that the name has something more to do with religion than with sex. The greenery is abundant everywhere, and the whitish flowers thrown in for accent, are in fact roses.

Bread Festival

You know that they take their food seriously when they hold a Bread Festival. Note the red roses just being on the side of the road.

Getting into the heart of Provence

You rent a car, and get on the A7, a toll highway that takes you from the urban Marseille into the heart of Provence, into Provencal villages like this.

Marseille

Marseille, its port and all its glory is laid out in front of you before you land.

Marseillaise Maquis

As the plane circles to land at the Marseille airport, you will see the scrub lands or the Maquis. During World War II, the French Resistance fighters against the Nazis hid out in the maquis, and became known as maquisards or simply, the Maquis.

Note the aquaduct near the shore, slightly left of center.