Multi-Levels of Roussillon and Bell Tower

This photo demonstrates perfectly the levels of the mountain-top villages of Provence.  Here in Roussillon, you can see three levels of the town.  The church is always at the highest point.  In this photo, the bell tower is topped with a wrought-iron belfry which is very Provencal.  It is almost like a bird cage for the bell.

Spray of Purple Flowers

I was walking the streets of Roussillon, the ocher town, and I spotted this spray of purple flowers.  They were growing against a stone building mortared with ocher.  The juxtaposition of the flowers and the ocher was stunning.

The Road To Gordes

This photo was snapped in the ocher village of Rousillon.  You can see the ocher deposits behind the sign.  Gordes is one of the ten most beautiful towns in France. When Francois Mitterand was president of France, he kept his mistress in Gordes -- a holiday town.  Click on the Gordes tag below to see a view of Gordes that I took.

Ocher

Ocher deposits abound around Roussillon in Provence.

In a Provence Church Yard

I snapped the above picture in the church yard in the village of Roussillon.

Church Facade

Pictured is a church facade in Rousillon. Notice the ochre in the building.

View of a Village Street

A view down a hilltop-village street. Notice the old grape vine in the foreground left.

Village Square

Notice the church against the other buildings in the village square in Roussillon, the ochre village

Medieval Security

This image detail was fascinating for me for a few reasons. The first is why would the window be so small. It must have been a special purpose hole in the wall for something when the building was built a few hundred years ago.

The security grating is ingenious. It is old beyond a doubt. It is blacksmith wrought iron that has been cleverly cut to make it such that the space to put one's hand through is occluded.

The third thing is that the building's mortar is made from ochre, which gives it colour. This pic was snapped in Rousillon.

Ochre Art

The colours of ochre permeates life in Provence. You see it in the buildings, in the fabrics, in the hills and fields, and you see it in the art. The colour of ochre is the colour of life in Provence.

Ochre Village Bell Tower

Roussillon is the ochre village. There are large deposits of ochre and most of the town is coloured in ochre. This is the bell tower of Roussillon as seen from a lower tier of the village.