Provence: ocher

Showing posts with label ocher. Show all posts

Charming Shuttered Window with Window Boxes

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This ocher stucco house has charming shutters and window boxes. Even if you live in a house on street with no visible dirt, you still have flowers.

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.

Vines Against and Ocher Cliff

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Two symbols of Provence are vineyards and ocher. This pic combines them both. A vineyard in the foreground is profiled against an ocher cliff in the background.

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 Deposits

This is another shot of red and yellow ocher (or ochre) deposits in Provence near Rousillon. This is interesting in the fact that you can see a yellow band through the red. These colours are woven in the life of Provence and you can see them on buildings, in art, in pottery, paint, and of course in nature.

Hiking the Colorado of Provence

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The Colorado is the ochre deposits of Provence. See the blog entry below for a better description. The ocher quarries are being preserved as a historic treasure, and the landscape is stunning. Here some hikers are exploring the Colorado.

Ochre in Provence

This is a close up of an ochre deposit.

Le Colorado Provençal is famous for the rich deposits of ochre pigments found in the clay near the villages of Rustrel and Roussillon. The large quarries were mined from the end of the eighteenth century until 1930. Thousands of people found work in the quarries and factories. Nowadays the mining of ochre is prohibited here, in order to protect the sites from degradation or even complete destruction.

Antique Provencal Clay Pot

I saw this antique piece of clay pottery made out of ochre clay in a shop.

Closeup of an Ocher Hill

The colours of Provence are the colours of ocher which is found in the soil Here is a closeup of how ocher deposits form the soil of Provence.

Ocher Cliff

An ocher cliff overlooks a vineyard in the valley in Provence.

Ocher

Ocher deposits abound around Roussillon in Provence.

Medieval Walls and Vine

This old rock wall abuts the wall of a hilltop village. A solitary grape vine grows against the ancient rock and doorway lintel. The mortar is made with ocher.