I left my apartment in Arles very early today, leaving the city itself a little before 7:30 am. I was driving over an hour to the east of Arles, to a lovely little village called Lourmarin in the Luberon Nature Park. This is another of the Les Plus Beaux villages that I'm slowly trying to cover off!
It turned out to be a VERY good thing that I left so early. I got to Lourmarin and found parking easily on the side of the road before walking it and noticed that stallholders were setting up for market day, so going early meant getting a parking spot as market days are always crazy busy! I wandered around the village, it was still fairly quiet as it was not yet 9am. I thought about going to a cafe for breakfast, but decided against it as tea in France is too expensive (coffee is a lot cheaper, as is beer and wine most of the time) and settled on buying a pain au chocolat to eat while walking around the pretty village.
I visited the market, which had a good variety of products. I ended up buying a print of a 2CV and then wandered down towards the castle., passing the Temple of Lourmarin I didn't take any photos of it as it was surrounded by cars everywhere! But it had a bit of height to get a photo of the village!
I walked back to my car, surprised at the sheer volume of traffic coming down the little road. I indicated to the people driving past that I was leaving, so my spot was taken right away! Then I drove to my next stop, another little village nearby called Cucuron.
The parking situation here was very different, and I had to drive through some tight roads (with stone walls either side!!) to the free parking area, which was not busy at all! I got out and walked into town.
The first thing to see when you get to the town was this huge rectangular pool, called the Bassin de l'étang. It dates from the beginning of the 14th century and used to supply a mill in the village with water. Nowadays it is surrounded by plane trees and cafes, whose tables spill out onto the pavement. It was truly lovely.
I moved away from the pool and wandered through the village. It was a real Provencal village, with narrow alleyways, stone buildings, fountains, an old church and the sound of cicadas everywhere. And of course, that smell - the dry, dusty soil smell mixed with cedars and olive trees. Intoxicating.
I walked back to the car, passing the beautiful cool water basin again, and yes I couldn't help but take a couple more photos.
It was time to leave again and head on to the next location, Ansouis, a 6 minute drive away. This village had a lovely big parking area - I mention parking a lot, but these old villages were never designed to have cars, so sometimes parking can be very difficult. It's always nice to come across one that has taken this into account and has designated parking areas (especially if they are free!). I hopped out and walked uphill to the village, looking out over the golden fields before ducking into the narrow lanes of the village.
I stopped into a cafe to have a late lunch. It was a nice shady place, with a table of rowdy French friends nearby and a little dog to watch as I tucked into a salad plate with tomatoes, cheese, eggs, roast beef, ham, cous cous and leaves. With a glass of wine of course. It was a lovely, fresh lunch to have on a hot day in Provence.
I went back to the car and drove on. I was planning on visiting a place called Pertuis which was somewhat on the way back to Arles, but decided against it, and drove the hour and a half journey back, stopping to fill up the car on the way. It had been a really lovely day!