- Sunday we headed for the Luberon Valley and it quickly became obvious that every corner, every town is another “wow” moment. First things first though – Adrienne has dreamt for years about being in a field of sunflowers and finally we found a field all pointing the right way, so in she went…
- It was then on to Lourmarin, another ridiculously beautiful little town. But, joy, after trawling through at least 500 shoe shops Adrienne finally found sandals that met the criteria and bought 2 pairs – both on special so even better, and with luck I will be free of sitting outside shoe shops for at least a few weeks.
- But there are many more villages to see so we headed off
- Next stop was Roussillon, another of the “plus beaux villages de provence”, it’s claim to fame being the ochre that dominates the colours in the village. It is a mineral found rarely in the world but is shared by, (amongst others), “Uluru in Australie”, (fun fact for trivia nights). The following photos are just the start here
- We went for the “Ochre walk”. The area that is solid ochre – fine dust everywhere and some poor fools had sat down in it – throw those clothes away
- Monday we felt that a training walk for our Camino adventure, (next week in Spain), was in order so after some discussion with our hosts we headed for Vauvenargues and a hike in the Montagne Sainte-Victoire National Park.
Being an ex Boy Scout I had a map – took a photo at the entrance to the trail 
Am I fit yet? 
I’m knackered – that climb was tough – hope it’s cooler next week in Spain - But around the next corner – lavender fields – Adrienne back in heaven
Adrienne channelling her inner hippie 
Fields of Lavender – sadly already harvested but still smelt nice - We completed the circuit in about 2 and 1/2 hours and headed home via the Boulangeries Paul – bread and pastries to break any dieter’s resistance. We added a nice rose wine and gave in very easily.
- Tuesday was an official rest day ahead of Richard and Carolyn Davies arriving to join us on the Camino. Adrienne had worked out that the mis-shapen apples in the garden are a heirloom variety – ideal for cooking, so gathered some up and cooked a crostarta pie for our hosts – very well recieved. They thought they were just “ugly” apples and were going to cut the tree down.
- Carolyn and Richard arrived about lunchtime on Wednesday, so after the requisite “picky lunch” we headed for Aix-en-Provence. And did we shop – mais oui – Carolyn was out of the gates fast and into the thick of it.
- Thursday we went to Peugeot to see if our car was repaired – but “il est mort”, (new gearbox required), so hire car until we go to Spain on Saturday.
- But then on to Cassis in the Parc national des Calanques. Yet another impressive piece of natural landscape. The calanques are a group of inlets that look like fjords but are not. We did quite a long walk, stopped in town for lunch and then went across the road to the beach.
- Friday, our last day in France before heading for the Camino. Today we’ll visit some more villages in the Luberon, but these are for the next blog.
Fine penmanship and photography, lovely spot Provence, you see why the great masters loved to paint it so much, the light and landscape is just right mostly. Good to see you guys enjoying things and great updates.