Luberon Days
We arrived in the Luberon after 7 hours of driving through France. The contrast between our destination and what had gone before was immediately evident. Much of France, north of the L’Occitane line is lush, green and woody, blessed by valleys and rivers with soft bucolic scenes on the banks. The Luberon, like so much of Provence, is dry, hissing with heat and the electric sound of cycadas. It immediately evokes tension in the air, an excitement, which is matched by stark vegetation. Olive groves and vineyards whizzed past our roofless car, while white stone mountains and stone villages resting on hilltops framed the horizon view.
Oppède le Vieux
The golden triangle of the Luberon lies between three perched villages: Menerbes, Lacoste and Bonnieux. This is just about the prettiest place you will see in a very long time. Small roads meander through vineyards and small farms, over hills and through forests. Each village has its own character and you can see Lacoste from Bonnieux and vice versa. While the Luberon also boasts impressively precipitous villages such as Gordes and Roussilion, and other attractions such as Lormarin and the Abbaye Notre-Dame de Sénanque, these are also plagued by large tourist buses and hordes of selfie-stick wielding tourists. Far more tranquil are the three villages in our golden triangle (and also a fourth somewhat eccentric village called Oppède le Vieux). It was here where we focused our exploration.
View of Menerbes from our room
The view over Bonnieux
Abbaye Notre-Dame de Sénanque
There are only a few hotels in this area and generally they are pricey. For four nights, we stayed just below Menerbes in a hotel called Le Roy De Soleil. This has all the potential (and some evidence) of being a lovely hotel, but there are gaps and some unfortunate style choices which detract from the overall feel of the place. From past experience a better alternative is to stay in small hotels in the towns themselves, or rent a villa inside the golden triangle. Staying in a villa gives you the chance to shop and eat the local produce with friends. It gives you a reason to visit food markets, and then sit in a shady spot with your pickings for lunch and a glass of pale pink rose.
So where should you visit in the Luberon? Avoid spending too much time in the touristed villages, but if you go be sure to do so on market day. The usual offering of goats cheeses, tapenades and anchois pastes, are accompanied by olive oils and all sorts of choice linen and fabric offerings. We visited the market in Lormarin, and spent a few happy hours there, but Bonnieux and Gordes are also very good contenders.
Gordes
As far as cafes go, our must-pick is in Bonnieux, Le Maison De Bonilis which doubles up as a wine and whisky bar (with excellent internet). Apart from its outside tables, it has a comfortable lounge interior with chesterfield sofas. It is on the one side of a small street opposite the restaurant Le Fournil and an ice-cream bar which sits around an old stone fountain. The whole conglomeration benefits from a variety of leafy trees which shade the area and also high stone walls etched into the cliff which defines the village. With the right breeze and the right shade, this is a perfect meeting place and stop off point for a work or reading session. We also ate dinner at Le Fournil which is worth a visit and we recommend booking. Above and below this in Bonnieux are a string of cafes and restaurants with picturesque views of the valley, but for us this little huddle of loveliness under the trees was the top spot in the village which is also full of boutiques and generally is a lively place to hang out (perhaps the most lively of the three golden villages).
Le Maison De Bonilis, Bonnieux
One of the best village restaurants is to be found in Menerbes at Cafe Veranda. The food was excellent, the staff were charming, and you can choose to sit inside and look at the view through a window at the valley below, on the pavement of the gentle main street or in a courtyard opposite. All of it locates you in the atmosphere of Menerbes which is quieter than Bonnieux and just a touch more enchanting. Cafe Veranda also sits next to a cute shop which sells local produce and other practical things. Another great find in Menerbes is at Café Du Progress, which has the most exceptional stone balcony perfectly framing the exquisite view below. We didn’t eat there, but we cannot imagine you can go far wrong with a drink on that balcony.
Local Shop, Menerbes
Just below the old town of Menerbes is La Bastide De Marie, a wine farm with a hotel and restaurant built inside the vineyards. This is without question one of the most beautiful venues of the area, and for that matter, in the world. It is elegant and beautifully conceived. The fixed menu offering invites you to arrive before dinner and sit on the verandah, drink the wine of the Bastide (delicious), and eat the tapas of the region set out on an old wooden sidebar. After watching the sunset over the vineyards you are then taken to your table and offered a beautifully detailed three course meal cooked in a gorgeously exposed kitchen, encased in a metal and glass house. For those of you with serious means, and a desire to go on a perfect Provencal holiday, you might consider staying in the hotel. It is exceptionally stylish, and the price reflects this too.
A final place to eat, and its important to book ahead, is Le Petite Café in Oppède le Vieux. Explore the village square, and the little cobbled streets, and climb the ruined castle for magnificent views across the top of the Luberon. Then go for lunch to the Le Petite Café which is full of quirk and loveliness. The food is wholesome Provencal cuisine, and like all the restaurants in the Luberon, it is served with excellent light dry pink rose. A lovely way to spend the early afternoon, before a nap and a lie by the pool at home.
Oppede Le VIeux
Le Petite Cafe
We didn’t eat at a restaurant in Lacoste, but instead had a picturesque pique-nique on the stairs of the church overlooking the valley. Lacoste is exquisite architecturally and is completed at the top with the old castle of the Marquis De Sade. The castle and most of the town was bought by Pierre Cardin, and turned into an artist residence village. The result is that Lacoste doesn’t quite have the feeling of a living town, but rather an artifact.
Pique-nique, Lacoste
Marquis De Sade Castle, Lacoste
Notwithstanding, we walked slowly up to the top of the village on the softened worn cobbles until we got to the entrance of the castle. It's worth it for the view, though not for the odd interior design (sorry Pierre!). Little did we know, however, that our own visit to this castle would include some serious serendipity.
At the entrance, a poster boasted a concert in the castle quarry amphitheatre that night by Martha Argerich and friends. Being fans we asked excitedly whether there were tickets, only to be told by Katrine (at the desk) that she had a quota of free tickets and would give us two for free because of our 'enthusiasm'. It took us some time to comprehend what had just happened, but the result was a magical night. Martha played with Misha Maisky and various of their respective children. Playing Schumann and Saint-Saëns, their perfect musicianship was heightened by the drama of the quarry stone backdrop, and the moon above. As surprises go, this one was hard to beat, and it left us with that special enchanted feeling for days. Of course, we cannot promise that this will be replicated for you, but it is worth having a look at the various festivals of music in the region at this time. Some of the best international classical musicians are playing, and a carefully planned trip for music lovers could make this an exceptional experience.
Waiting for Martha
Under-slept the next morning, and armed with recordings of Argerich for the car, we packed and set off on our carefully mapped trip of small roads through other parts of Provence towards the village of Comps-Sur-Artuby. More from the road soon.
