Two Weeks en Provence Googlemapping

Two weeks en Provence….

googlemapping through small hill top villages with no set plans

September 25-26: La Ferme de la Huppe, Provence (Tues and Wed night)

La Ferme de la Huppenestled 

We reluctantly left Charembeau and drove 3-4 hours to another peaceful 18^thcentury farm house (built 1776) consisting of 10 rooms called La Ferme de la Huppenestled in the Luberon mountains nearby Gordes. 





We had lunch here and of course I had cheese 
and I’m not quite sure what John had but will include a picture of his artful meal. 




This place was very calm and meditative named after a bird living in the mulberry tree at the entrance to the restaurant. Our room called La Cambrawas spectacular with a claw foot tub and beautiful stone wall.  

After our late lunch we drove to the hilltop village of Gordes, known as a commune a few miles away with apopulation 2000. Its houses and building of white stone are carved out of the cliff of the mountain. 

Gordes

Main Square in Gordes on a slant

When we drove in at sunset I exclaimed at the beauty of the city looking magical in the sunset telling John it was one of the most beautiful scenes I had ever seen. He laughed saying we had seen many other amazing sites but I really meant it and that scene is now engraved in my memory as much as seeing the Buddhist Bhutan monastery peaking out of the mountains over 10 years ago.  My only regret is not getting that picture to share with others.  When 2 days later we returned to stay at the Bastide de Gordes hotel I was never quite able to capture the light on the village in the same way. 
I am sorry. 

Goult:The next day (Wednesday) using google as our guide we explored the small hilltop village of Goult, only to return on Thursday for their weekly morning market. Goult has also been restored with care with picturesque streets, amazing stone walls and views of the landscapes with cultivated terraces and vineyards surrounding this hillside village. 

Bought marzipan from this man in Goult 

While tempted to stop for cappuccino here we headed for Roussillon, another amazing surprise. 

Roussillon

This hilltop village is said to be one of the “must see” in the Luberon and we loved it. It is situated in the heart of the one of the biggest ochre deposits in the world and is famous for its red cliffs and ochre quarries. We took a hike into one of the quarries and I loved the contrasts in colors between the shades of orange, red, yellow and pink in contrast to the dark green pine trees. It was a photographers’ paradise and I could easily have spent the day here taking pictures. I would like to have been there at sunset to capture the light in this magical place. The streets lined with ochre colored walls are wonderful. 

  

our lunch spot 

September 27-28: La Bastide de Gordes Hotel, Gordes, Goult, Bonnieux and Minerbes (Thurs and Friday)

Thursday we moved out of La Ferme and went back to Goult for the morning market and a cappuccino. Next we went to Bonnieux, another hillside Luberon village (population 1800) and we climbed the 86 stone steps to the top to see the church. Here was a beautiful view of the villages of Gordes and Roussillon.

  The houses were more earth-toned colors compared to the red of Roussillon and dated back to the 17^thand 18^thcentury. The landscape included olive trees, lavender plants and grape vines.  Apparently this village once belonged to the Popes and several bishops chose to live here.  

Moving on from here we went to Menerbes, a walled village on a mountain top at the foothills of the French Alps, for lunch. (population 1100) While we didn’t run into Peter Mayle, we did find a wallet in the parking lot lost by a New York tourist. Based on his license picture and Nexus card we caroused the restaurants hoping to locate him. We would stop men who looked 60 years old, were bald, spoke English and asked them their name. Since that sleuth work was not productive and we seemed a bit strange, over lunch we worked the internet to determine this man’s New York email or phone number.  Eventually we found his work location and called his secretary to tell her we were giving his wallet to the local office.  Success! We also had a wonderful lunch outside on a terrace with another spectacular view.

Bastide de Gordes Hotel

Back to check into our new hotel in Gordes, the beautiful Bastide de Gordes,  in time for a drink on the balcony with yet another amazing view of Gordes as we had done the night before. 



I have to confess that the backdrop to Thursday was the stressful Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford interviews which we watched in their entirety. I found it distressing due to my own personal Me-Too childhood experience and needed to leave the hotel room to walk the town to calm down. I have enjoyed this break from what is going on in US. 

Lisle-sur-la-Sorgue

On Friday morning we met a couple who had been sitting next to us on the balcony the night before watching the view.  When we asked them where they were going they said they were driving to L’isle-sur-la-Sorguefor lunch as they had been there before and thought it was an amazing place.  Since they were Canadian from a nearby town where I grew up in Ontario, we struck up a conversation and decided we would change our plans to go there as well. This was a great decision. This island town is known for its antiques stores and markets, plus its waterwheels of the Sorgue river.  Canals run between the narrow streets and there are great mossy waterwheels turning in the river. 




While we didn’t do any antique hunting we did enjoy enjoy sauntering around this village and having lunch in a cute outdoor garden. 

John's pork dinner 

 











Afterwards we returned to Gordes where John biked to an abbey while I swam in the beautiful hotel pool with amazing views. 

Thinking there couldn't be anything more delightful to absorb or digest I learned John had made a reservation for dinner  in the hotel’s Michelin 1-star restaurant. The cuisine known for its chef Pierre Gagnaire was truly awesome. This chef is quoted as saying, “cuisine is art, love and technique.” Unfortunately, I did not bring my camera to this meal as I would have loved to illustrate the art design of the table settings as well the food. This was an incredible experience but I'm afraid won't turn me into a cook.

Charembeau an Incredible Place and Incredible People

September 2018 

Charembeau an Incredible Place with Incredible People

Do you recall almost 30 years ago reading the books ~  A year in Provence followed by Toujour Provence by Peter Mayle? I remember dreaming of having a second home in a derelict farmhouse next to a vineyard where I could bike to the market for morning croissants and cheese. After all my British cousin had moved to France to do exactly this and had opened a B&B for tourists in southern France. Should I have another career?  

As we bike past the lavender fields, layers of vines dripping with purple grapes, the Luberon mountains in the background, and stopping for a croissant, French bread or some amazing cheese with a cappuccino I ponder the idea of a gentler retirement away from Trumpism. 

I think how nice it is to only ponder whether I will find truffles or fresh tomatoes at the next meal or market, or view a beautiful sunset behind centuries old Roman ruins. Perhaps I dream we will run into Peter Mayle, now in his 70’s who lives in Menerbes one of the nearby villages. My French is incredibly rusty but I find I understand much more than I dare speak and love the cadence and emotional energy in the French chatter. At meals I notice an incredible choreographed dance in the way the French communicate with each other with energy and emotion and this fascinates me.  Can I learn to do this?

Meeting at Charembeau Hotel, Forcalquier

Charembeau Hotel

This is a different trip for us without a scheduled agenda or planned and reserved hotel reservations. I have just completed my yearly international Incredible Years meeting with 48 mentors for 4 days at the lovely country, family owned, Charembeau Hotel, an 18^thcentury farmhouse near Forcalquier, a village of 4000 people in Cote de Alps. I was exhausted with worries about people’s satisfaction and evaluations but pleased that most people seemed to enjoy this meditative spot and reconnecting with each other to talk about ways to help families and teachers. I rented the whole hotel, and it was the first time this family hotel had ever done that in 35 years of ownership. They also seemed pleased with the result and shared with me how difficult it was to change their usual habits of having single guests versus an entire group that didn’t leave the hotel to give them a break during the day.

Owner of Hotel 

 They provided incredible service to everyone with wonderful breakfasts and lunches of local foods, fresh flowers everywhere, always seeming happy to accommodate and help us with our break out presentation room needs. 

Jamila who helped me plan the meeting

I had overestimated the mentor interest for this meeting and when there were not enough rooms for everyone at the hotel, 16 people had to stay in the town of Forcalquier about 2 miles away. I knew this would be disappointing for them but hoped they would understand. This also created some issues regarding the size of the breakout rooms which were too small, but with some re-design and problem solving with my colleague and friend Jamila we managed to make it work.  

“C’est la vie” would be the French way of thinking about this. 

Incredible Years Mentor Group from Australia, Canada, Denmark, England, Holland, Northern Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Scotland, and United States

Forcalquier Village between Lure and Luberon mountain ranges

Entering Forcalquier

Biking: John arrived Friday afternoon in time for our final workshop celebration dinner in Forcalquier and we stayed on two more days for him to adjust to time change and for me to unwind from the event. We had no scheduled hotels or travel plan except for the last two nights in Carcassonne.  One day we took advantage of the e-bikes supplied by the hotel to explore the nearby roads and villages. The views of the Luberon mountain ranges were spectacular.  E-biking was definitely the way to go with the hills and narrow pathways and took us far further than we would have been able to go without the assisted power. 

Market Day: I love markets and Monday morning was the lively weekly market day in sleepy Forcalquier, a village of 4,000. The market filled the streets with hundreds of stalls in front of a 12^thcentury cathedral called Notre-Dame-du-Bouget and wrapped around side streets in a festive atmosphere. Even John didn’t seem to be in a hurry to escape this shopping adventure and sat waiting for me while I was amazed by the profusion of buttons and linens, hand made baby items and local produce.  

We enjoyed the sights and friendly atmosphere. The market seemed to have a mind boggling supply of choices of French linens as well as organic products with many kinds of cheeses, sausages, breads, oils, garlic  and herbs. And baskets galore. 

As I already had a suitcase of workshop materials, projector and puppets John reminded me I had no room to buy and take home more things as I already had 3 full suitcases of workshop materials and clothes!

One suitcase of puppets!

Nonetheless, I did succumb to buying herbs, nougat, lavender, a basket and of course some cute shoes (non gender related) for my impending grandchild. When I asked the vendor if I could get these herbs through customs and he replied, “maybe, maybe not”.  I loved walking the cobblestone streets lined with stone walls, colorful shutters and window plants and a square centered with a 16^thcentury fountain. 

So many possible pictures to take, how would I ever choose which ones to share? Already my portable computer is telling me it is too full!  I know that electronic modernization and efficiency is supposed to be progress and a long term goal but I did wonder if perhaps the movement towards “living in the moment” and enjoying the beauty of the present and past was perhaps an equally valued goal. 

Forcalquier side street with many plants by road way

Technically, Forcalquier is part of Provence, but is not included in Michelin’s guide to Provence or Rick Steve’s guide. However, Provence consists beyond the Luberon environment described by Peter Mayle and this market turned out to be the largest and most interesting market we visited in all of Provence. The market closed at 1:00 pm and I took John to the place where I had previously had tomato salad with my friend, Jamila. I had bragged to John how amazing the tomatoes were and had even showed him my picture of them so he was salivating. 

Unfortunately, these tomatoes were no longer on the menu.  Nonetheless he could choose from galette (crepe with cheese and jambon), or quiche, or croquet monsieur or croquet madame (grilled ham and cheese with egg on top).  After lunch the town returned to the sleepy state I had seen the week before. We returned to Charembeau for a visit with 2 mentor friends who stayed on after the workshop.