Our last day in the south of France was spent on an eight hour tour visiting the perched villages of Luberon. Luberon is an area of Provence located south of Marseille and is known for its hilly, picturesque villages, lavender and fennel fields and vineyards. You could spend a couple of days cruising around and visiting all the different villages, each lovely and magical in its own right.
Map of Luberon (credit: Wikipedia)
I have always wanted to visit Luberon ever since I lived in Marseille back in 1994. But I never made it. The only thing I have from this beautiful part of Provence is a framed print sitting inside a spare closet with a beautiful picture depicting the countryside.
Luberon is a special part of Southern France because of its unique topography. Located in the Vaucluse region, Luberon is surrounded by three mountain ranges (the Little, the Big and the Oriental Luberon) which made it a strategic place for building fortified villages perched high along the rocky cliffs. It also is full of lush valleys making this region an agricultural jewel that is perfect for growing brilliant fields of purple lavender and yellow fennel, vineyards and fresh produce that give Provence its nostalgic products.
Getting to Luberon from Marseille is relatively easy. You can rent a car, take a bus or opt for hiring your own driver for the day. We chose the latter as we thought it would be way more fun. Little did we know we would have young, charming “Taxi cab Fred” (short for Frédéric) as our driver. I had inadvertently pictured some old stuffy french guy but alas, Fred was hip, funny and cute. We knew we were in for a fun day ahead.
Gordes, one of the perched villages of Luberon that we would see.
Fred arrived at 8 am sharp raring to go. He had printed out a copy each of our itinerary for the day based on my initial thoughts. He handed the professional looking sheets to us with a smile and we were on our way. First stop would be Lourmarin, known for its quaint beauty and final home of Camus, followed by a visit to Bonnieux, Gordes and finally the red perched village of Roussillon. It was going to be a jam-packed day but we were unbelievably excited. This day would be the best day of our entire trip to France and full of wonderful mother-daughter-sister memories….and giggles.
Here is a sneak preview of what we were going to see….
The red village of Roussillon is quite stunning.
There were plenty of brilliant yellow fields of fennel.
Quaint streets of Roussillon
Lots of shopping….
And of course….lots of delightful Provencal food.
Salade au chevre chaud (salad with hot goat cheese which melts in your mouth).
Stay tuned….I’m trying to play catch up on answering comments and reading blogs but life has been busy. I’m headed to Chicago on Thursday for BlogHe and can hardly wait to see my old pals and meet some new friends. If you are going to be there, please let me know.
Beautiful images! I wish I’d be able to visit this place too. 🙂
Thanks! 🙂
Reblogged this on mailizaannur.
Thanks for the reblog!
The fennel fields – wow, so lovely! the photos are beautiful and capture the mood of the area.
have a great ‘blog’ trip, busy woman! z
Thanks! Yes, a bit busy but I like being busy! 🙂
Reblogged this on Politeknik NSC Surabaya and commented:
nice place
Thanks for the reblog!
Thanks for spiking memories of my last visit to this incredible region of France. Since I’m a vegetarian, your final image of the goat cheese makes me respond with “yummy.”
Yes, I ate the salads every single day! 🙂 I love the south of France. More posts coming soon!
Thank you for the lovely tour, Nicole!
Glad you enjoyed! 🙂
streets and Red village are my favorite among the rest….
Thanks!
Charmful and homely view! But is it a tourist place?
Not really if you go in the springtime. We had the entire place to ourselves!!!!
Nice!
I feel tourists always make places feel/look so different.
Me too. I really don’t like touristy places on bit and try to go off season or off the beaten path. I bet this town is crammed pack with tourists in the summer.
Hello! Which driving company did you use to book your day-trip through the Luberon?
Thank you!
Olivia
Thanks so much for the note. I did this trip years ago, so I don’t remember who we used. I believe we set up a driver through our hotel. He was able to find a local driver who brought us there. Good luck. It is a beautiful place!