France 2022 – The ochre cliffs and town of Roussillon

April 10 and 11, 2022

My Bonnieux hostess, Véronique, offered to give me a ride to my next destination, Roussillon, when she heard that I was planning to walk the 14 kilometres there with my big backpack. I hesitated a moment, because I didn’t want to miss seeing the rather elegant three-arched Roman bridge, Le Pont Julien, but then I decided that a ride would be very welcome indeed. (I did get to see the bridge from the road, but only in passing.) Veronique drove fast along the narrow roads in her snazzy BMW, down from Bonnieux and then up to Roussillon, a rose-coloured town that sits atop Mont Rouge. Located in an area known as the Colorado Provencal, the world’s largest known ochre deposits have been mined here since the time of the Romans. All of the town’s buildings are in shades of yellow to pinkish-orange to, well, ochre.

From the village terrace located in the lower left of the above photo, one looks across at this!

I would be exploring the area beyond the top of that hill, ”Le Sentier des Ocres” later in the afternoon, but first it was time to check into my studio apartment, ”La Goutte d’Or”, located at the bottom of a steep staircase which is aptly named “Le Passage du Mistral” because the Mistral wind was indeed blowing fiercely today, very cold and very strong, down this passage and all through the town.

My studio (with the blue door and shutters) was excellent, with two big windows to let in the light and fresh air. But, …. no internet?! Darn! I don’t know how I missed that important detail. I had planned to get really caught up with posts here but now I was going to fall even further behind. Oh well, it was time to tour the town which was very fun indeed.

First, I headed up my staircase and then continued finding routes up to the very top of the hill where a 10th century castle once stood. I had to pass under this beautiful bell tower which marked the entrance to the fortified town.

Next I passed the 11th century Church St. Michel and spent a few moments inside its modest and peaceful interior.

At the top of the hill there is a terrace with far-reading views to the north, east and west, but the wind was blowing too fiercely (as in almost push you over) and so I quickly returned to the somewhat more sheltered, narrow streets of Roussillon. Here are several more photos from my walk around town. The grapevine in front of the La Trielle restaurant is 176 years old!

Now, I have managed to get many photos with no or few people in them, but in fact the town was quite busy with many tourists and locals out on a sunny Saturday, the first day of Spring Break for families here. I returned to my apartment to have lunch and do laundry which I hung out to dry in the sun and the wind in the pretty garden just above my studio. In the later afternoon, when I thought that perhaps the tourists had thinned out a bit, I headed to the “Sentier des Ocres,” two interpretive paths that lead down to and around some of the town’s ochre cliffs.

The contrast of the orange-red soil with the dark green conifers was beautiful!

Now, when I say that the Mistral wind was blowing strong today, my photos cannot usually show that, but the next one does!

Here are two more photos from my walk around the very beautiful Sentier des Ocres.

Happy with my outing, I returned to my apartment to make some dinner, bring in my laundry, close my blue shutters, and have an early night of reading.

The next morning, I was still a bit peeved (at myself) about no internet. I had intended for today (Sunday, no buses) to be a big, ”stay in, rest, and catch up on the blogs” day. I took my time over breakfast and wondered whether I should make the 12 kilometre roundtrip hike to Joucas, a nearby small hill town with a picturesque windmill. The decision would have been easy if the route was on trails, but most of the hike would be done on paved roads which didn’t appeal. So, I wandered about Roussillon again and this time I entered many of the shops selling locally crafted items and gourmet foods. I also entered a few of of the many galleries and artist’s studios to be found around town. It was fun to slow down a bit and peruse all of the beautiful things on display.

But, one can only window shop for so long and it was still early in the day so I descended below the town to check out the road to Joucas. Here is a view looking up to the lookout point where the castle once stood.

Again, the idea of a lot of road walking didn’t appeal, and the day was proving to be very warm with Le Mistral completely absent, so I made a firm decision to stay put and then I decided to treat myself to a coffee, pastry, and internet at this wonderful little bakery that had a few tables available inside.

I stayed in the bakery café until they closed for the day at noon. Then, hmm, what to do, what to do? I considered springing for lunch somewhere to get more internet but I had groceries at the apartment. So, in the end, I just ”whiled away the afternoon”, which wasn’t so bad.

Close to dinner time I had an idea. Ah ha, maybe I can use the bakery wifi just outside of their premises? It worked, and I did. It felt very good to sit on an outside bench and get my post to Bonnieux finished and published, and I decided to end my day in Roussillon with one more walk around town, finding a few roads I hadn’t yet explored. Here are three last images of Roussillon – garages dug into a hillside of ochre, lit by a setting sun. Not terribly romantic, I’ll admit, but certainly unique.

Goodbye from the beautiful ochre cliffs and town of Roussillon.