Life in the Vaucluse

Rome-ing in Cavaillon

We finally found the Roman Arch in Cavaillon this weekend, right in the middle of the Monday market (well the Arch is there every day of course).

Sadly, there is not that much of it there, however some of the details are still visible.

Abbaye Road

  The drive to Abbaye de  Senanque is spectacular. From Roussillon the route to Senanque is via Gordes on its incredible perch.

Dropping down over the hills one can then glimpe the monastery and its land. Huge lavendar fields and blue skies make a great combination.

The Abbey itself is fascinating and the guided tour very good (though in French). A worthwhile diversion.

The best time of year?

They say that Fall in New England is beautiful, but I defy anyone not to be impressed by the colours of the Luberon at this time of year. Stunning! Thank goodness for digital cameras otherwise I would have got through an awful lot of film.

A long hot summer

Well it's been a long hot summer in London and Provence.. we've just returned from lovely Roussy-Roussy (Roussillon) as the family call it and as usual, it was looking spectacular in the fine weather.

We had a character forming trip down, deciding to camp. I am not entirely sure why - it seemed a good idea at the time. As the children said, it was soooo budget.

We started off in Picardie and went in search of some WWI cemetaries - not difficult as there are over one thousand. The Guards Cemetary at Lebeouf has Alice's Great Great Uncle, Lt Col W.D.Drury-Lowe's grave which we found. The memorial at Thiepval was most impressive and a little humbling.

From here, we travelled to the Auvergne - stunning! A lakeside campsite in an area of outstanding beauty - Le Foret de Troncais. And from here it was down to Provence via the new bridge at Millau..

How Apt

The market in Apt was splendid this weekend as it wasn't as busy as usual..  the fruit and veg looked fab, as did the flowers and spices. I recognised our fishmonger who visits Roussillon market on Thursday mornings - they must go from marche to marche..

New routes

Good news - Ryan Air are beginning flights to Marseille from Stansted in November. There are also many other routes to Marseille as it is going to be their European hub. Full details can be found here www.ryanair.com/site/EN/news.php?yr=06&month=may&story=rte-en-100506

Another visit to the Vaucluse and we went furniture shopping in Isle sur la Sorgues.  This really is the best place around for antiques though much of it is very expensive.

However, there are some bargains to be had and the atmosphere is great fun.

Saturdays and Sundays only.

New flights to Avignon

According to the Daily Telegraph, http://www.flybe.com are beginning flights to Avignon from Southampton, UK from May 2006. This is the first route to Avignon from the UK - hopefully there will be more.

Welcome to the Vaucluse Blog

Having recently bought a house in the village of Roussillon, the famous ochre village in the Vaucluse, I thought that I would set upa weblog with village and area news.

From restaurant experiences to spotting celebrities, I intend this to be the place to visit if you are going to the area. In October for example, we met Russell Crowe who was filming a Peter Mayle story, 'A Good Year'. Seemed a nice guy too!