Saturday Market in Apt

Every Saturday, rain or shine and all throughout the year, merchants set up market stalls that wind through the main street in Apt. It's the largest market in the Luberon region, offering absolutely everything you could want or imagine.

Take home lunch... paella and salade frisée... delicious!

It's strawberry season... delicious, sweet berries from Carpentras dipped

in créme frâiche.... Heaven!

BORIES

Throughout the Luberon Valley, on hillsides and atop of plateaus, odd cone-like structures calledBories dot the landscape. During the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, free-hold farmers staked their claims with Borie dwellings. It's hard to believe that French farm families were living in such primitive circumstances as late as the 1920's, but it's true! Built out of limestone and constructed much like Northern Aboriginal igloos, many bories remain intact and open to exploration. I came across this one during an afternoon randonnée.

All bories were built where there was a natural source or well such as this one. Water is a precious commodity in dry, arid Provence.

Another morning in Provence and the sun is shining as I contemplate the day before me... empty, free to fill with whatever I wish. Such riches have I!

How can life seem anything but teeming with possibility? Knowing how fickle fate can be, I promise myself to seize this day and live it well.

Sunday Drive to Loumarin

The drive from Apt to Loumarin takes you up and over the Luberon Hills, through a deep limestone gorge, and down to the flats of Aix-en-Provence. It's a winding, twisting narrow road; very picturesque and somewhat thrilling to drive. Motorcyclists love it!

Sign pointing the way to Bonnieux...memories of pizza Savoyarde!

One more curve in the road...

And Loumarin appears.

The Chateau

L'eglise

Someone, from somewhere, unmistakably the south of France.

Strolling through the main place of Loumarin.

Café Culture

The end of a delicious lunch... omlette roquefort, salade, rosé, café.

Then, a short walk about the village.

The Village of Saignon, where I sip my morning café créme

and read the journal La Provence.

The owners of Les Claparedes, the place where I am staying, have transformed a former lavender farm into a charming vacation rental property. Out buildings that used to house animals or farm equipment now house tourists such as myself.

A Stroll Through Les Claparedes

Original Farmhouse

La Petite Maison (where I'm staying)

La Petite Maison (back)

Garden

Garden Entrance

La Potager

La Borie

Drive Leading Out

Bye Bye