Les Villages de Lubéron

Yesterday, our group went on a trip to Lubéron, a mountainous region near Aix. We got to wander around these tiny villages, perched on the sides of mountains, and take in all of the postcard-worthy views. Everything was quaint and petite: the stone walkways and buildings with tiny streets and even a pedestrian walkway that I equated to a hobbit’s tunnel.

The first village we visited was called Lourmarin. It has a huge old cathedral that is really just an empty shell now (it was raided during the revolution), but it still has beautiful grounds, and was just far enough from the rest of the village to give us a great view.

Also exciting was the cemetery down the road. Or rather, one of the graves in the cemetery. Albert Camus lived and was buried in Lourmarin, and we got to see his grave!

We ventured into the center of Lourmarin for a quick stop at a café (un chocolat chaud was needed by several of us, and it was delicious!), and to purchase the makings for a picnic which we took to our next destination. 

After a short drive, we arrived at Bonnieux, a village that climbs its way up the side of a mountain. On our way there, we turned a corner and suddenly it was just there, perched perfectly on the mountain with a church steeple rising out of the center.

The one problem with cute little villages is that their narrow streets are not meant to be navigated by big tour buses like the one we were on. This soon became apparent when we drove into Bonnieux, and for a few terrifying minutes it looked like we were going to drive straight into the front of a hotel. But thanks to some fancy maneuvering, our driver Ahmed managed to get the bus around all the tight corners, and he even parallel parked the bus in a side street! We actually cheered for him. Once safely parked, we climbed to the top of the village to eat our lunch. It was embarrassingly tiring and made me question whether or not I should reconsider my daily bakery visits. We made it to the top though and enjoyed our picnic while sitting on a high stone wall and enjoying the view of the valley below.

Finally, we reached our last village of the day, Rousillon, which legitimately looked like a miniature Colorado. All red rock and dust that left our shoes looking rusty, and delicious gelato to end the day! 

Overall, an exciting day of exploring and a successful first excursion with AUCP!