Day 6: Roussillon, St-Remy-de Provence, September 4th

The day began with a pleasant breakfast on the terrace at Le Mas de Guilles.

After breakfast we grabbed our packs and headed back into the Luberon region following a charming forest trail before climbing up to the 3000 year old Le Fort De Buoux. The fort, complete with secret passageways, is perched high above sheer cliffs.

After we crossed this delightful swaying bridge, we saw fuzzy white sheep roaming through bushes on the side of the road.

Farther along the trail we came to a cave below a massive wall of rock. Everyone immediately felt the need for a photo of us holding up the rock!      

After a long walk, uphill and down, we climbed upward again toward the fort and were vastly relieved when we caught a glimpse of the gates through the trees. 

We continued to climb up the hills of the fort examining the ruins as we went. There was a common house, a chapel, residences, various other buildings, and huge stone cisterns for storing food.

stone cisterns in the rock

the stone chapel of the fort

The cliffs were as sheer as described - just steep drop-offs, dangerous to even stand near. As the dramatic signs illustrate, the ground could just crumble at any moment, dropping you to your death!    

Of course, after seeing the sign, I couldn’t resist having my picture taken near the edge of the cliff. (The fringe of the grass marks the edge of the cliff).  A fellow hiker took it for me, but only after holding onto my hand and asking me not to move a muscle while she took the photo.  Afterward she grabbed my hand again and pulled me quickly away from the edge of the cliff. (Note, I was never in real danger here. I wasn’t about to get any closer to the edge!). 

After the “harrowing” photo shoot, we continued up to the top of the fort, climbing through a vestibule leading to a “secret staircase” used by the soldiers to escape should the enemy appear suddenly in the dark of night. Although how a soldier would possibly find this staircase, never mind descend it, in the dark of night was beyond us. About half of us decided we couldn’t pass up this intimidating stairway (which was very steep indeed and now crumbling in places). While others made probably a wiser decision and returned back the way we had come.

    

At the bottom of the secret stairway we found ourselves in a secluded wooded forest again. We followed a path until we came to a grove of trees and picnic tables where our incredible guide Pierre was setting up our picnic lunch for the day. Charlotte later told us he had carried all of this in his backpack!   

After gobbling down lunch (it had been a long morning, after all), we walked back to our vans for the ride to Roussillon – a gorgeous hilltop town known for its radiant ochre cliffs.
 

Roussillon houses are painted with a palette of ochre sands ranging from pale yellow to crimson. Ochre is a natural earth pigment containing hydrated iron oxide.

 
After gathering at the parking lot in Roussillon, we were set free to explore the town on our own. We wandered around the picturesque streets and shops and found a nearby cafe for the ritual afternoon café break. After a quick cone of Gelato, we visited the old abandoned quarry to take the 30 minute tour before we had to meet up with the group once more. Walking the trails through the quarry was like walking through a rainbow.  The colors were so brilliant, they were almost unreal. Here are just a few.  

After a wonderful day exploring the old fort and Roussillon, we were back in the vans to travel to St-Remy-de-Provence, our destination for the next two days. We checked into the Hôtel Gounod, changed for dinner and were off again for an excellent 4-course dinner at Restaurant L’Estagnol.