Images from the Lubéron

The Lubéron is a valley to the east of Avignon lined with two ranges of hills atop which there are a number of some of the most lovely perched villages, villages perchés, one can hope to find.

Understandably, this is a popular day tour for me and my clients. Each time I go there, the visit varies depending on the weather, energy of the visitors, preference for walking and/or shopping, interest in monuments, or just reveling in the time-old act of sitting in a cafe people watching, a glass of rosé or orangina in hand.

With one group we might be buffeted by the powerful Mistral winds as we walk up the troglodyte home lined tiny streets of the now abandoned town of Oppède le Vieux, and with another a shared moment of laughter at a fellow visitor's bull dog as he rolls in the deeply staining orange ochre slopes of Roussillon.


We admire the blended earth pottery (called terres melées, quite a stunning achievement of swirled colored clays made into delicate pieces, and clear glazed). We take in the vast views in all directions, and we explore little nooks and crannies of these quaint places. And, de rigueur, we enjoy some scrumptious ice cream before heading back to the hotel.