Today was our second excursion, and as tend to be the case when I go out of Avignon, I return with lots of stories and lots of pictures.
We left Avignon this morning around 9h00 (too early!) and went by bus to Les Bories, just outside of Gordes. To be honest, I'm not totally sure why we went there, but whatever. Basically, Les Bories is a little ancient village with lots of stone huts and such. I mean, it was kind of cool to see stone huts, and there was a decent view of the valley, but there are only so many stone huts you can see before getting bored. Plus, the welcome center smelled like salted, raw meat. Thankfully, we didn't stay too long.
(See look, rocks! But a nice view behind them.)
We moved on to Gordes, and were greeted by our bestest friend in the world: La Mistral! We got off the bus at a beautiful site looking over the valley and Gordes. We walked down the valley on the most picturesque path ever. It was lined with old stone houses (complete with colorful shutters), little vineyards, flowers in full bloom, green grass, and cobblestones. I didn't think that a place as such could actually exist. It really was quite perfect (until we had to climb up the other side of the valley, at which the trek got a little more strenuous, but beautiful nevertheless). Our little promenade/hike spit us out in a touristy section of Gordes. I bought some postcards, took pictures of adorable cafes like a creeper, found a great outlook on the valley, and wandered around. We found Sakinah at one point, and she recommended that we find an outdoor market she had just come from. We took her advice, and shared a barquette of the BEST strawberries I have ever tasted. They were perfectly ripe, perfectly chilled (not cold, but not roasting in the sun), and full of flavor. We decided that it was the best euro that we had spent thus far in France.
(Gordes from afar.)
(Rachel + flowers = senior pictures all over again! Man...I wish I could have taken my senior pictures in France...that would have been awesome.)
(Picturesque path.)
Happy from our strawberry find and happy that we didn't have to re-descend and re-ascend the valley, we boarded the bus again. We drove across the valley to a nearby city, Roussillon. Even though Roussillon is relatively close to Gordes, the scenery was vastly different. Gordes had been kind of rocky, but Roussillon had gorgeous red soil. There, we visited a former ocre mine (well, mine isn't really the right word. But how do you describe "harvesting" a pigment?). Ocre was the first natural pigment widely used, and large concentrations were found close to Roussillon. Our tour guide explained that Provence was once covered by the sea, and when it retracted, it left large quantities of ocre. She explained how the laborers separated the pigment from sand, formed it into bricks, baked the bricks, and how they put the pigment to use.
(Dyes.)
(There was a random lawn covered by big colorful blocks. It was awesome.)
After our short tour, we got back on the bus to drive closer to Roussillon. If I had to describe Roussillon in one word, I would use RED. Consequently, ocre is also a red pigment (consequence? I think not). The city would have been GORGEOUS just before sunset, when everything is bathed in a golden, magical light. The entire city was kind of golden anyways, and I can only imagine what dusk-light would do to the aesthetics of the place. We got ice cream at a little shop (I had Violette...and it was amazing), and then we wandered around the city for a while. There wasn't really anything to DO, but it was nice to look at the little cafes and restaurants, peak our heads into artists' studios, lounge on stone walls, and enjoy the sun. The low point of the day was when I was attacked (yes, I'm calling it an attack) by a GIANT spider (and no, I'm not exaggerating) on my neck. Thankfully, John saved me from it. It was kind of (very) terrifying.
(Looking out from Roussillon.)
(See look, red!)
(And red rocks!)
(Beautiful day.)
We got back on the bus around 4h00, all EXHAUSTED. My bed feels like absolute heaven right now, and I'm kind of convinced that my feet are going to fall off, but it was a good day regardless. And now, it's nap time.
Oh, and public link = http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2008679&id=1417500098&l=732d31e3a5
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