provence

Lorgues’ Tuesday market – from dawn to dusk

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Moving across Provence, over the Little Rhone and the (big) Rhone, we come to the Var departement above the Cote d’Axur. Here our base is the small market down of Lorgues. The land has changed as the kilometres rise. The dense mixed woodland covering the ridges & ravines now gives way to dry, craggy outcrops of rock and valley. The dominant flora is different species of pine, less dominant in height but equally impressive in terms of structure and shape. Mixed in are evergreen beech & oak with maples, chestnuts, ashes and olives. The land is flatter, more cultivated, with large château vineyards dropping off the sides of minor roads surrounding impressive signage of their bottled crop.

The layered ridges of the Cevennes away to the west still frame the vineyards of the Rhone. At Tourtour, almost a heartless facade for Hollywood rom-coms rather that a pastel painted, 13th-century settlement in a prime hilltop location, you can see over to the far horizon and count at least seven layers of receding interlacing ridges

Settlements are closer to each other and have a purpose. Yes, there’s a medieval core of narrow streets, recreational squares & plane trees & tall pastel-coloured buildings, but outside this there are manufacturing businesses, fabricators, proper activities. Traditional Provencal hexagonal tiles are made in factories throughout Salernes.

Longues is a lovely small town, surrounded by south facing hills, covered in vineyards and olive trees which are the source of much of wealth. Rather than trying to capture the essence of Lorgues in words, I’ve caught its Tuesday market day in image from setting up in early morning to the setting sun at night. It is a delightful, typically French, Provencal town.

Dawn – setting up

In full flow – midday

Dusk

The Cevennes & further afield in southern France

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It seems like ages since I last blogged on my travels and even longer since I visited ‘La belle’ France. This autumn trip takes me from the Cevennes on the south east area of the Central Massif, across the Rhone to just north of Toulon to a market town called Lourges and then north to friends near Manosque – all excellent wine growing areas you will notice!

My love affair with France goes back decades but I was introduced to The Cevennes by my dear friends, the family Friends, who completely by accident, had discovered Barjac when they broke down on the autoroute and they had to have it towed to a campsite outside the town where it still remains, drawing families & friends for memorable holidays ever since. I have countless memories of my girls & pals splashing & swishing about in The Gold River & the streams & lakes in the dry Provencal landscape, canoeing down the Ardeche or the Ceze and meandering drives through the Provencal landscape for a night visit to Avignon or a day treat to Saint-Remy-du-Provence, all indelibly ingrained into my very being.

Back at the hacienda, after food had been consumed the Cote du Rhone continued to flow and we would lie back and stargaze & count the numbers of shooting stars on show each night, absorbing the aroma of wild oregano & rosemary and the wafting lavender fields that were grazed by the breeze and sifted over our receptive senses in a constant perfume. In the darkness the clear outline of the distant Cevennes could be always picked out against the glories of the spinning stars. During the day these layered, straining landscapes provided a constant backdrop to everything that we did, offering the possibility of adventure and excitement, but always too far away – until today, that is!

This trip starts on the edge of the Cevennes National Park just outside the small village of Villemagne l’Argentier in the Languedoc region of France about 30 km north of Bezier.

Established on the banks of the Mare River in medieval times, this ‘Abbey city’ lay on the pilgrim route to Santiago de Compostela & provided rest & refreshment to pilgrims on their way to Spain. Three buildings are listed and still standing & in use – the 11th century Church of St Gregoire,

the 14th century Saint Majan Abbey

and the 13th-century Hotel des Monnaies, now used as the Town Hall.

Over the centuries the Abbey has been the main force in the village and across the surrounding landscape. Wandering around the narrow lanes of 13th-century buildings little has changed since those early days – the only thing to suggest that times have moved on is the shiny gleam of modern vehicles parked outside cold, ancient facades.

A five minute walk across the river on the old, red-rusting bridge and up the lane into the hills, amongst the steep hillside of trees & shrubs lies our home for the week – a great base from which to explore the Haut Aquitaine region in general and the Cevennes in particular.