The swimming pool and our view of Bonnieux
After two perfect days in Burgundy, this morning we began our drive to Provence. We wound our way on smaller roads east to Lyon, then hit the autoroute and headed south. The autoroute was packed today, making me very nervous. There were more trucks than I ever remember seeing on the French roads, and every fourth vehicle seemed to be a camper of some sort. Most drivers seemed to be very much in a hurry. I was anxious to get to Provence, but I didn't want to spend the next few hours with my heart racing in fear.
“Please slow down,” I begged Charley. “I don’t want to wreck before we get to Provence!” He's always an extremely careful driver, but I appreciated that he backed off a bit and moved into the right lane. I relaxed and enjoyed the drive again.
Later we learned that the trucks had been restricted from the autoroute over what was a peak travel weekend in July. Instead they all joined us on the autoroute today.
The scenery became more mountainous and then more rugged. France is so beautiful and there is so much dramatic variety in the landscape. And then finally—Provence! Home! We were less than an hour away. We all perked up, paying attention to the Drôme, a part of Provence we haven’t visited yet. (We plan to come back on a day trip in a few weeks.) At Avignon we paid our toll and left the autoroute—we were back in very familiar territory… less than 30 minutes to go.
Finally we made the turnoff to Bonnieux (there it was on the hill!), and a few minutes later we were bouncing down the gravel road to our friends’ house. Our friends’ daughter came running out to greet Kelly and then us. Kiss, kiss, kiss. We were back in the Luberon.
Kelly and her "copine" (close girlfriend) and the fluffy cat Potsie
The girls instantly reconnected. They’re the same age and very close; they spent a lot of time together during the six months we lived here last year and then again during our two-week visit this past spring. It’s really too bad that the opportunity that brings us to Provence for these five weeks is the result of our friends’ annual trip back to the States. We come, and they go. The girls will have three days together, but they’ve already told us that’s not long enough.
We’ve never been to Provence in the summertime. We’ve never seen everything this green, the trees so full of fruit. We’re delighted at the steady hum of the cigales in the trees, the purple hues and the scents of the lavender, the daylight hours that stretch until almost bedtime. But we’re also taken aback by the heat. Everyone had told us it would be hot in Provence in July, but we scoffed at the idea. It couldn’t possibly be as hot and humid as Knoxville, Tennessee in July—but to our shock, it is! Ten minutes after we arrived, Kelly was in her bathing suit and in the swimming pool with the other two kids. We’ll use the pool a lot during our month here, especially if it stays this hot.
This is our fourth trip to the Luberon; not that many visits, but we’ve spent a lot of time here: more than seven months during the past three years. The Luberon—especially Bonnieux—has become a sort of second home, actually a spiritual home. As we headed up toward the village from the N100 this afternoon, it was as if a heavy backpack was lifted off my shoulders: “It’s good to be home.”
Our friends live just below Bonnieux, a mile or so away from the house we rented for our six month stay a year ago. So we are back in our old neighborhood, though viewing the valley and the village from a slightly different perspective. We have a beautiful view of Bonnieux from the back terrace, up above the vineyards and orchards, the Petit Luberon just beginning its rise to the west. From the upstairs bedroom terrace, we look down across the valley to Goult and Roussillon on the closest range of hills, then Gordes on the flank of the Vaucluse Plateau, and finally some 25-miles in the distance to the scree-covered peak of Mont Ventoux. When we walk down the driveway, Lacoste appears behind a clump of trees, perhaps a 30 minute walk from this house, and truly magnificent, especially at night when the distinctive castle ruins are illuminated.
Our friends’ house is simply fabulous… like something out of a design magazine. The house is an old “mas” (a rambling structure incorporating the farmers’ dwellings and barns) that’s several hundred years old. Other than the old “gîte” in a somewhat-separate part of the house (a rustic accommodation that was once rented out by the former owners), no one had really lived here for 80 years until our friends bought the property. They completed the restoration about five years ago.
Today their finished space extends some 4500 square feet with spacious “public” rooms, a large and breezy master suite, and comfortable and very livable family rooms. The décor is that cool and very crisp Provençal style of whites, off-whites, and light browns. The architectural elements of the original farming structure are incorporated throughout the house. The landscaping is also very much in keeping with the setting and includes vineyards, orchards, a couple of olive trees, an extensive lavender garden, a walled courtyard with a goldfish pond and plane trees, and a swimming pool set in an oasis of regularly-watered and bright green grass.
The back of the house - looking toward the Vaucluse Plateau
How lucky we are to have a chance to stay here for five weeks! And how lucky we are to have such friends! We like this family a lot, and we know we’re helping them out too. They want someone they trust to be here while they’re gone on their summer trip, and they aren’t interested in dealing with the intricacies of renting their family home to strangers for just a month. They seem happy to have us here.
We’re overlapping with our friends for a couple of days this week. Charley, Kelly and I are staying in the two-room gîte and will move to the main house when they leave on Thursday morning. This gives us some time to be together and also time to learn about taking care of this big and somewhat-complicated place.
