Borie on Plateau de Claparèdes
During our three years visiting and living in this area, we’ve done much of our exploration on foot, discovering the hidden Luberon that most visitors never see: the woods, the gorges, the mountain tops, the ruins. There are so many special and secret places. During our six months in the Luberon in 2004/2005, Charley and I went on over 30 hikes, many of them with Kelly. When we were here for two weeks in March, we hiked six times. Our two blue IGN maps are worn and tearing, each of our routes marked with a yellow highlighter. We have a “to do” list of future hikes, but we also have our favorites we’re happy to do again or share with a friend.
But now we’re here in the summertime, and it’s hot… much hotter than we expected. Most days the temperature reaches the upper 90’s. The trails are calling us, and we want to hike—but then we don’t! There’s something about the languid days of summer in Provence that make us want to take it easy: sleep in, sit in the shade with a book, float on a raft in the pool, and drink rose wine with ice. Life here in the summertime shifts into a lower, much more leisurely gear.
Hiking in the “forests” in this part of the Vaucluse is restricted during the summer. With a couple of exceptions in highly-utilized areas like the Forêt de Cèdres, Fort de Buoux and the Gorges de Régalon, hiking is only permitted in the forests from 5 am until 11 am. The fines for violations are pretty stiff. The main reason for this regulation is the risk of forest fires, but it’s also a good policy because of health issues related to the sun, the heat, and dehydration.
Despite our less-than-normal motivation and the schedule restrictions, we’ve managed to hike a couple of times since we’ve been here, twice on the same route. Our summer hiking approach involves leaving very early—not 5 am, but as close to 6:30 as possible with the goal of starting our walk before 7. This morning when we started our hike, the temperature was in the low 70’s, but it was approaching 90 when we finished about 10:30. We take several liters of cold water, packed into Charley’s backpack, and as it gets warmer, we need them.
Hiking near the Druid Temple (view of Apt and the Vaucluse Plateau)
Once we’re on the trail, we love it. And at the end of the hike we’re energized for the day… definitely sweaty, but energized.
Charley and I are working on a “Hiking in the Luberon” guidebook that we hope will eventually including about 20 hikes. Although there are several excellent guidebooks in French and some English-language guidebooks on the broader region of Provence, there doesn’t seem to be a current English resource focused on the Luberon. Charley is responsible for the maps, and I’m writing the narrative and instructions. It could be a year or two before our book is ready, but the project gives some purpose to our hiking. And most important, we’re having a good time.
Last week we developed a hike out of the village of Saignon, a spectacular perched village on a rock, high above Apt. The first time we hiked with Kelly, just finding our way. The next morning Charley and I returned with our notebooks and pencils, leaving Kelly to get a few extra hours of sleep. Our Saignon hike is a real treat: about 2-1/2 hours, not too much climbing, lots of lavender fields, several perfect bories hidden away on the Plateau de Claparèdes, a hamlet called Rocsalière built into the rocky cliffs, the ruins of a Druid Temple hidden down beneath the cliffs, sweeping views to the south and north, and then of course Saignon, one of our favorite villages.
Harvesting lavender near Saignon
As we came up the road to Saignon, we saw a man harvesting lavender with a special tractor. The aroma of the freshly-cut lavender was especially fragrant.
This morning (with Kelly again) we drove thirty minutes to Gordes and started walking about 7:15. We wanted to re-walk a hike Charley and I had done this past March to check some of the details for our notes and map. This hike also has some real delights: the 12th century Abbaye de Sénanque, a deep and narrow gorge, panoramic views of the Petit Luberon and the edge of the Alpilles, more bories, and even a peek through the endless stone walls at some of the upscale homes around Gordes.
Early morning in the Luberon (above the Abbaye de Sénanque)
We made it to the abbey in 45 minutes and heard the church bells for morning mass in the distance. As we passed the abbey, we heard singing coming from the ancient stone walls. We stopped to listen; it was a wonderful surprise in the quiet early morning. Later, we took an unexpected detour of about an hour to investigate a possible alternative to part of the route. Kelly had fun climbing through a large cave up in the rocks, but we decided to stick with our original plan when we had to skirt a tricky and dangerous rock face.
With the detour, it was 10:45 when we arrived back at our car in Gordes… too late to be hiking in the hot sun. Charley suggested we drive to the Sunday market in Coustellet and buy a few things bring home for lunch. At that time of the morning, I think every tourist in Provence who didn’t go to the L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue market was at Coustellet! (There’s definitely an advantage to visiting markets early in the morning!) We managed to push our way through the crowds to get a roast chicken, potatoes, a cucumber, salad greens, and a still-warm baguette.
We’ll do a couple more hikes during the next two weeks. There’s still so much we want to do, and we feel the time slipping by.
So hiking in the Luberon can be done in the summertime; it just requires a different schedule-- and a lot more water. We’ve enjoyed the colors of summer and the leafy vegetation, especially the lavender. And other than an occasional cyclist on the roads, we’ve had the trails to ourselves.
The only hard part of hiking in the summer is getting out of bed when the alarm goes off at 6 am! Wait a minute—make that the second hardest part. The hardest part is getting Kelly up that early!
