More little villages!

Today, Friday, we decided to see some more of the villages in the Pays d'Aigues. A few kilometres from Grambois we could see the village perched high on top of a hill. We wound our way upwards till we arrived at La Place de l'Eglise where we parked.

Notre Dame de Beauvoir Church

The foundations of this church go back to the 11th century and it has been added to and expanded up until the 17th century. It's not the only thing in the photo to have been added to and expanded over the years!

These words of Frederic Mistral affirm the agricultural nature of Grambois. Today the village is surrounded by grain fields, olive groves and vineyards.

La fontaine aux bartavelles

In 1989, the film maker Yves Robert used this square and fountain for the boules game and for the return from hunting of the partridge hunters in his film "La gloire de mon pere" (Pagnol).

The belfry

This clock tower was constructed after an earthquake in 1708 and crowned by the campanile in the 1900s.

A view of the Luberon from Grambois.

Passage des Templiers.

La Maison des Templiers

A nice little shady area.

Jim can never resist cacti!

                                                                Or lizards!

A renaissance house.

Le portail neuf.  The newest gate of the village.

On leaving Grambois, we decided to go to La Bastide des Jourdans where there is a 16th century Chapel - La Chapelle Notre Dame de la Consolation - but we were in need of consolation as we didn't find it!

But we found this - an ancient statue.

And this - Bastide des Jourdans' 17th century belfry.

And this - a view up to the castle..

La Bastide des Jourdans did not seem very suitable for lunch so we headed off in the direction of Mirabeau. This brought us over much more rugged territory. Mirabeau was not to our liking either so we crossed the rive Durance amid spectacular scenery which we didn't stop to photograph and stopped in Jouques where we had a lovely really plat du jour - salade paysanne for Jim and travers de porc avec spaghetti et legumes pour moi.

Our final village of Friday was Cadenet, another perched village, where we parked in La Place du Tambour d'Arcole. (Little drummerboy square). Armed with a map and a walking tour we toured the town. Muscles that didn't know they were muscles are getting a good workout on this exchange as there is no such thing as walking on the flat!

Place du Tambour d'Ancole

, Andre beat the charge on his drum. The Austrians thought they were surroundedLe Tambour d'Arcole (Little Drummer boy) was Andre Estienne, born in Cadenet in 1777. He joined the Luberon Regiment at the age of 14 and was with the troops in Nice in 1796 when Napoleon arrived to take command of the army. After several victories, the troops were pinned down at Arcole, Italy. Every wave of attacking soldiers was mowed down by Austrian gunfire. The little drummerr boy. and a few soldiers, swam the river with his drum on his head. Reaching the other side and Napoleon's troops were able to charge the bridge and take the position. Napoleon decorated Andre with silver handles and point and Cadenet's star was born!

La Place du 14 Juillet, a former market square. In the centre is a large fountain, characteristic of the 19th century. It is an obelisk surmounted by a globe. Its waterspouts are 4 dolphins.

La Place de l'Horloge with its belfry.

The birthplace of the Little Drummer boy.

One of Cadenet's troglodyte dwellings.

L'Eglise St.Etienne

L'Eglise St. Etienne.

In the Centre Culturel la Laiterie there was an unusual exhibition - an exhibition of straw hats - which I really enjoyed.

When we returned to La Motte we had to go to the local supermarket for bread (the bakery is closed until next Tuesday). It was due to open at 4.30. It was 4.30! Talk about a palaver. Jim got reprimanded for I don't know what - possibly poking at a button thing that, seemingly, is an alarm. We were told to wait until she had taken out the displays of fruit and vegetables. That got delayed as she got into conversation with someone in a car who was asking directions. Then the trolleys had to be put in the right place. Finally, 15 minutes later, she said "Voila" and we were allowed in. And all for a baguette!

A view of Grambois perched on a hill, taken as we passed by on Saturday.