France, Lubéron: Good time Good wine pt.2

 

Lourmarin -> Bonnieux (20mn)

 So we didn't plan to stop at Bonnieux, but the city has caught our attention. There is no castle there but there is a very nice path you can climb to admire the Old Church and have a sublime view typical from the region.

Bonnieux -> Lacoste (10mn)

We drove up to the top of the village to reach the castle of Lacoste. When we arrived downstairs we stumbled upon a door where we had to ring to be able to visit from the inside (and I'm not sure why we did not, I warned you). The site has been partially renovated, but quite frankly I don't know if it's worth visiting. You can call 04 90 75 93 12 for more information. We left the car at the castle and we went down to the village. It is a very nice walk with tiny alleys and a religious calm, it felt really good. We arrived at the Café de France, a restaurant with an incredible view. The prices are very reasonable, and the dishes amaizing! I recommend this restaurant for a mid-day break !

Lacoste -> Pont Julien (9mn)
It was from there that we no longer followed the plan that we had prepared a few days before. On the road, we saw a bridge with many cyclist. And since we had the good idea to take our bikes, we figured that it would be quite a good bike ride. What is cool down there is the Véloroute,  a road made only for bikes and which is super long. It goes from Beaumettes to Paraire, it passes throw Lumières (Goult), Pont Julien (Bonnieux), Le Chêne (Gargas), Rond-Point de Bosque (Apt), Apt, Saignon, Caseneuve, Saint-Martin-de-Castillon, La Paraire (Saint-Martin-de-Castillon). There is a lot to do! We rode a good part of it until we got bored end tiered. We got lost a little in this beautiful countryside, we passed through very pleasant trails but rather steep, while the road to the Veloroute is rather flat. Again I advise you to visit the website Luberon.fr to know more about the bridge Julien! And then, at one point, we came across a vineyard, Domaine de l'Angele, and we were very happy to find it. We bought two bottles of wine (delicious on the way) and we left on our bikes after a little tasting. Here you have the very well-made list of the sixty vineyards and cellars of the Luberon, it makes a package! And, thanks to Jacques, the owner, we went to the campsite La folie (so yes it does not feel like it, but in fact it's a farm!), held by Jacques's uncle and which is in Lagnes , right next to Fontaine-de-Vaucluse.

Pont Julien -> Lagnes (20mn)
What a nice surprise when you arrive on the campsite! This place is beautiful, there is the main house (where you can buy local products), the showers are very clean, and there is plenty of space for camping along the river. In the summer it must be a little more crowded than that. We paid 15 euros for tent for 3 peoples + car. The gentleman grows his own products and sells them at the market. He advised us to go and see him the next day, at the Coustellet market, which is apparently not unfamiliar, it's "trendy" as he says (this man is magic, a real character). After a great night's sleep despite the rain, we repacked our great new tent <3 and went to this market.

Lagnes - > Coustellet (10mn)
And indeed, this market is great. The products we found are delicious. (The next day we had finished). Cheeses, olives, jam, juice, ham, DE-LI-CIOUS ! A little favorite for Provençal flavors - Les saveurs provencales, and especially for sparkling spread (it is milk chocolate with sparkling sugar, a delight!). They have a huge selection, salty, sweet, and they are lovely!

Coustellet -> Baux de Provence
We did not think of going through this, but luckily we changed our minds! So certainly the Baux de Provence is quite touristic (much even), but what is beautiful ... We started by the Career of Lights, what a slap in the face! The principle is projections of images, videos, on the rock itself. It is perfectly "arranged"with sound and we could have spent hours watching this show. I believe the themes change every year, we had Bosch, Méliès and Philip Haas. It's hard to explain but I let you watch the video and photos.

There is also, a little further, the village and the castle. I didn't like it as much, I found it a bit false, and very touristic, no real charm. The castle at the top is nice but I don't know, I did not really appreciate it, I still don't  know why (maybe also that I was hungry;)). The guys liked it and got to load a old working  trebuchet!

I think that if you like medival ambiance, you can spend the day there because there is quite a lot to do! There are activities for the kids as well. Be careful, parking isn't free, with a parking meter, which only accepts coins and has a single rate of 5euros. For the quarries + the entrance to the castle + the entrance to the museum (which we did not do because I didn't realize the museum was included!), we paid 18 euros per adult. Just the quarries were 12 euros.

After that, I was hungry, and we had so many good things waiting for us in the car! And we wanted freshness and lake, so we found on Googlemap Lake Peiroou, which is 3km south of the archaeological site of Glanum. So I will not hide that it was crowded, but once we could find a place, it was very nice. We have with it concludes this beautiful weekend beautiful end.

Lac de Peiroou -> Marseille (1h10)

I can only encourage you to go and discover this region, and for the Marseillais, it is so close to us! We had a wonderful time, and we really recharged in a short time. 

And here is the short video by Amélie:

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