Gordes to Roussillon return: red earth

November 9, 2009

Weather: sunny with wind later in the day

Breakfast at the hotel was a pleasant surprise—a copious buffet with excellent croissants and baguettes, cheeses, crème fraiche, fruit, and as much coffee and hot milk as we wanted, served in the dining room overlooking Gordes. The breakfast helped to make up for our cell-like room with poor ventilation, and gave us great hopes for dinner tonight. (We had purchased a special low-season package which included two nights' lodging with breakfast and one dinner for a very reasonable rate.)

After breakfast we took off for Roussillon, another hilltop village that we could see from Gordes. First down, down, down, then across the Luberon valley and up again to Roussillon. It was a beautiful ride in the sunshine past more vineyards, with no weight on the bikes and hardly any traffic.

Rousillon, our destination, was just visible across the valley of the Luberon on a hill to the east.

Looking back at the other side of Gordes from part way down the hill.

Traffic in the valley was very sparse and the weather was ideal for cycling. The little village of Joucas is just visible above the vines on the left.

In Roussillon ochre used to be mined for paint pigments, and the soil there is an intensely red colour from iron oxides and other chemicals. Mining stopped about 20 years ago, and one of the quarries has been turned into a park and tourist attraction. We locked our bikes to a railing and walked the one km boardwalk trail through the old quarry. The moonscape of bright red and yellow sandstone was quite amazing and well worth the nominal admission charge.

The old ochre quarry is well worth a visit. Unfortunately the sun was low in the sky and the colours don't reproduce as vibrantly in a photo as they were in real life.

The village of Roussillon is charming and hilly, with nice views of the surrounding countryside. We walked our bikes up and down the narrow streets of the centre and found a restaurant for lunch with a sheltered terrasse. There we sat in the sunshine eating large salads covered with marinated fresh garlic. We had to pinch ourselves to remember that it was November and could easily be snowing at home!

We found a great little patio in the sun for a lunch break.

Rousillon wasn't all ochre. Roast peppers with garlic was also available.

On the ride back to Gordes, we encountered quite a headwind as we detoured uphill about 100 metres through the tiny picturesque village of Joucas. From the church at the top of the village we had another great view of the Luberon valley. Then back downhill again to the main road before the last uphill push into Gordes, with the headwind blowing fiercely. On the way up the hill we passed a man harvesting olives from a tree in his front garden. We rode right through windy Gordes and arrived at the hotel in time for a shower and a rest before dinner.

The sun was well down in the west and the few tourists were leaving Gordes as we returned to the hotel.

From our table in the hotel restaurant we could see Gordes lit up dramatically while we enjoyed a leisurely three-course meal which featured pintade (guinea hen) and was nicely presented. The good dinner finished off a lovely day, and we looked forward to further travels through the Luberon valley tomorrow.

Today's ride: 25 km (16 miles)
Total: 707 km (439 miles)

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