Rousillion and Gordes

In the village of Rousillion are living about 1000 people and it’s known throughout France because of its beauty but also because of its ocher-brown-yellow color. The first to dig this substance from the ground were the Romans who used it for their clay pots. From the end of the 18th century large ocher quarters were built around the village where thousands of people found work.

Today it is forbidden to dig ocher. This prohibition was introduced to prevent the entire site from being excavated and thus disappearing. In the 20th century, more modern mine technologies enabled other, more profitable mines to be exploited. This ensured that all mines in the area around Roussillon were gradually closed. From the beginning of the eighties, tourism has replaced the mining industry. And that is not surprising - many artists, painters, artists come to this picturesque village. We decide to sit on one of these terraces of a small cafe and order a very pricey beer. This gives us the opportunity to get some water from the tap here needed for tonight. 

After we filled our water bottles at the toilet of the cafe, we pay our bill and walk out of the village while we see the sun drop behind the mountains. It is mainly the colors of the ocher that with the disappearing sun and shadow yields a game that you can not explain - you have to see that. In a bend we trudge through the golden sand between the green shrubs that stand out beautifully to an open space where we can set up our tents between some green.

There is also a large villa, but according to us nobody is home or nobody is living there at all. We prepare our food and do not enter our tents much later. Our first day in France.

It is wonderful when we both wake up at the same time in our individual tents and look around us in the early morning. With the sun on the ocher, the terrain looks completely different again. After breakfast we pack our things and walk back to the village Rousillon. We decide to walk the 10 kilometers that separates us from another beautiful village - as we have heard - Gordes.

On the way we make lunch under the trees and enjoy the beautiful view; Gordes is lying on a white rock on a plateau and we can not go wrong in any case. If we walk further we smell the lavender fields. At the foot of the village is the Village des Bories, a village with stone huts from the 18th century. These houses are built in a style that one in the region around Apt from about 5000 BC. used. The village is no longer inhabited. The houses have been completely restored and nowadays the settlement is a tourist attraction. 

We walk further up the hill which looks like an amphitheater with a beautiful view over the valley from opposite sides. Unfortunately, it is crowded with tourists who are likely to outpace the number of inhabitants (around 2000). Also in the village is a castle that was built around the year 1525. It replaced a former castle from the 11th century. We eat a crepe in the center, look at the monument in honor of cases in WWI and do quick errands. We walk back and set up our tents, on another plateau overlooking Gordes.

While the sun is setting again, we have now chosen to eat our soup with bread. We open a beer and sit back happily while we make plans for tomorrow.