Gordes

"Are you ready to see something magnificent" Francois the wine tour guide asked the three of us on his tour. We were winding our way through the Provence countryside, alongside olive orchards and beautiful stone walls everywhere, herbs, lavender, cherry trees in bloom, 'Borries' or beehive-shaped rock dwellings from long, long ago.

We all said that we were, but as we rounded the corner I was still stunned by the view before me. Towering over the valley that stretched off to the mountains in the distance was a beautiful village, seemingly carved out of rock, clinging tenuously to the side of the cliffside. Gordes.

Apparently, this is one of the sights for which Provence is famous. It is so stunningly beautiful that it has attracted a long list of famous people who live or have lived here. It is the village that Francois Mitterand lived in, and apparently the Princess of Monaco has a home here, where Princess Diana was to have come to live with her. There are other French movie stars who keep homes here as well.

I walked the streets, which seem to go mostly up and down, except for at the top plaza portion of the city at the top of the hill. There is a fortification here, plenty of shops and bakeries. You get the sense that this is a touristed place, but that also people manage to live their lives still.

Below, the fields stretched out on the plain, orchards, vegetables, vineyards, small farmsteads. Very beautiful!

More photos here at my flickr.com site