Provence: Roussillon, France
Next up to visit in my tour of Luberon was the village of Roussillon, perched high up on a hillside above a plateau, famous for the color of the houses that are tinted with and therefore mirror the colors of the ochre in the surrounding landscape. Ochre is the world's oldest known natural pigment. All the red earth made me miss Oklahoma!
The ochre vein in this region of France is one of the largest in the world, and it stretches through the Luberon from Apt to Roussillon. This area is commonly referred to as the Colorado Provencal. The ochre was mined very successfully in the 19th & 20th centuries, until synthetic pigments started to be manufactured in the 1950's. The beautiful natural colors of the ochre on just about every establishment give this village a very unique appeal quite different to the other villages in the region. Most of the houses in the village were constructed about 300 years ago and the church that sits at the top of the village originated in the 11th century.
The ochre vein has a bit of a mystery to it…and therefore there are several legends attached to it. I’ve noticed the imaginative French giving legends and stories to most anything in an attempt to explain the mystery and beauty of this area. The first legend of Roussillon’s red hills says that way back when the gods ruled the earth, Titans tried to conquer Provence but were kept at bay by local populations. In retaliation, the Titans built a giant cannon, which spewed forth its anger and its flames, all over Roussillon hill.
The more dramatic & well-known medieval story and legend is that of Lady Sermonde and her terrifying husband Raymond d'Avignon. The fair lady was often left alone for days by her absent husband, gone hunting, so it would come as no surprise that she befriended Guillaume, a young (and available) troubadour. Eventually, the two fell in love and became lovers. When her husband discovered the truth, he invited Guillaume to go hunting with him. He promptly stabbed him in the back and decapitated the unsuspecting troubadour. Upon returning to the castle, he asked his cook to prepare a meal for his wife (yuck!) and once she had finished her delicious dinner, he revealed her stew had been prepared with her lover's heart. The Lady Sermonde, horrified and heartbroken, ran outside and threw herself off the cliff, her blood splashing red all over the hills, never to be erased. The tale of Lady Sermonde is the most popular legend of Roussillon
AND then there is this interesting and true story, the renowned writer Samuel Beckett hid out from the Germans in Roussillon for three years at the end of World War II between 1942 and 1945. He was heavily engaged in helping the French Resistance in Paris and had to flee the Gestapo.
Roussillon is also listed as one of “Les plus beaux villages de la France”/ “the most beautiful villages of France,” and is the 2nd most visited village in the Luberon. Gordes is the first. I find the best way to get to know anywhere, and these villages are no exception, is just to wonder and get lost all through the little lanes and alleyways, eventually finding the just right special spot to stop and enjoy another vin rosé.
As I was wandering, I noticed that even the Roussillon cats are stained ochre and flying the village colors.
