A Provencal Blog

Today I searched for blogs from Provence. I found one that is simply wonderful! It's called
Extremely Pale Rose and it's written by Jamie Ivey, a Brit, who moved to Provence with his wife to write and to sell wine, rose wine.They live in Lourmarin, a village that I've visited several times. In fact, it's the village where I went to my very first French market. As I read thru Jamie's blog, I learned that one of the village markets he sells at is Cucuron....one of my favorite Provencal villages. Just the mention of Cucuron took me back....

17 April 2007: "A beautiful morning! No rain inspite of last night's clouds. Today will be an errand day for me; then I may explore a little on my own and hike around Goult to get some background for 'Camille.' I can't do mega shopping again today! I drove to Lourmarin on the windy, steep back road, then on to Cucuron--charming, not too touristy. Had lunch by the 'etang' while the Tuesday market wound down. Then walked up to the church and cemetery."

Above is a picture I took of the 'etang,' or pond. In this case, it's a cement pond. Market was set up around it; I enjoyed lunch at my outdoor table on the west side. Was Jamie there, selling wonderful rose? Why did I ever feel the need to explore Cucuron? "A Good Year" with Russell Crowe and Marion Cotillard, of course! If you've seen the movie, there's a scene where Max and Fannie are getting cosy over a glass of wine. Lights are strung thru the plane trees and at the open end of the 'etang,' a young French guy sings while scenes of old French movies play behind him. It's simply lovely, and I wanted to see the place where it was filmed.

After lunch I wandered thru the village towards the church. I watched an artist painting thru her open door while rich opera music drifted out of her open windows. Then I spied these shoes sitting on a worn step outside a battered door. This is the kind of village Cucuron is...a working village populated by people who appreciate tourists, but who live real lives. It's one of my favorite pictures from my entire trip.

Near the very top of the village and directly in front of me I saw the village church, Notre Dame de Beaulieu. It was a very warm spring day, and I was hot. I debated whether to climb the steps to the church, but decided I should. The huge wooden door was very heavy, but the dark coolness of the church was very welcome. As the door swung closed, it became instantly quiet. It was so cool inside that moisture had condensed on the beautiful tile floor. The black and white tomette tiles were only on the center aisle, tho. The side aisles were plain. In fact the rest of the church was plain and just a little shabby. But it was cool and a respite from the heat. I saw a tall statue of Ste. Tulle which was badly in need of painting ; the pews were very worn. But there was a vase of fresh flowers in honor of Ste. Tulle, and votives burned in hopes of prayers being answered.

I left the church and wandered back thru the village to my car. I had to get back to Goult! I had a cooking lesson this afternoon. More on that in another blog....