Magic Kingdom

We drove around another hairpin bend on the D15 highway in Provence, slowed down because of all the cars parked on a narrow strip of roadside and saw this breathtaking view.  It was the town of Gordes, spilling down the hillside, reputedly the most photographed town in France - for obvious reasons.   It's a fairytale kingdom with a castle at the top of the hill - sheer magic!

The castle, started in the 11th century and completed in the 16th century, is now a museum dedicated to the art work Pol Mara, a Belgian artist who lived in Gordes.  We did not visit as it was closed by the time we got there late in the day.

We did wander through the town through all kinds of ancient laneways.

You practically have to bend down to go through this one, it's actually a real street

that came out onto this courtyard.

We wanted to see how the town worked - how the houses were built down such a steep slope - and so we tried one of the streets leading downhill...

See how this house was built on multiple terraces following the slope!

The temptation was to keep going down the path to see what the next corner would bring -

one awesome view after another.

This even looked like it might be a private home, can you imagine living here?

This seemed to be caverns of some sort but there was no signage.

There were no road signs and no map, it was time to turn back up the hill, along this ancient path...

with an escort

It always took twice as long to go up than it did to go down.  We made it back into the town just before the bakery closed.  This was where the patient sales lady boxed and beribboned our two pieces of dessert  even as the owner locked the front door.   Typical French style!

Abbey in the Valley

By now, you would have figured out that most of our destinations in Provence seemed to include a religious institution of some kind or other.  No, we were not on a pilgrimage but the church was so dominant in the middle ages that religious structures seemed to be the only ones around or still standing and worth seeing.  The Abbe de Senanque (apologies for all the missing accents in my French names -  I have yet to find them on the blogging site!) is hidden in a valley near the town of Gordes.  We had to drive down a narrow winding mountain road to get here, all the time keeping our fingers crossed that we wouldn't encounter a tour bus going in the opposite direction. The location is very secluded and I could imagine it would be very peaceful when all the cars were gone. It is an active monastery and guided tours in French were again the only way to see it.  

This used to be the dormitory for the monks.

Here is the chapel.

Note the asymmetry in the location of the windows in the chapel.

Haven't we seen this before?

I loved the challenge of taking photos in the dim lit rooms.  Figuring out the lighting was a learning experience, but there were also the physical challenges of trying to out manoeuvre a crowd of more than 50 people milling around and competing with other photographers for the prime spot for photos.  I have developed a technique when forced to be in a group - be the first one in and the last one out.  Other photographers had the same idea of course but we were all very considerate of each other and moved on when we were done, unlike people who didn't take photos but talked on cellphones or for some reason or other wouldn't get out of the room.

This was the room where meetings were held.

And here, the only room in the monastery with a fireplace, the place where the monks could do work or write as it was the only warm room.

Here is the door to the library - you can see the word "Bibliotheca" carved into the stone.  I would have loved to see inside, but it was not open to the public.