Blue Sky Living

Hidden Places - Foret de cedres

I must have passed the turning a hundred times. About 1 kilometre the Lourmarin side of Bonnieux is a sign post for the Foret de Cedres and the Village des Bories. For years the concept of strolling through a cedar forest or looking at some conical shaped stone houses clearly didn't prove that alluring. This week something changed. Maybe I am growing old. Anyway I discovered possibly the best panorama in the Luberon - previously I thought this was from the terrace of the Bastide de Gordes, where the view just about makes up for the cost of a beer - oh and there were some cedar trees too.

The photo above is of Bonnieux from the Cedar Foest, below are some autumnal shots taken near our house.

 

La Coquillade opens

This week saw the opening of the Luberon’s newest luxury hotel - La Coquillade - confirming the area’s status as one of the most chique holiday destinations in the world. Once one of the poorest areas of France the national park now hosts 11 four star hotels, six of them within 10 kilometres of Gordes. 300 of the Luberon great and the good gathered at La Coquillade for a champagne reception and guided tour.

The hotel is based around an old hamlet. Once crumbling farm houses have been transformed into luxury hotel suites, most with private terraces. The views, as you would expect, are stunning - vines, olive trees and the Luberon Hills. There’s a gourmet restaurant, an expansive terrace with low slung sofas and white sails billowing in the wind. It’s all very minimalist cool, reminiscent of St Tropez with prices to match.

Click here  for the hotel’s website.

Editor's blog

Our neighbour went to London this week. She came back appalled. The rain, the rain she moaned, and the prices, how much do the English have to pay themselves to be able to live? And worst of all the food - “we went to a pizza restaurant, and they didn’t have any bread, can you imagine a restaurant without any bread?“

BOULE PLAYERS PLACE DES LICES ST TROPEZ.

She threw her arms in the air in disgust. I nearly suggested that I was sure the restaurant had garlic bread or even dough balls, but I think it would have pushed her over the edge. Instead I commiserated about her horrible holiday and we both agreed that we were better off living in Provence…..one of the joys of which is out of season visits to the coast...

Photos

We had a busy Sunday at the Luberon marathon and the Fete de Courge in Lauris. Click on the photo albums to the right to see more of these events including the curiously attired runners pictured here.

And we thought we were different....

Switch on English television at any time of the day and somewhere on the hundreds of channels there will be a series about poor down trodden expats who are struggling to renovate their dream home. Inevitably the workmen turn up late and spend half their time muttering under their breath about the wretched Brits. The floorboards are pulled up, an ancient artifact discovered and the whole project put on hold for years while the local village museum investigates. The Brits get bored or go bankrupt and the Mayor's son buys the house for a steal. The next day the archeaological dig is called off.

We thought this type of thing could never happen to us. We were smart savvy long term French residents and so four months ago we bought a derelict house near Lourmarin. The plan was simple, knock it down and build a new one. Architect and builder agreed that it was perfectly possible to be in by next Spring. The important thing they declared was that building started in October. Well, as the picture below shows it hasn't.

The reason, and it must be true, because you just couldn't make it up, is related to all the old tiles you see on houses around here. Women used to make these by shaping clay over their thighs, creating a nice if totally irregular concave shape. Anyway our house is located in an area known as La Tuilerie - the tile factory and apparently all the excess clay once it was trimmed off the local ladies legs was used to back fill the land our house is going to be built on.

Right now no-one knows what foundations we should use, the problem we are told is not a common one.