By
this post I would like to share with you the beauty of some villages in
France. Most of foreigners visit only Paris and the French Riviera but
one of the treasure of France is its small beautiful and charming
villages.
They
are all over the country so it's difficult to make a selection. Hence I
decided to focus on region of France, let's start first with the
"Provence"as this is most probably one of the place in France where the
villages have a special charm.
Note:
All pictures in this post are unfortunately not mine and taken from the
web. If you have a copyright issue with it, please let me know. I have tried to linked it to the original source though.
First
of all, let's see on a map, where we are? Provence is located in
south-east France, the main city being Marseille (Circled on this
Map).
If we are zooming, we arrive here:
Provence
became popular thanks to the impressionist painters such as Paul
Cézanne or Vincent Van Gogh, who particularly loved the light and the
beauty of landscapes and villages of this area.
One
of the part of Provence I prefer is called the "Lubéron" located just
few kilometers from Avignon. But let's talk first of Avignon, which is
the previous residence of the Pope before Rome. The Pope palace is
worthwhile to visit, and the old city itself very beautiful. Avignon can
be a good starting point for your journey in Lubéron. Here a view on
the Avignon's Pope Palace:
Now
take your car and go direction the "Lubéron". This part of France has
one of the biggest number of the so-called "plus beaux villages de
France" (most beautiful villages of France). You can find more
information on these villages all over France here: http://www.les-plus-beaux-villages-de-france.org/en
One
of my favourite place is the village of Roussillon. The particularity
of this village is the Ochre colour used for the architecture of the
town. The light of Provence on these red walls with the Mount Ventoux
(well known by Tour de France fans) in background gives you a feeling of
Western.
Not bad isn't it?
Very
close from Roussillon you will find the village of Gordes. Here is the
feeling totally different even if only 10km away from Roussillon. This
time is the architecture based on white rocks made from limestone. The
charm of this village is as well its location on a cliff surrounded by a
pine forest, just gorgeous. The village was created during the roman
time, and is now one of the main touristic highlight of the area.
Traditional housing and streets of this village:
