On June 18 we headed to southern France from Paris on a high speed train, passing quaint towns, lush meadows, verdant fields, and got off in Avignon. Quite a few romantic movies have shown this train route, one off the top of my head is "French Kiss" with Meg Ryan and Kevin Kline. After about 2 hours of tentative driving and getting used to our hybrid rental car, we reached Menerbes, our adopted home town for the next week. And so begins the highlight of our European vacation, a fulfillment of one of my wife's adolescent fantasies: Provence and its lavender fields.
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| High speed train to Provence. |
Menerbes is nestled up on a hill in the lower southern range of the Luberon mountains. After carefully negotiating its tight roads, we reached the town center and began looking for our Airbnb. Road signs in French and trying to decipher the email directions made it a little challenging. We started asking around but not before long, it was Francois, the owner of the Airbnb, who found us.
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| Cobbled stone town square of Menerbes. |
We checked in to our room. Actually it’s a small house called a Cabanon with 12th century architecture complete with stone masonry, large wooden trusses, a fireplace, but with modern plumbing, electricity, and furnishing. Located on top of the hill overlooking the Luberon valley and part of a cloistered property that used to be assigned to the parish priest. Makes sense because we’re right next to an old church that is now only used for marriages and baptisms.
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| 800-year old church next to our Airbnb. |
Our view is breathtaking. In the valley below are vineyards and fields of wheat, and yes, lavender. In the distant is the Luberon mountain range with thick foliage, dotted only by equally quaint villages including Rousillon and Gordes, and a rock quarry that, according to Francois, supplies all the building stones for the region. Getting close to summer, the sun rises early and sets late majestically over the Luberon valley and provides dramatic lighting to this landscape masterpiece.
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| Our Airbnb overlooking the Luberon valley, with the Luberon mountains in the distant. |
Over dinner of ratatouilles and beef stew and the mandatory wine, locally produced of course, Francois and Maria mesmerized us with amazing stories. This senior couple has been all over the world. Francois is a retired anthropologist whose job has taken him to Vietnam, Africa, and South America, including Colombia where he met Maria. They are both descendants of renowned families. Francois is a son of a French Army general who was aide to Charles de Gaulle and who was present at the meeting between CDG and Roosevelt during WW II. Maria brought out an old black and white photo of the event.
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| Francois and Maria, our Airbnb hosts. |
According to Francois, Menerbes, has survived many conquests and wars dating back from the Mongols, the Ottoman, the Crusades, and the French Revolution. During WW II, it protected some Jewish families and also provided safe haven for Pablo Picasso, the Spanish painter.
Today, Menerbes remains a quaint village with a population of just over 2,000, but thanks to the Internet, has become a popular destination of tourists with distinct tastes, from all over the world.
A casual walk around town after dinner ended with a night cap of rose at an outdoor pub. The locals are very friendly and most speak English. On our walk through tight and quiet alleyways back to our Cabanon, enjoying the cool moonlit night and the ubiquitous scent of flowers, we couldn’t help but be thankful for taking this overdue trip to this marvelous place.
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