Day 11- First Excursion

It was an early morning. The markets were open, people were up and about, the air was crisp. Its strange that everyone starts their day so early, and ends so early, I sometimes wished the people of Aix-en-Provence lived the US college life, Although I am sure this way is much healthier. We were up to go on our first excursion with IAU. Le Luberon is another area of France just north of Provence.

Jill and I were very excited to go on our first excursion with our peers but waking up early was no fun. It was a 40-minute bus ride there, and the 40 minutes between each of the cities we went to. In France, and I am assuming all of Europe, the driving is crazy. As I sat in my small chair next to a girl I have just met, my stomach churned from all of the turns, avoiding cars people and mopeds.

We first arrived at Lourmarin. There were small lavender fields and poppy flowers that scented the entrance. We first went to the old castle that rested on higher land and you could see the entire city from its backyard. You could also see miles of fields and mountains. We walked around the outside of the castle imagining we were back in time when this was a safe house from many wars and disaster, reminding ourselves that this building still remains after hundreds of years. Then we walked through the open market picking our food for our picnic that would happen at our next destination. Cheese, bread, sweet fruit and drinks.

Le Lourmarin- The Castles "backyard"

The Castle (left)

We jumped back on the bus to go to our next destination, LaCoste. As if the last spot we were at wasn’t beautiful, LaCoste was even more breath taking. It was a very old city where many wars were fought. For a place where there were so many traumas, it was so beautiful. There was an area at the top of the mountain that was grass and over looked most of Luberon, but getting to this grassy area was a hike. Because the city was built during such tragic times, all of the roads were very winding up the mountain; this was so attackers could not navigate the city easily. Which also means tourists cannot navigate the city easily. It was wild the steepness and narrowness of the roads. But it made it all the more breathtaking to see something you would never see in the USA.  After a delicious lunch absorbing a perfect view we trekked our way back down to the bus and mad it to our next destination, Roussion.

Tiny door in LaCoste

View from our pic-nic in LaCoste

Roussion was very different from the previous two cities we had visited. It was very hard to believe I was on the same excursion due to the dramatic change in scenery. Roussion reminded me of western United States in a way. There was clay, and it was red and dry instead of green and plush. We walked through the preserved area and it only took 50 feet to want to take a picture. It could be synonymous with the Grand Canyon in it look, but for me its 100% different. This was made of powder, at least it seemed like it. When you touched a wall the color would transfer to your hand. Where as at the Grand Canyon when you touched the wall nothing happened. The walls were rock and sturdy at the Grand Canyon it felt like nothing would ever change it. But at Roussion it was different. It was delicate. Every person that touched the wall took a bit home with them. It was crazy to think that after so much rain wind and tourists this beautiful quarry may not be in existence any more, just a place where people in the future would dream about, and I was there, in flesh and blood.

Looking out over Roussion

In the quarry at Roussion- Some parts were about 4 to 5 times deeper than this at the quarries deepest.