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2024 Beaumont de Pertuis,  le Trois

May 12, 2024

We are still in the idyllic picture book village of Beaumont de Pertuis,  in Provence, beginning week 5, the final week,  of  the art residency. We will both miss this place very much and already each day is tinged with sadness that we are unlikely to repeat this opportunity again. The glorious sunrises, velvety deep night skies alive with stars and satellites, ancient peaceful villages lanes, the chiming church bells next to us, the swifts swooping and the doves cooing…it is a place that seems to exist outside of time and trouble.

   Vew from our terrace; I cannot get enough of rooftops!

TRIP TO MARSEILLES AND ISRAEL

Last week we took an unexpected short trip to Israel to visit family. My brother had been ill and we were anxious to see him and our sister in law. We flew out of Marseilles, at 10. 30 pm on Monday 6^th, arriving at 3.30 am in Tel Aviv. Our nephew came to pick us up and drove us to our Air BnB in a  village close to their home. We were there just three days, but we were very glad to see improvement in his health in that brief time. Our flight back was at 5.30 am which meant getting up at 1.30 am for a 2 pm taxi! El Al airlines require check in three hours before the flight due to security protocols. It was tiring but we were grateful that we could make the trip.

Our brief sojourn in Marseilles en route  was uneventful; we reserved a “day room” at a hotel in the city near the Old Port, so we could relax and rest up before the flight. The room was in an ancient building up three flights of steep winding stairs but inside it was beautifully appointed. The views from our tiny balcony were classic “Matisse,” and I have a few nice photo references for paintings. Our impressions of Marseilles were limited to a stroll on the quayside of the Old Port, some people-watching at outdoor cafes, but it clearly is a gritty, tough city.   There was a strong police presence everywhere as the Olympic torch was due to arrive in the city on May 8^th , two days after our visit, drawing expected crowds of 230,000 people including famous athletes and other celebrities.  Groups of gendarmes with automatic weapons patrolled every street that we saw.    

Marseilles was founded in 600 BC by the Greeks and has been an important crossroads of trade and immigration throughout the centuries. The second largest city in France, with nearly 900,000 inhabitants in the city and a million and a half in the larger urban area, the immigrant population of Marseilles exploded in the second half of the 20^th century with the arrival of waves of immigrants from Algeria, Tunisia and other North African countries.  With so much history and modern architectural gems, we would love to return one day to see more of the city.

Marseilles, two vignettes from our balcony. Channeling my Inner Matisse on the left!

TRIP TO LUBERON HILL TOWNS

Here at the residency, we have taken a few afternoons off to explore the area. Yesterday we drove east and north to see some villages mentioned by Rick Steves in his Guide to Provence. The Luberon Valley, where we are staying, is a National Park, so it is rustic and unspoiled with startlingly dramatic  limestone ridges where gnarled cypresses cling to the rockface, and valleys of verdant,  rich farmlands, vineyards and lavender fields. Viewed from the roadside or from a hilltop, each view is more perfect than the next. Fields of wild poppies and other wildflowers cover the verges of the roads, growing out of nooks and crannies in the rockface and in the fields. Plane trees line many of the country roads,below.

We drove through many small, sleepy villages that look frozen in time, and  stopped at St-Saturnin-les-Apt, on the top of a mountain, where a very impressive, ruined castle dating from 1300, can be seen. The heavily striated and variegated limestone formations on the mountain top make it difficult to tell which stones are manmade and which are natural. Below the castle, clinging to the mountain side, is the village with a beautiful church set in a small piazza. It is a good example of Provincale Romanesque. The narrow, cobbled streets are very steep making navigating with a car  challenging to say the least! The ancient homes are well cared for and frequently draped with vines and creepers. Many lively cafes and bars line the village streets where street vendors displayed their wares in a makeshift market. I would recommend spending  a couple of hours exploring  this unexpectedly charming and picturesque spot.

See below

After driving down into the valley, we then made our way back up into the mountains where we visited a tiny town called Saignon. This was well worth the visit as it is probably the most charming, storybook town we have seen so far. We needed refreshments and a bathroom by this time (neither easy to come by in these small places) and we found a tiny café down a steep side alley, built into the mountainside, which looked like a home for a hobbit. Low beamed ceilings, three little tables set with vintage tableware, and a warm and welcoming hostess who served coffee and homemade chocolate fudge cake. Even the hand towels in the little bathroom were vintage hand embroidered linen  napkins!

The tiny village of Saignon, which is perched atop a moutain spur overlooking the Luberon Valley.

The drive upwards  winds around hairpin bends, frequently overhung with extraordinary formations of limestone jutting out of the mountain face. I wish we had more time to hang out and get to know these villages, but one cannot do it all. We have been so fortunate to stay in our own little town of Beaumont de Pertuis which we have come to love.

  View of the town of Saignon from the mountain road above the village

TRIP TO CASSIS

Cassis is famous for boat trips or hikes to see the “calanques” which are Mediterranean fjords with sparking clear water and tiny white beaches. None of these  can be reached by car or bus and we certainly were not up for either a boat trip (seasickness) or a hike, but we were able to enjoy spectacular views driving on the La Route des Cretes, which twists and turns all the way to the summit of the mountains overlooking Cassis on one side and the port and ship building town of  Le Ciotat on the other. In this town the Lumiere brothers, the fathers of cinema, took their first film of the arrival of a train at Le Ciotat station. The first screeing on this footage was in 1895 the Eden Theater which still exists today.

    Below: Larry near the summit of Route de Cretes 

    A view of the "calanques" seen from the La Route des Cretes

Below: the quayside at Cassis

En route to Marseilles we drove to Cassis for an overnight stay. Cassis dates back 2500 years to Phoenician and Roman times and despite its quaintness and proximity to the Cote D’Azure, it retains a simple, homey air. Close to  Aix en Provence and to Marseilles, the town nestles on a perfect little bay, under the towering cliff called Cap Canaielle. It is France’s highest maritime cliff, sculpted by receding glaciers and dropping 1200 ft straight down. On the summit is a picturesque fortress and castle dating from the 8^th century. Today it is an exclusive luxury hotel.  We had a room in the super simple and modest Le Golf hotel, on the quayside overlooking the port and the castle  across the bay. We had stayed at Le Golf the year before, when we “discovered” this little gem, and we really enjoyed our return visit.  The views from the balcony are pure “Matisse.”

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AND SO WE BID FAREWELL TO THE ART RESIDENCY....

   Last day in the studio at the Art Residency