Provence - Part 1
This past May we spent a magical week in Provence. Our home base was in the small hilltop village of Bonnieux - honestly, it was like a dream - so wonderful in every possible way. The village has approx. 1,800 residents and it sits atop a hill overlooking the gorgeous Luberon region of Provence. This area is known for its many beautiful hilltop medieval villages and stunning natural beauty. We had amazing weather - low to mid 70’s during the days and down to the low to mid fifties during the night. Just about every afternoon we would watch huge storm clouds move above the valley below us and then the rain would come for a short period of time and the clouds would move away leaving us with clear skies again. The warm people, delicious food and local produce, Rose wine, medieval stone buildings, and winding cobblestone streets had us living in a fairy tale land for one solid week. I am breaking this trip up for you into more than one post with the hope that each post will give you time to savor the peacefulness and picturesque beauty of this part of southern France.
It is time to come along with me…
It is no surprise to you that each morning I was up before sunrise and out with my camera. For this trip I was out with my landscape lens and tripod to try to capture the natural beauty that surrounded us in this magical setting. When I would head each morning it was quite dark - I did have my headlamp on as I was walking up and up on very winding cobble stone streets. The only creatures I would see out during these very quiet morning hours were the neighborhood cats - all very well fed and taken care of.
The blue hour here was like nothing I have ever seen. The blue hour is when the sun is still a decent level below the horizon - giving the sky a soft blue light - it is unlike the color blue we see in the sky during the day. It occurs at both dawn and dusk.
Each morning when I would make it to the top the valley below me would just spread out in the most amazing colors and shapes. There were always areas of dense fog drifting over pockets of the fields below and the mountains out on the horizon. I honestly thought - are you kidding me?
During the quiet beauty of this moment - while I was concentrating taking this shot - a cat jumped off of a stone wall that was right behind me and almost gave me a heart attack! Thankfully, it didn’t! :)
As the sun would get higher I would head down from the top and capture the sun’s first rays of light on the buildings. It was as if I was in a dream!
Each day the church bells would ring on the hour and half hour - may as well make this fairy tale even more unbelievable! The last bells would ring at midnight and then start again at 6am. Let me close this episode with a video that I took at sunset. I hope this is able to convey some of the calming beauty from this piece of heaven on earth…
Turn your volume on… you can enlarge by expanding the box within the video
Wishing everyone peace…