Oppede-le-vieux

 

 Salut!  The vacation continues and we started this particular day at Oppede-le-vieux, another perched village in the Luberon region of Provence that experienced a decimation of it population in the late 1800s and only relatively recently (early 1900s) was slowly repopulated with artists and has now become known as an artist's colony in this area.  

For us, the average tourists, this lovely village and day is one of many where we begin the morning with coffee, pain au chocolat, and we load up the car and set off to a picturesque village somewhere within a half hour of our base, Menerbes.  Usually, a short hike of some kind ensues after four adults and one toddler give their input on where we the sun will be located at the end of our 1/2 day excursion so that the car does not become a hot pocket in which we are the tasty, warn innards.

Oppede-le-vieux was no exception to this daily itinerary; we climbed the cobble-stoned streets to the ruins of a chateau at the top. Next to the chateau was an understatedly beautiful and simple cathedral that overlooked Mt. Ventu and the other smaller mountains of the Luberon area. 

Note to reader:  people who go backpacking with 30-50 pound packs often practice for days and weeks before starting their treks, cleansing their bodies of toxins, eating well, sleeping amply, and hydrating well in advance of their vacations.  Do not think for one second that toting a 30 pound, oversized 16 month old training only on 1.5 bottles of personal self-consumption of wine, white carbohydrates, chocolate croissants, no water, and little sleep is a doable task.  Train, I say! Train many, many days before you vacation with a gargantuan child on your back!