Stays in Provence – The trip of Ardrik et Taissija
Read the great story of Taissija and Ardrik and their trip visiting tourist villages in beautiful Provence for two weeks !
They are German, but live in Zuerich, Switzerland, and before Zuerich they lived for many years in London. True Europeans !
Hello everyone ! Today I want to let Taissija and Ardrik talk about their experience here. They are German, but live in Zuerich, Switzerland, and before Zuerich they lived for many years in London. True Europeans !
Taissija et Ardrik are in the Provence for two weeks. They take french lessons in the morning and in the afternoons they do visits, together with their mother Miriam and their teacher as a guide.
They are going to tell you about their visit to the mountain villages in the Provence…
The Provence is full of small, typical villages with winding roads, stone houses which are situated on the hills surounded by lavender fields and vineyards. During our authentic immersion homestay we have visited some villages in the area of Roussillon, Gordes, Isle sur Sorgue and Fontaine Vaucluse.
Roussillon is a village on a hill. One has an incredible view of the wooded valley below. There are houses that are coloured with ochre and have small shops with high quality products and water colour paintings. The ground consists of orange, red and yellow ochre. We did a short hike around the ochre boulders. Hence our shoes and hands are now covered with ochre dust. Millions of years ago the area was under the meditarrenean sea and the algae in the water oxidized when the sea retreated. Afterwards we entered the forest and did another little hike. The view was very nice because one could see the green trees against the orange canyon walls.
Near Roussillon and Gordes is the Senanque abbey with its lavender fields. Although the lavender was not in flower anymore one could smell the wonderful perfume. Mmh!
The weekends we visited Isle sur la Sorgue, the village next to Velleron. Each Sunday there is a market where we can buy specialities of the Provence, like olives, terrines and sausages, pottery in lively colours with yellow, blue and green and, of course, antiques. We also went to mass at the church. The interior of the church is baroque and in the back there are angel figures on the wall.
After the visit to the church we needed to have shopping and went to the antique shops. Isle sur la Sorgue is the third largest European city for antiques behind London and Paris! Not too bad ! Isn’t it ? There was old furniture and decorations from old the ages and all parts of the world. Also, the “Villa Datris”, a museum of contemorary art have fascinating exhibitions.
The other village we visited was Fontaine de Vaucluse, where the spring of the river Sorgue is. Because the Sorgue originates in Fontaine de Vaucluse the water is very clear and pure here. You can see the algae at the bottom of the river. We walked to the spring of the Sorgue which is situated in a grotto in the mountain.
Did you know that the Commandant Jacques Coustaud explored the spring? Above, at the castle ruin we enjoyed the nice panorama of Fontaine Vaucluse, the forest and all of the valley which is surrounded by white cliff.
These visits have been very interesting and they enriched our stay and we think that every person that comes to the Provence should visit these beautiful villages.
Written by Taissija and translated by Ardrik
French immersion courses in Aix-en-Provence, France
