Tags
Bonnieux, fete, Fontaine de la Vaucluse, Matisse, Miro, museum, Resistance, river, Vaucluse, Village of Secrets, war
Yesterday was a day of contrast of an abundance of gourmet foods to a stark reminder of the hunger and misery experienced during the Second World War in France.
First we decide to check out the Fete de la Gastronomie, in the hilltop village of Bonnieux, that we had seen advertised on numerous posters along the roads during our excursions last week. Bonnieux is perched on a Luberon promontory, just a 30 minute drive from L’Isle-Sur-la-Sorgue. We park up on the terrasse where there is a great view of the Calavon Valley, with Mount Ventoux in the background.
We wind our way down the hillside and find the fete at the Maison du Livre et de la Culture. Outside tables and chairs are ready for potential diners from the offerings to be cooked at the hot food stalls being set up. Inside the hall stall holders are gearing up for a busy weekend.
Visitors are encouraged to taste and ask about the produce on display ranging from jams and spreads, cheeses, wines, apple and pear juice, gateaux and biscuits, tapenades, pates, numerous varieties of echalotes, sardines, pimentos in all sorts of presentations, and truffle products to what seemed the most popular stand of all of different saucisson with special packs for €50.
When we emerge outside again families are now happily tucking into hot poulet de Bresse with gratin dauphinois.
We head back up the hillside to the terrasse for our lunch under the trees overlooking the beautiful valley.
Then it’s time to head to the nearby village of Fontaine de Vaucluse to see the Jean Garcin L’Appel de la Liberte (call of freedom) history museum about the years 1939-45 which gives historic, literary and artistic views of this time in occupied France. This is of great interest to me as I am currently reading a book on the resistance movement in France, Village of Secrets by Caroline Moorhead.
When we arrive I am amazed yet again at the natural beauty that abounds in the areas we have visited just in the past week. Fontaine de Vaucluse is set at the foot of a striking mountainous area and is the start of the river Sorgue. Its waters are a great attraction for bold canoeists.
A closer look at French life during the Occupation
There are a few little museums of interest here but for now we go to the Jean Garcin history museum where we have an English audio guide to help us glean more from the displays which are all in French. In the first section as well as collections of thousands of objects, documents and posters, there are recreations of a school room, bare epicerie, a family living room and kitchen to provide insights into French daily life during the Occupation.
A second section tells how the Resistance movement began and its activities in the Vaucluse region.
And the third section, The Freedom of the Mind, references some prominent literary and artistic figures, including Matisse, who made known their views. It includes underground publications and also extracts from original works from Matisse and Joan Miro.
The museum also has a huge archive about the 1870, 1914-1917 and 1939-45 wars that is open to the public to access.
Afterwards still digesting what we have seen and heard, we walk along the river through the village admiring the scenery, waterways and buildings. The actual Fontaine is one of the most powerful resurgent springs in the world and the depth of its chasm has been recorded as 315 metres. The cave from where the river Sorgue emerges is at the foot of rocky cliffs. During heavy flooding the water reaches the height of the fig trees growing in the rocks near the mouth of the cave before surging down the rocks.
Below is a legend I found about the gushing green waters.
The secret of the Fontaine de Vaucluse
Having gone out to dance with the girls of L’Isle-Sur-la-Sorgue one hot day, the old fiddler Basile fell asleep in the shade on the road called Chemin de Vaucluse. A nymph as beautiful as the clear waters appeared, took the sleeping man’s hand and led him to the edge of the basin where the Sorgue river opens out. The waters parted before them both allowing them to descend between two walls of liquid crystal to the bottom of the chasm. After a long underground walk, the nymph, in the middle of a prairie sown with supernatural flowers, stopped the fiddler in front of seven big diamonds. Lifting one of them, she made a strong fountain of water gush forth.
‘And lo’, she said, ‘the secret of the spring of which I am the guardian. To make it swell, I take away the diamonds; with the seventh, the water reaches the fig tree that drinks only once a year.’
She then disappeared as Basile awoke from his slumber.