Dodging the heat waves that plagued France this summer, my husband and I day-tripped through Provence for 5 days in late July after meeting up with our daughter following her study abroad program she did not manage to dodge the heat waves. The hill town of Gordes presents a scenic, hillside profile of sand-colored homes, capped by a church and old castle fortress.
Cobblestone lanes plunge steeply between the buff buildings, where cafes and boutiques and the odd pharmacy attract well-heeled locals and oodles of tourists. Along one steep entrance to a private home, I spotted this bronze sculpture of a be-ringed hand gripping the stair rail.
Brass cicadas for sale at a local shop. The French embrace the summer-buzzing bug as their national mascot. Popular with French tourists, the seaside town of gelato-hued buildings wraps around a small harbor filled with fishing and tour boats and small yachts. Within each sheltered inlet, rugged cliffs drop down to clear, turquoise water and perhaps a quiet sandy beach. The third calanque on our boat tour, En Vau, was the most scenic, with a lost-world quality.
The calanques stretch 20 miles from Cassis to Marseille and are protected as a French national park, Parc national des Calanques. You can hike rugged trails to explore the calanques and visit the beaches at wetter, cooler times of year.
But during the hot, dry summer, the risk of wildfire is high and trails close, so boating is the way to go. A ruined citadel dating to the 11th century perches atop a rocky hill in Les Baux. Actually, much of the fortress is carved out of the rock itself, and you can climb all the way to the top. Medieval siege weapons are displayed just below the fortress, with costumed docents explaining how war was waged with catapults and battering rams.
