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Les Gorges du Regalon

Merindol, Lourmarin,Cucuron

Bonnieux, Lacoste

Menerbes, Oppede, Robion

Cavaillon, starting point of another grand tour

Luberon-Buoux-Pertuis-Ansouis-Cadenet-Abbey de Sylvacane

Cabrières d'Avignon, Mur de la  Peste, Bories

Gordes and abbaye de Senanques

Gorges de Veroncle, Murs, grottoes de la Barigoule

Roussillon, ochre but a not so idyllic destiny

Apt, Saignon and Sivergues

Buoux, Pertuis, Ansouis, Cadenet,  abbey of Sylvacane

BUOUX is a hamlet, not even a village, off the beaten path and has a hell of a chram! You can eventually lunch in the Auberge de la Loube, where the hors d’oeuvre are famous. Served on an enormous plateau is composed by 17 different items. Quality change with seasons. Best is off-season late fall or in the winter. If you still can move after all this food, move to the FORT DE BUOUX. The best moment to visit is on an early morning. I would even say an apotheosis of the two circuits I proposed through the Luberon. After the Auberge de de la Loube, drive a short while through the valley of Aiguebrun and stop at the sign “Colonie de vacances”. You have there a small parking lot for the visitors of the fort. There is still some walking to do along a small path to the fort. Climbing we will see curious rock formations with inscriptions and witnessing that human hand has worked here already for over a thousand years. Suddenly we see a medieval watchtower as warning of an enormous defensive system that extended on a rock formation of 80 meters and climbs until 556 to the dungeon on top. Pay your entrance fee and walk over enormous pebbles, prehistoric homes carved in the rock and a covered water reservoir still filled with water. One of the wonders of Buoux is the field with proto historic silos for food, deeply hacked in the rocky soil. The first impression of the fort is that of a great aesthetic strength thanks to hi high position under an immense sky always scattered with green oaks.
Let’s finish the series with Pertuis, Ansouis, Cadenet and Sylvacane.

PERTUIS with its 12,500 citizens has some very old buildings like the Tour Saint-Jacques (14th century) and the bell tower (13th century), the church Saint-Nicolas (16th century) with a beautiful retable. Leaving Pertuis you’ll see after 6 km the “Tour d’Aigues” with the ruins of a 16th century castle rebuilt in the 18th century. In the chateau two museums are to visit: the Musee des faiences and the musee de l’Histoire du Pays d’Aigues.
Before arriving in Cadenet you can make a little halt in ANSOUIS.The local chateau is only visited with a guide, only at noon. The Louis XIII façade and the monumental staircase are worth the stop. Next is CADENET. Its church (14th century) has a nice Provencal clock tower.  On the main square there is a statue representing a “Le tambour d’Arcole” the tambour player of Napoleon. There is a nice musee de la Vannerie, "museum of basket-making".
If you return from Cadenet to Aix, you can make a right after crossing the Durance to pay a visit to the ABBEY OF SILVACANE. Together with the abbeys of Senanque and Le Thoronet it is one of the finest examples of medieval piety in Provence. Used by the Cistercians from 1144 to 1357 it was plundered, looted and burned during the religion wars. The French state bought it in 1949 and restored it. It houses now a very famous classical music festival in the summer.

Bibliography

 « Circuits de decouvertes du Luberon », by Morenas F &C , Auberge de Jeuness Saignon (Vaucluse 19987-1992), "Guide de la Provence mysterieuse" by Jean-Paul Clebert (Ed.Sand, 1986), "Provence", by Jacques-Louis Delpal (ed.Natan Paris 1987), "A guide to Provence", by Michael Jacobs (ed.Viking, London 1988), "Luberon, carnets d'un voyageur attentif", by Ollivier-Elliot Patrick,(ed. Edisud Aix-en-Provence 1991), "Dictionnaire de la Provence medievale", by Jean Favier (Fayard, Paris 1993) « Provence des campaniles », by Etenne Sved (1971), Guides du Routard 1999 (ed.Hachette)