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Les Gorges du Regalon

Merindol, Lourmarin,Cucuron

Bonnieux, Lacoste

Menerbes, Oppede, Robion

Cavaillon, starting point of another grand tour

The Luberon-Gorges du Regalon

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

This itinerary will lead us through one of the most beautiful landscapes of Provence, hooked to the dry mountain range, once hostile, and who offers a magnificent coloured spectacle today. This is the Luberon. But we will only explore the authentic geographical Luberon, from the western Avalon and its orchards to the east, where Manosque can be considered as the entry of the severe Alp country. The Durance flows from the soft sunny slopes at the darker north side of the “petit Cavalon”. Springtime is an ideal period to come. The sun plays with the colours of the stones along the road and in the old village, the views all around you are magnified by the so special spring light and give the flowering trees a green, tender pink and white contrast . The typical stone walls around the properties are beginning to be covered by green shades and the hills, tormented and indented as they are will transport you into another planet.  It is understandable why so many Parisian writers have a second residence here. It is certainty (certainly for the local people) that the Luberon has the purest air of Europe and is (momentarily!) still free of the invading tourist. This might change in the years to come since it became a very popular destination. But you can still hike without seeing one of them.
I will start and end this tour in Cavaillon, but be aware that the difficult thing is that the hotel capacity is not sufficient, especially if you stay below the three starred hotels, so be warned and book a long time in advance.
Coming from the “Autoroute du Soleil”, we turn left along this little town I will describe in another article and follow the D 973 direction Pertuis. On these sun-drenched slopes even the dullest villages have something playful about them. Just after the hamlet of Cheval Blanc, sign will point you to the presence of the canal St.Julien.  The road being very dangerous, it is safer to stay in your car and have a peek on the much wider Canal de Carpentras. We pass now the vallon de la Roque Rousse and arrive soon at Le Logis Neuf, another tiny hamlet. Be careful and don’t miss the signboard to the ”GORGES DU REGALON “, a natural phenomena worth getting out of the car. This canyon can be 30 meters deep at certain places and not more than 50 centimetres the shortest distance between the faces. The Gorges du Regalon are famous for their Mediterranean vegetation, that survived thanks to a micro-climate, an ideal degree of humidity and ---very difficult to accede—the absence of human predators. Birds of prey, butterflies and flowers topple undisturbed over each other and stone-oaks, maple trees, Aleppo pines, filarias, winter-oaks, alders, wild cherry trees and figs lived peacefully in this quiet valley until the tourist came. The last years the Gorges du Regalon became unfortunately one of the most popular attractions of the Luberon. The public storming the place in the summer is not always part of a select world of nature lovers, but come principally for sensation.
And here you have now a perfect example how the department of “Parc Naturel du Luberon” runs its organization with much intelligence. The car driver can leave his car in very large and parking places to prevent the ramming of the trees and bushes, large laid-out paved areas with tables and benches invite you to degust your picnic to avoid that the Gorges would bulge of coke cans and baguette remains. And you have also the very large and visible boards with the geography of the region and the invitation to respect all this. I couldn’t take away the impression that I entered an open air museum and that nothing could go wrong if you stayed on the neatly designed paths and march to the Canyon amidst newly planted olive orchards.
I visited the place on an early morning in April and was the only one in the silent chasm with its dripping trees in the morning fog. Contrarily than the folder reception suggests, the promeneur who is coming from the canyon still has to jump over boulders and wade through ponds, which only increased my happiness. When I arrived at my car in the enormous parking place the first school bus arrived unloading about a hundred cackling school children. I realized that the Gorges Du Regalon must not be that fun with a zillion tourists, so avoid it in the summertime, despite the tourist folders praise it as “very cool”.

Bibliography:

"Notes d'un voyage dans le Midi de la France" by Prosper Merimée (Ed.Adam Biro, Paris 1989), "Guide de la Provence mysterieuse" by Jean-Paul Clebert (Ed.Sand, 1986), "Guide du Routard Provence 1998 (Ed.Hachette), "Provence", by Jacques-Louis Delpal (ed.Natahn Paris 1987), "A guide to Provence", by (ed;Viking, London 1988), "Luberon, carnets d'un voyageur attentif", by Ollivier-Elliot Patrick,(ed. Edisud Aix-en-Provence 1991)