{"id":1840,"date":"2021-05-28T16:03:23","date_gmt":"2021-05-28T16:03:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=1840"},"modified":"2021-05-28T16:03:23","modified_gmt":"2021-05-28T16:03:23","slug":"roussillon-the-red-village","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=1840","title":{"rendered":"Roussillon, the Red Village"},"content":{"rendered":"

Let\u2019s say you\u2019re on a wine tasting visit to the Southern Rh\u00f4ne.\u00a0 Everywhere you go, there seems to be a mountain hovering over you.\u00a0 One of them is Mont Ventoux, the Windy Mountain, and it is emblematic of the region.\u00a0 You might wonder, what\u2019s on the other side of that mountain.\u00a0 The answer is that there are other wine producing areas, the Vaucluse and the Luberon.\u00a0 They make pleasant wines, not as well known as the ones from the C\u00f4tes du Rh\u00f4ne.<\/p>\n

The voyage over the mountains is worthwhile in itself.\u00a0 For one thing, the panorama is breathtaking.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0Wherever you\u2019re driving from, you will cross many beautiful little villages as you drive over Ol\u2019 Windy.\u00a0 In many years, a stage of the Tour de France goes up the Mont Ventoux; they will return to the mountain this year.\u00a0 No matter how hot it is when you leave the valley floor, you\u2019ll find it to be quite chilly at the top of Mont Ventoux.\u00a0 At the crest of the mountain there used to be a meteorological station; the building is still there even if it\u2019s not used anymore.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The village of Roussillon.\u00a0 Photo courtesy of Civitatis.<\/em><\/p>\n

Once you get over the mountains, we recommend that you make your way to the village of Roussillon (pronounced roo-see-yon<\/em>).\u00a0 Although they\u2019re spelled the same way, this village has nothing to do with Languedoc-Roussillon further to the west.\u00a0 This quiet spot is ensconced in a Natural Regional Park, so that even if some tourists do find their way there, it is relatively unspoiled (or at least it was when we were last there).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Along the walls of Roussillon.\u00a0 Photo courtesy of The Savvy Bostonian.<\/em><\/p>\n

The town is built from stone quarried there in years past.\u00a0 The rocks are full of ochre, a red-orange clay that has long been used to make artists\u2019 paint. \u00a0Thousands of years ago, the prehistoric people living in what is now the south of France used it for body decoration and for coloring their famous cave art.\u00a0 In Roussillon, the ochre creates a village where all the buildings are red, yellow, orange or shades in between.\u00a0 French villages in general are charming; this one has charm pouring from every colored wall.<\/p>\n

The best way to soak in all that charm is just to walk around.\u00a0 There are steep stone streets (but no cars) where you pass quaint homes.\u00a0 There\u2019s an ancient Romanesque church, with \u201cnew\u201d facades from the 17th<\/sup> century.\u00a0\u00a0 There\u2019s a market on Thursday mornings and there\u2019s a town square in front of the Mairie<\/em> (town hall) where you ought to stop for a coffee, a meal or a glass of wine<\/p>\n

Most of all, you should walk the walls overlooking the old quarries.\u00a0 Roussillon sits atop a mass of red rock, and you can see it from the walkway.\u00a0 You can take a stroll on the Ochre Trail (sentier des ocres<\/em>) and walk into the quarries.\u00a0 In particular, try to see Roussillon at the end of the day, when the color of the setting sun makes the walls of Roussillon and its surrounding seem to come ablaze.\u00a0 It\u2019s an awesome sight that you\u2019ll never forget.<\/p>\n

If in your wine-tasting travels in the Southern Rh\u00f4ne you want to spend a little time in the perfect Proven\u00e7al village, you\u2019ll find it in Roussillon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Let\u2019s say you\u2019re on a wine tasting visit to the Southern Rh\u00f4ne.\u00a0 Everywhere you go, there seems to be a mountain hovering over you.\u00a0 One of them is Mont Ventoux, the Windy Mountain, and it is emblematic of the region.\u00a0 You might wonder, what\u2019s on the other side of that mountain.\u00a0 The answer is that … Continue reading Roussillon, the Red Village<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1840"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1840"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1840\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1843,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1840\/revisions\/1843"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1840"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1840"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1840"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}