Ménerbes and Oppede-le-vieux (9 October 2024)

Romanesque church Oppède-le-Vieux

 

The weather gods gave us a mild but windy day for our trip to Ménerbes.  Ménerbes is another hilltop village made famous by Peter Mayle’s book A Year in Provence.  Mayle has long moved on from Ménerbes but the appeal of the village still remains.  We rode along country roads, and even came across another couple who were from Auckland.  They were staying at the Bed and Breakfast which Natalene also runs in Coustellet. 

Ready to leave the villa

 

Natalene had warned us about a couple of hills on our route.  I found the ride up to Ménerbes quite manageable with the gradient being about 4%.  A little café had been suggested as a place to have lunch and as it was lunch time soon after we arrived we found the café and a table out of the wind.  The Quiche  Lorraine and Pissaladière (a Provencal onion tart) were declared to be very nice as well as the sweet treats to follow. 

Ménerbes


Lunch in Ménerbes

After our coffee we wandered around the village enjoying the views from the hilltop.  The narrow streets and ancient but lived in housing still fascinating me. 

 

Main street Ménerbes - sort of

The Chateau - Ménerbes

View to the east

Not sure where this led to

Soon it was time to head down the hill and make our way to the next stop.  There were two more climbs before then.  The first was a long but gentle climb but the climb up to Oppède-le-Vieux was another story.  It must have been around an 8-10% gradient.  I made it up about three quarters of the distance (roughly a kilometre) before my lungs and legs said take it easy and walk. I did this as I recovered then attempted a few more metres before giving up and walking the final 60 or 70 metres.  On the other hand Graham and Bev chugged up the hill barely raising a sweat. 

Interesting Church in Ménerbes

 

Oppède-le-Vieux was damaged in an earthquake in 1731.  Some villagers stayed but many relocated down on the plain in a new village called Oppède. For more information this website gives slightly different information to that which we were given; //thegoodlifefrance.com/oppede-le-vieux-provence/

The main square and café


Looking down on Oppède-le-Veux

Chateau ruins

 

We had a coffee at the only café open in the village served by a rather grumpy proprietor we were forewarned about by our host. The area we were sitting in was cobble stoned which is a bit of a challenge when walking.  After our coffee we walked up the hill and saw some of the damaged houses which were overrun with vines and  crumbling away.  At the top was an old chateau that was cordoned off for some reason, (maybe it was a bit dangerous) and a small Romanesque church which was also closed.
 

The final leg was a ride through the old parts of a couple villages with one having a very steep ramp which had me off my bike again and walking.  I vowed at that point to arrange to get an e-bike for our final ride the next day. 

 

That night we went to a local fine dining restaurant in the Auberge de Taillades.  The food was very good and I had a superb fish dish that featured sea bass and oysters.  The size of the meal was perfect.  Even better we were able to walk to the restaurant from our villa. 



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