Gordes is a mountain village and small administrative district in the Luberon area in
the Vaucluse département in Provence, France.
Population: 2,100 (Gordiens).
It covers an area of 48.04 km², ranging in altitude from 115 m to 635 m above sea level.
The nearest city is Avignon.
read full wikipedia reference about Gordes, France
GORDES , just 5km east of Fontaine as
the crow flies, but 18km by road, is a picturesque Provençal
village much favoured by Parisian media personalities, film directors,
artists and the like. This might prompt you to give it a miss
- and it is an expensive place - but there are good reasons for
its popularity with the rich and famous, for it's a spectacular
sight. You climb winding roads past buildings of ancient stone
before arriving at the summit, where church and houses surround
a mighty twelfth- to sixteenth-century château , housing
the contemporary paintings of the Flemish artist Pol Mara (daily
10am-noon & 2-6pm).
The tourist office is in the château (daily
10am-noon & 2-6pm; tel 04.90.72.02.75 ). If you're looking
for somewhere to stay , the most reasonably priced hotel within
the village is Le Provençal (tel 04.90.72.10.01, fax 04.90.72.04.20;
220-300F/?34-46), while Les Romarins (tel & fax 04.90.72.12.13),
overlooking the village on the route de Sénanque, is an
old country house with comfortable, traditionally styled rooms.
The best eating place in town is the Comptoir du Victuailler
on place du Château (tel 04.90.72.01.31; closed Tues evening
& Wed out of season). Tante Yvonne (tel 04.90.72.02.54; closed
Sun evening & Wed) on place du Château is a bit less
expensive, and offers good Provençal standards.
Four kilometres north of
Gordes, amidst fields of lavender in a hollow of the hills, stands
the twelfth-century Cistercian Abbaye de Sénanque (March-Oct
Mon-Sat 10am-noon & 2-6pm, Sun 2-6pm; rest of year Mon-Fri
2-5pm, Sat & Sun 2-6pm). It is still in use as a Cistercian
monastery and you can visit the church, cloisters and all the
main rooms of this huge and austere building; a shop sells the
monks' produce, including liqueur, as well as honey and lavender
essence.
The other historical site
of note near Gordes is the Village des Bories (daily 9am-sunset),
3.5km east off the D2 to Cavaillon, a strange collection of dry-stone
dwellings with peculiar geometric shapes that suggest prehistoric
pedigree. In fact most were built in the eighteenth century and
inhabited up until a hundred years ago.
The best and most surreal
detour in the vicinity is to the old ochre mines between Gordes
and Apt. The houses in the village of ROUSSILLON , 5km east of
Gordes, radiate all the different shades of the seventeen ochre
tints once quarried here; a well-signed footpath leads from the
car park on place de la Poste to the old workings. More dramatic
quarries, known as the Colorado Provençal , are signed
off the D22 towards Gignac, just before you reach RUSTREL , about
10km northeast of Apt. Various paths lead you to an amphitheatre
of coffee, vanilla and strawberry ice cream whipped into pinnacles
and curving walls.
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