Saturday, April 10, 2010

Les Baux de Provence, France

After our lunch at Maison Bru we decided to visit what is considered one of the most beautiful villages in France, a title it owes to the rarity and diversity of its heritage as well as the quality of its environment and layout. It is a protected site. The village is called Les Baux de Provence.


We were planning to visit the village; but when we stopped at the cliff opposite the village; we noticed that hundreds of cars and tourist busses were all over the place. That meant there would be too many annoying tourists. So, we decided not to visit the city and go this winter when there are no tourist.


The village of Les Baux was gradually abandoned and had a population of only 400 at the end of the 19th century (there had been 3,000 inhabitants in the 13th century). Les Baux, however, had another date with History. In 1821, a geologist discovered a red rock there rich in alum earth - he called it "bauxite". The whole area became of interest again due to this very special rock.

So; instead of visiting the Les Baux de Provence, we went to pick up our wines at the wineries.

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