Escape to La Mourrade, France

Harlech, Wales to Cadenet, France

After six hours of driving in rainy darkness down through Wales and England we reached the Eurotunnel at 5 am. We already had a ticket for the tunnel but not for that day or that time and we couldn’t change it on-line as the booking system was down. At the entry gate, I typed in our booking reference number and waited with bated breath. Bingo the barrier went up. phew 😰

OK, the tunnel was open and our booking was valid, but we had another hurdle to jump. The French government has limited free movement (SHUT DOWN) and we were required to complete an attestation to justify our travel which conformed to the limited sanctioned criteria. If stopped by the police, we had to present a hard copy of this completed form. Our problem was the form was only available in French (obviously) and an English version wasn’t yet available. My very smart missus diligently google translated and copied the form in longhand French on her note pad. She even did a spare in case we mucked up, and all this was done during our night drive escape. Isn’t she smart? 👩‍🎓

So with our ticket and our travel form (in French), we arrived at UK passport control, no issues, and after a friendly “safe travels” we head to the France side and are greeted politely and hand over our documents and try not to hold our breath. The French officer inspects our documents, is satisfied and waves us through. Phew. That was a relief. Free to enter La France., in fact effectively in La France and after 35 minutes on Le Shuttle we drove of Le train and straight down Le motorway. 👍

Cadenet, France

The drive from the Eurotunnel to Cadenet took approximately ten hours. Stopping for comfort, stretch-your-legs and get-some-fresh air, and to gobble a sandwich or give the car a drink. We were a little surprised but also pleased that we weren’t stopped by the police. Our trip was long but uneventful. LE motorways were quietly empty of cars and we arrived in Cadenet that afternoon at five looking forward to Le vin, a shower, and a long restful sleep 🥱😴

Self Isolation @ La Mourrade March-June 2020 http://www.relaxinprovence.com/home.html

Our destination in Cadenet was a beautiful and isolated fully renovated French farmhouse named La Mourrade. This lovely home is owned by our very good friend Robin and we had visited with her here before. The property is available for holiday rental all year round. but unfortunately with the COVID-19 crisis, bookings have been cancelled. No one is travelling and France is closed to travellers at least for March-June 2020 but this may change. Fortunately for us, Robin kindly offered us her property to isolate from the virus. This link will take you to Robin’s web site http://www.relaxinprovence.com/home.html

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

We gratefully jumped at the chance to be here. Who wouldn’t? It’s such a beautiful place to be. So quiet and the views stretch out in a vista of peace. We feel so fortunate. Initially, we would have been heading back to pick up our caravan in Barcelona. where it was being serviced, cleaned and securely stored for our return. This plan was not to be as Spain was also in Lockdown like everywhere else.

Original Farmhouse

The original building was a shepherd’s hut and It became a provincial farmhouse around the 18th century. The present owner bought the property in 2004 and restored, refurbished and extended it. It has 17 acres of land and originally, as you might be able to tell from the pictures below, was a working farm with olive and almond trees. Today just the olive trees remain with fruit and are harvested in late summer each year giving La Mourrade and her guests “l’huile d’olive maison” or something like that which means homemade or home-produced olive oil

• 

• 

• 

• 

Le Gardens and Grub Hub

The gardens surrounding the main house have a number of entertainment terraces. The main one is just below the back of the house and seats 12-14 guests. The view from this outdoor dining area is simply stunning and you just don’t want to leave it. My favourite place for an evening aperitif, It looks across the valley to Mont St Victoire and it’s possible you could have dinner with a full moon gently shining down on you. 🌕

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

No problem at Robin’s, books galore here. You can read to your heart’s content. Get lost in a detective novel or the history of the American civil war, boring? maybe not. Or what about food? Yes, a book on cooking. Well, this is the place to be. Not only are you in France, but books aplenty on food, recipes and of course wine, ooh la la. 🍷I’m happy!! And with a kitchen like this, it would be hard to eat out eh? This kitchen has two of just about everything to cater for large families and multiple guests, two dishwashers, multiple electric and gas ovens, multiple fridge freezers and a full commercial gas cooktop. A culinary kitchen for any great chef. Are you one? Or a pretend one like me 🤣.

• 

• 

• 

A Full Moon

We were so blessed to be here for a number of clear evening skies, giving us these wonderful shots of the super moon. The pictures don’t do it justice and with the naked eye, the moon was much bigger There was a tint of orange as it rose above the horizon. Just beautiful. The aging iPhone didn’t do too badly.

• 

• 

• 

• 

Now, what if you wanted to do absolutely nothing and just want to listen to someone else reading to you while you take in these beautiful views? Well, we also have a solution for that request. Have you heard of Audible? Audible is an Amazon company and they are offering 50% discount on the first three months’ membership. Check it out here.

Views to Die For

Wouldn’t you just love to sit on your stone terrace and take in this view, sip your local vin and listen to your favourite author? I did on quite a view nights and lost track of time. Not that time means anything at La Mourrade. The view is mesmerizing and the mountain in the distance is St Victoire (featured in Cezanne’s paintings). You can also see the Durance river and the valley is dotted with orchards, sunflower fields, red tile village rooftops, and vineyards which started sprouting green not long after we arrived.  

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

What’s Close By?

Yes, we’ve got a little bit of history here 😱. The Old Chateau is about a 5-minute walk from Robin’s and a much steeper but accessible path up from the village. There’s not much left of the ancient chateau at the top of the cliffs, but the fantastic view across the entire province of Luberon is special. The ruins also contain an ancient well and underground passages and caves, some of which you can walk into and explore a bit.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

You can also picnic (or nap) in the nature parklands next to the ruins.

The chateau was built in the 12th century, and destroyed in the 16th century during the Wars of Religion. It was replaced by a Renaissance-style chateau, which was destroyed during the French Revolution 😭 sad.

A Walk to Cadenet

Cadenet is about a 15-minute walk downhill from La Maurrade but it takes about 30 minutes uphill to return 🤣 . If you want a bit of history courtesy of Wikipedia read on otherwise skip and just browse the pictures.

History 1: Did you know like all places situated along the river Durance, Cadenet had a Jewish community in the Middle Ages. A document of the year 1283 states that this community, together with those of Aix-en-Provence, Saint-Maximin, Lambesc, Pertuis, Istres, Trets, and Lanson, was permitted to have a synagogue and a cemetery as long as they paid an annual tax of two pounds of pepper to the archbishop of Aix. A Jew, Mosson of Cadenet by name, lived at Carpentras in 1404; and two others, Salvet of Cadenet and Vidalon of Cadenet, were sheriffs of that community in 1460.

History 2: Did you know André Estienne was a drummer with Napoleon Bonaparte’s army at the Battle of the Bridge of Arcole in 1796, where he led his battalion across a river while holding his drum over his head. On reaching the far bank, he beat the “charge”. This led to the capture of the bridge and the rout of the Austrian army. Despite being 19 years old, he became famous as Le Petit Tambour d’Arcole (French: The Little Drummer of Arcole),  Andre was born in Cadenet and his statue is in the main square.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

A Walk through the Pine Forest

There is a walking trail just behind La Mourrade that takes you up a very steep pathway for about 300m (though it felt like more) into a rugged but beautiful pine forest. It took us approximately one hour 30 minutes to complete the walk. You can’t really get lost, well we didn’t, as long as you follow the pathway. It takes you around in a wide circle and out on to a narrow roadway which brings you back to La Mourrade past Les Pastras, a truffle farm we are hoping we get a chance to visit before we leave. Great walk.

Or A Game of Boules

The game of boules, otherwise known as pétanque, is a sport close to French hearts. It’s similar to British lawn bowling or Italian bocce, and the French version is traditionally played with metallic balls on a dirt surface beneath plane trees, with a glass of pastis or a beer at hand. The local boulodrome is a social focal point in southern France and there is one in front of the bar adjacent to the church here in Cadenet.

The object of the game is to throw your balls — usually with an arched backspin — so that they land closer to the small object ball (cochonnet) than those of your opponent, or so they strike and drive the object ball toward your other balls and away from your opponent’s.

You can see from my wife’s style of arm and body movement that she has no idea how to play this game but still managed it very elegantly. This is Robin’s Boule’s court at the rear of the property near the swimming pool.

• 

• 

• 

• 

The Provence of Luberon – https://uk.luberoncoeurdeprovence.com/

Cadenet, Lourmarin, Gordes, Ansouis, Lacoste Curcuron, and a lot of other picturesque villages are in the province of Luberon. So are forests and farmlands, the ochre cliffs in Roussillon and the Colorado Provencal, ancient monuments, abbeys, and churches. We flick through books of Provence and the region that are scattered around here at La Mourrade and hope we get to see some of their contents for real. It is also home for artists from all over the world. Some stay for a short while and others settle forever. Very tempting even for us.

Above the Luberon is a massif with lush vegetation and exceptional fauna and a Regional Natural Park full of places to be discovered. It is also a land of wines and the homeland of “bories” (small typical house made of dry stones) which we have come across mostly on the not very busy D roads.

Advertisement

Lourmarin Markets

The Lourmarin markets are held every Friday and a great place to get some local produce. There is a great bread stall where you can buy your bread by weight, yes weight. The bread loaves are quite large so you tell them how much you want, they cut it off, weigh it, you pay for it, and off you go. Great to eat at home with your fresh olives and cheeses (if you can wait that long). I have been known to nibble discreetly while having a cold beer before heading home. The market is not only for produce but also a variety of clothing, hats and homewares. There are also plenty of restaurants if you want to have lunch after the markets close. Lourmarin is only a short drive 15-minute drive from La Mourrade. Parking in a small place like this is difficult so be prepared for a longish walk if you are unlucky and don’t find a nearby spot for your car.

Closest Major Cities

Cadenet is located on the southern slopes of the Luberon Massif, overlooking the valley of the Durance. It is 57 km southeast of Avignon, 59 km north of Marseille. So ideal for a day trip to either city.

Avignon – https://avignon-tourisme.com/en/

Did you know that Avignon was the centre of the roman catholic world for 70 odd years in early 1300? And though its stint as the seat of papal power only lasted a few decades, it’s been left with an impressive legacy of ecclesiastical architecture, most notably the soaring, World Heritage-listed fortress-cum-palace known as the Palais des Papes.

Marseille – http://www.marseille-tourisme.com/en/

Did you know that Marseille is the second largest city in France and the oldest. It dates back about 2,500 years.

Marseille is a city that has its own unique culture and is proud of its differences from the rest of France. Today it is a regional centre for culture and entertainment with an important opera house, historical and maritime museums, art galleries and cinemas, clubs, bars and restaurants.
Marseille has a large number of theatres, including La Criée, Le Gymnase and the Théâtre Toursky. There is also an extensive arts centre in La Friche, a former match factory behind the Saint-Charles station. The Alcazar, until the 1960s was a well known music hall and variety theatre.

We hope to visit here too one day soon.

Can I Share a Thought 😇

The COVID-19 crisis blasted into our lives and helped us realise how fragile this world is. Panic buying (Toilet rolls?), fake news, scammers, selfishness, all created by fear. Fear kills by itself alone never mind the virus and all the fears around it. Let’s share our thoughts on what makes us feel comfortable-uncomfortable in this ever-changing world. When do we feel threatened, fearful, for whatever reason? How do we overcome this? The body reacts to thought. Each thought you have either makes you feel good and loving or fearful and rejected or sometimes just neutral. Our core beliefs, which we all have, form and make up our persona, and influence our thoughts.

To find out more about ourself we both undertook extensive study. Fabian a lot more than me. She studied and completed degrees in Philosophy, Psychology, and a master’s in Psychoanalysis. Me, I just read a lot. So where am I going with this? We started a journey to find more peace in our life, more joy and happiness. Isn’t that what we all want? This was the start of our trip into other spiritual paths. We were both brought up Catholic but the rules around it didn’t really jell. We wanted more. haha… not more rules 🤣

One of the first spiritual books I tried to read was “A Course in Miracles”. I found it obscure at first but eventually, it led me to a completely different way of thinking and of looking at this world. It changed me and some of those core beliefs, the not so helpful ones, started to disappear. I also read a lot of other books with a similar message which were a lot easier to read. Here are some of the books we read, liked, or which had meaning for us.

A quote from one of our Authors – Eckhart Tolle

The psychological condition of fear is divorced from any concrete and true immediate danger. It comes in many forms: unease, worry, anxiety, nervousness, tension, dread, phobia, and so on. This kind of psychological fear is always of something that might happen, not of something that is happening now. You are in the here and now, while your mind is in the past or future. This creates an anxiety gap. And if you are identified with your mind and have lost touch with the power and simplicity of the Now, that anxiety gap will be your constant companion. You can always cope with the present moment, but you cannot cope with something that is only a mind projection — you cannot cope with the future.” Eckhart Tolle “The Power of Now”