WANDERLUST HITS GUIDEPOST: ROUSSILLON

Rusillon, the commune that sits prettily on vibrant ochre deposits

by Rose Maramba

ROUSSILLON in the Vaucluse valley, Provence-Alps-Cote d’Azur sits prettily on abundant ochre clay. Its ochre mine was one of the most important in the world – the most important in Europe – when natural ochre was essential to the production of said pigment in paints.

GUIDEPOST has heard stories about the commune. Which sounded like the typical travelogue hype. Doubting Thomases, we hied off to check. To see is to believe.

And what did we see? Look at the photo above. See how the ochre cliff glows a dramatic red-orange, sienna, lavenderish-pink and yellow in the setting sun? That’s what we saw.  A stunning sight that will imprint, indelible, in your memory! The travelogue failed to prime us for the sheer uniqueness of the village.

Roussillon rock formations awash with ochre pigment

Natural ochre hasn’t only colored rock formations, footpaths and parks in Roussillon. It has most definitely colored the village’s architecture, too, where houses, many of which are easily 300 years old, are painted in all shades of ochre!  Creams, yellows, and oranges; browns, from light to very dark; from vibrant to mute reds; siennas and umbers; from pinkish to lavenderish . . .

Uniquely ochre architecture

Is there really a local ordinance making it obligatory to paint the facades ochre like they’re saying? We’ve heard but we’re not sure if it’s true.

Roussillon is one of the 164 villages across France listed in Les Plus Beaux Villages/The Most Beautiful Villages of France.

Go there! Let wanderlust grab you. We were glad we did.

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Images
Featured image (Roussillon)/© Rose Maramba
Roussillon rock formations/nounou, CC BY-ND2.0 via Flickr
Rousillon ochre architedture/Jeremy Atkinson, CC BY2.0, Flickr