The Luberon3 min read
Walking the ochre trail at Roussillon
An easy hour through red and gold cliffs, twenty minutes from the house. How to do it well, and when to avoid it.
Roussillon sits on one of the largest ochre deposits in the world. For two centuries the village dug, washed and dried the pigment that coloured walls across Europe. Today the old quarries are a walking trail, the Sentier des Ocres.
The walk
There are two loops: a short one of about thirty minutes and a longer one of about an hour. Both are well marked and mostly shaded by pines. The ground is soft sand, so wear shoes you do not mind turning orange.
When to go
Go first thing in the morning or in the last two hours before closing. In the middle of a July afternoon the trail is hot and crowded, and the light flattens the colours. In April and October it is close to perfect.
Afterwards
Walk up into the village, where every house is painted in a different shade of the same earth. Then drive back through the vineyards to the house for a swim. Our concierge can arrange a driver and a picnic, or send you on foot along the olive-grove trail that starts at our gate.
