Rainy day exploration - Montfuron and Reillanne

It was raining the other day and I wanted to get out of the house. Sophia is on vacation and I wanted to explore the area without a long drive.  Because I could not stand seeing my child play AJ, a computer game, for one more minute, I decided to make her accompany me on an exploration of two nearby villages: Montfuron and Reillane.

Montfuron is a small village about 15 minutes from Sainte-Tulle. It is perched at 649 meters on the ridge of the mountains overlooking the Durance and Luberon valleys.  Sophia and I decided to go exploring in the rain and we did not let it stop our fun.  Our first stop was Notre-Dame-de-Saint-Elzéar.  This small church dates from the 13th century.  It was named after  Elzéar de Sabran who, while passing through the area, performed a miracle returning sight to a blind person.  Saint Elzéar is the patron saint of the parish and he is celebrated the 22nd of June each year.

cemetary - Notre-Dame-de-Saint-Elzéar

 View from the ruins 

Windmill from the village ruins

This sign was posted on the door of the windmill.  You can visit on Saturdays.  It costs 2 Euros for adults and it is free for children

I found an article on a website telling all about the reconstruction of the windmill.

By the time they were able to renovate the structure the roof had collapsed and much work was needed to fix the building.

http://moulindeprovence.canalblog.com/archives/2015/02/01/31441569.html

On our way to Reillanne from Montfuron, we pass by Les Granons. It's not really a village, but many people know it for the pizza place and bus stop.  That's all there is!  There is a barn with some graffiti on it that makes us aware that the French can be ecologists and humorists.  The initial graffiti demands "Stop ITER" - the local atomic fusion research institute.  Someone added an extra L to the word so it say "Stop ITLER" (pronounced in French - Stop Hitler).

Our next stop was Reillanne, another hilltop village.  We've been passing by this village for months, spying the church steeple in the distance.  I knew that I would eventually visit the village and its church on the hill.  Our first visit was in November when we went to the Sunday market.  We bought a roasted chicken, roasted potatoes, olive oil and bread for our noon meal.  We did not have time to climb up to the church but I knew I would eventually come back.  

Saint Denis and Saint Pierre (ruins) on the top of the hill

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Église de l'Assomption

Le marché du dimanche - Sunday market

This village dating back to Roman times has two distinct parts, the "turnus" - upper village and the "burgus" - lower village.   The marché is held in the "burgus".  In this area there is a beautiful church, a fountain and stores.  

We climbed up to the "turnus" to visit the highest point in the village and see the church and ruins.  There were different information boards explaining the history of the summit.  We first visited the l'Église Saint Denis, whose bell dates from 1859,  and the ruins of la former Église Saint Pierre which date from the 12th century.   They are the prominent structures on the highest point of the city that at one time was where the fortified chateau "castrum" was located.

The remains of Saint Pierre - all that is left is the vault and the spots where the bells were hung

The views from the top are beautiful.  I think these are cherry trees that are in full bloom.  You can see the lower part of the town "burgus" and the church that dominates the square.

These are the gates to the "la porte des Forges".  The signs say that this gate was  probably the exterior wall of a tower leading into the churches.

Église Saint Denis and its bell tower

We walked back down to the lower village and the square where our car was parked.  We passed through the old neighborhoods and the old gate.  We were amazed that the car could fit through the gate!  We were wet and cold when we arrived at the car but we enjoyed our exploration through the streets of the village.