Le Grand Pont (Cinq): Buis-les-Baronnies

We were lucky to spend another 2 weeks in Buis as we may not be able to return for 2 years.

There was a massive boules tournament in town on the Saturday and Sunday after we got back from Uzerches and Romans.

Dale did a long hike with Jocelyne, Fabien and Regine as a way of catching up. We walked the TDB with them last year. They walked along le Clavaliere mountain range, which runs along the northern side of the Ouveze Valley.

Fires 2 years earlier have left an evident mark on the landscape

Fabien, Jocelyne and Regine (l to r)

Daniel and I had to sit out due to back soreness but we met them in Ste Jalle for pre-dinner drinks at Regine & Fabien’s and then dinner at Le Lavande, which we’ve been wanting to try for years.

Regine's gorgeous cat Geisha

The terrace defies gravity over the river

On Tuesday we were lucky enough to attend Randouveze’s end of season/year lunch at the restaurant in the camping ground at Camping les 3 Rivieres, near Entrechaux. It was a warm day but fortunately we were sitting outside, under cover and with a little breeze. It was a large turnout of 60 people. This was very special for us as we’re never here to take part in these social events.

Club business in the shadows

Since last year, a walk/cycle track has been opened between Buis and Pierrelongue that follows some of the old rail line that used to run from Orange to Buis (closed in 1952). It was very interesting to see the old tunnel, which we could walk through, close to Pierrelonge and also the site of the former rail bridge (now replaced with a new pedestrian bridge). It was delightful to see some lavender beginning to bloom.

We had Saturday lunch at one of our favourite restaurants, St Hubert, in Entrechaux. It was quite warm and we were stuffed by the end even though we declined the cheese course. We decided to do a little walk around the town, including the ascent to the old chateau which towers above the town.

One Sunday we joined the club for their ‘gentil’ Sunday hike. There were 27 of us, so it was great from a social perspective, but the walking was incredibly slow. Beauvoisin is on a plateau above Buis, and we walked further up into the mountains above Beauvoisin. It was a beautiful clear day and we got views south and west across Provence.

Memorials to the Marquis of the area who resisted in WW2

We had a very sociable final week and also did a couple of good hikes by ourselves.

Monday night we had dinner with Cat and Christopher, a German and British couple who live in Buis and we met for the first time this year. Cat is a member of Randouveze and she and Dale share an interest in musicals (she did an exchange to the US and has fond memories of being taken to see the original production of Woman of the Year with Lauren Bacall). They have a lovely apartment with a huge terrace on the Grand Rue. They have 3 poodles called Charles, Camilla and Charlotte (plus 2 cats).

Tuesday night it was off to dinner with Jacques and Annick at their property in La Savoillane, a few minutes from Buis. They have an absolutely beautiful garden and also renovated the house themselves. We’ve known them for a couple of years but really got to know Jacques this year because we’ve done a lot of walking with him. Annick hasn’t been hiking because of knee issues, so this was a wonderful opportunity to spend some quality time with her. And we chatted and chatted. Our French really gets good just before we’re about to come home.

Jacques and Annick adopted this cat from the cinema where it loved in the lobby; now she sits at the end of the dining table swiping their dog when it wanders too close

We decided to do a half day hike around Sault, because it is well known for its lavender and we could see that the lavender was just beginning to flower. It was a nice to walk and there was a little lavender, but I think we were a couple of weeks too early.

We drove into Vaison for lunch another day to try out a Creperie that had been recommended to us. We enjoy visiting Vaison but haven’t spent any time there this year. After lunch – at the excellent creperie – we drove to Crestet for a look around (having not done so since 2000). It is located on a hillside overlooking the Ouveze valley. It’s a beautifully presented town with great views but it was very very quiet. From the town we were able to see the back of the Rocher St Julien. This solved a mystery for us as we had thought over the years that as we approached Mollans that you could see St Julien, but it seemed so improbable given the 8 km driving you still had to go to get to Buis. This vantage from Crestet perfectly lined up Mollans and Buis, proving that our eyes had not been deceiving us.

We did a final big hike by ourselves near the village of Poet-en-Percip, which is high in the mountains near the source of the Menon River, a tributary of the Ouveze that joins in Buis. The surrounding countryside is mountainous with deep narrow valleys. We walked through on the TDB last year but it was pouring rain so our views were obscured, and we ate lunch inside the church. This year the weather was sunny so we were at the trail head at 7:45. It was a great walk, climbing and descending through the pine and oak forests, crossing grassy meadows and ridges. This year we were able to lunch outside the church, in sunshine, sitting on an old stone fence.

Right at the end of our stay we were able to see two plays as part of the Festival of the Theatre des Habitants (Festival of local theatre).

The first was a one woman play, where the actor played 20 different roles, which were effectively skits. Some were humorous and some were serious. The humorous ones were more difficult to understand because there were so many idiomatic expressions used. We would get the gist of what was going on but often missed the punchline.

The second play was a very strong and demanding piece set in a school during the Vichy Regime. The four teachers and the janitor all have very different political views and are forced to confront the fact that their Jewish and refugee students have been forcibly removed and sent to concentration camps during the summer holidays. From what I understand this play was written by someone connected to Buis and has had a run in Paris. It was a wonderful play and the acting from the principal characters was superb. We also loved the main character – the Head Mistress – who was perhaps the most complex and multi-faceted. The poor actress playing the role had so many lines that she needed a bit of prompting, yet we still think she was wonderful (we saw the first of only 2 performances). This piece was very understandable and we forgot that we were watching a play in French; just engrossed in the story and the performances. At the end of the play there were very long ovations and then a speech by the writer. The speech was really interesting but, because it went on for so long, it became a little stressful for us, as we were in a hurry to meet our landlords Claire and Alex for a goodbye aperitif.

We had a lovely apero (or two) with Claire and Alex, thanking one another and getting to know them a little better.

We also went to see a piano recital organised by an association in Buis called the Seranades en Baronnies, who organise classical musical performances year-round, but especially during summer. In fact we had rented our first apartment on this stay in Buis from the president and his wife. This performance was outdoors in a park in Montbrun-les-Bains, with a grand piano. We didn’t know any of the music but thoroughly enjoyed listening to, and watching, a gifted pianist while sitting in a park under a massive cherry tree on a balmy early summer evening. At different points the birds were also singing and we are convinced that they were singing along to the music.

The pianist, who is a music professor based in Carpentras, was not very engaging, although we thought that she expressed emotion through her playing. But there were few smiles and no explanations about the music and why she had chosen the different pieces.

So we had a very cultural end to the trip. It confirms yet again what a wonderful village Buis is. And we ran into a number of our fellow Randouvezians at these events also enjoying Buis’s cultural life.

Here is an assortment of other photos of our final weeks