Italy to Santiago II Part 1: Via Domitia Day 31 Reillanne - Saint-Martin-de-Castillon

Dans nos ténèbres, il n'y a pas une place pour la Beauté.
Toute la place est pour la Beauté. 

(In our darkness, there is not a place for beauty. 

Every place is for beauty.)

- René Char (poet and Resistance fighter from Céreste, 1907 - 1988)

A beautiful day, in a beautiful part of the country! 

I left Reillanne walking slowly but steadily uphill on a paved road, then down again on a rocky track; after six kilometres I came to the ruins of the medieval priory of Carluc.

 

Another hour's walk brought me the Roman bridge just below Céreste: one of the few surviving vestiges of the original Roman Via Domitia. 

I crossed the bridge, passed the Chapel of the Penitents and climbed the hill into the pretty little town of Céreste, where there is a municipal pilgrim hostel; but it was only 11 in the morning, and I had walked only ten kilometres, so I wasn't ready to stop for the day! I continued through the town centre, forgetting to take pictures because I was so bewildered by the range of options for an early lunch! First, a market in the square on the way into the town, selling all sorts of goodies, both raw and ready to eat; then a small supermarket; and a row of restaurants and cafés along the main road. Seeing as it wasn't really lunchtime yet, I settled for something more like a second breakfast, at the crêperie. 

Market day in Céreste

A buckwheat crepe with salted caramel, chocolate sauce and black sesame ice cream: you've got to try it to believe it! Amazing!!

I charged my phone for a while in the crêperie, then continued on my way... though I kind of wished I had stayed in the municipal hostel, so I could spend the rest of the day checking out all the cafés and shops in Céreste! 

Instead, I spent the afternoon walking on little country roads at the foot of the Lubéron, the long, low mountain that rose to my left. The countryside reminded me of Tuscany, with its low hills, winding roads and vineyards - with the addition of an occasional field of lavender. 

Over breakfast in the morning, Pascaline had told me the land around Reillanne was so rocky and infertile that very little would grow on it, and there was a saying "all that grows here is rocks"; I certainly walked over plenty of those! But by afternoon I had come far enough that there was a considerable change of scene, with tilled fields of rich earth, fruit orchards and vineyards. 

And tonight I am staying in a vineyard! La Ferme du Gros Jas is a farm where Joana and her family grow table grapes, wine grapes, and cherries. Joana was out when I arrived, but her father showed me to my cosy room in the little building next to their farmhouse, where I have everything I could possibly need - including a healthy welcome snack, and a selection of soaps and body lotions made with lavender, olive oil, and asses' milk! 😯

Even the bathroom is done up in Provençal style 😄

View of the vineyards and the Lubéron 

View of the pigeons

Reillanne - Saint-Martin-de-Castillon 22 km