For those who’re planning to go to the Luberon, there’s each likelihood Ménerbes is in your record. It has magnificence, environment, and loads of historical past, as I found on three separate journeys. Here is what you possibly can see and do throughout your go to.
My first impression of Ménerbes was of a village rising from the vines, its pale stone glowing softly within the Provençal gentle.
As soon as within the village, perched excessive above the Calavon valley, you possibly can glimpse Mont Ventoux within the distance, framed by rows of vines and olive bushes.
Not like the extra polished Gordes or flamboyant Roussillon, the traditional stones of Ménerbes really feel quieter, contemplative moderately than showy. It is a spot the place it is advisable to take a little bit of time.
It wasn’t all the time like this.
I took this photograph on an earlier journey in winter just a few years in the past, and it is simple to grasp the village’s strategic defensive place while you see it perched on its ridge ©OffbeatFranceNot too way back, within the Nineties, Ménerbes had its second of world fame when British creator Peter Mayle documented his trials and tribulations after shifting right here, attracting busload after busload of vacationers chasing their goals of Provence.
Issues finally calmed down, as they do, and in the present day’s Ménerbes is serene, peppered with artwork galleries and some cafés, not too many, however simply sufficient to supply the requisite providers.
It additionally occurs to be listed as one of many 5 Luberon villages that qualify as “most lovely villages in France”. You may see why while you go to.
PLANNING TO SPEND THE NIGHT?
Ménerbes has a number of motels and villas, together with the upmarket and beautiful Bastide de Marie close by. Or, you are able to do what I do and use close by Bonnieux as a base. I like to recommend the Clos du Buis, a family-owned lodge, or if you happen to’d moderately have your individual house, the beautiful Bonheur en Bonnieux sleeps as much as 5.
How Ménerbes grew to become what it’s
Ménerbes has an extended historical past, with paleolithic and Roman settlements on the ridge the place the village now stands.
Roman stays have been unearthed close by, suggesting that the location as soon as guarded a small settlement alongside routes linking Cavaillon to Apt.
As you drive up, you possibly can’t assist however discover its immensely strategic vantage level overlooking the valley, a lot in order that by the Center Ages, a fort and its fortified settlement have been firmly implanted right here.
The primary written information appeared within the eleventh century, and by the 14th, Ménerbes had prospered as a part of the Comtat Venaissin, a papal enclave surrounded by French territory. And so the village developed, with church buildings and chapels, and ramparts to guard them. Go searching under the village and you will see simply how fertile the land is.
However all tales have bumps and probably the most dramatic in Ménerbes’ early historical past got here throughout the Wars of Faith, between 1573 and 1578, when Protestant forces seized the village and held it towards repeated assaults by Catholic armies.The siege lasted 5 years, leaving the city in ruins and its inhabitants decimated.
Slowly, it rebuilt. Ramparts have been repaired and the parish reestablished. By the seventeenth century, Ménerbes was as soon as once more a functioning group, although it by no means regained the wealth it had loved earlier than the battle.
Till the twentieth century.
Ménerbes was “found” by artists and intellectuals, together with the painter Nicolas de Staël and photographer Dora Maar (referred to as Picasso’s muse), attracted by its setting and environment. Then it was the flip of movie maker Yves Rousset-Rouart, of “Emmanuelle” fame (he later created the Citadelle and the Corkscrew Museum, which I describe under).
After which, within the Nineties got here Peter Mayle, whose sequence of books nurtured the goals of anybody who had ever considered shifting to Provence.
Ménerbes nowadays is calm, a quiet Luberon hilltop village that lies inside the UNESCO-designated Luberon Regional Pure Park, acknowledged since 1997 for preserving each panorama and conventional tradition together with the vineyards, olive groves and dry-stone terraces surrounding the village.
WHO LIVES HERE NOW?
In Ménerbes and within the Luberon usually, particularly its hottest corners, half or extra of the homes are secondary residences, occupied solely weeks a yr. Which means that there are two distinct seasons:
- April-October, when the whole lot is open and infrequently crowded
- November-March, the off-season, when inhabitants drops sharply and villages really feel nearly empty, with many institutions closed
In Ménerbes, important providers just like the bakery will keep open, as will just a few native eating places, however count on decreased hours in winter.
Issues to do in Ménerbes
Like most Luberon villages, magnificence comes from the stones and the buildings and the elusive “feeling”, a lot of it the results of historical past and of the world’s luminous gentle.
Ménerbes could also be small, however between its fortified previous and its inventive legacy, there’s a lot to fill a day.
1. Discover the cobblestone lanes
Like most villages of the Luberon, a stroll alongside the cobblestones on the traditional streets and thru vaulted arches is the easiest way to absorb the environment.
Ménerbes is a little more subtle and restored than a number of the villages, however stroll away from the (tiny) foremost road and you will really feel its genuine pull, particularly if you happen to climb up in direction of the austere parish church, Saint-Luc, rebuilt after the Wars of Faith on high of a Thirteenth-century priory that when stood right here.
I’ve but to see the within, as a result of the church has been locked every time I glided by, maybe opening for an occasional service or particular occasion. I did go searching for a caretaker or a priest however to no avail, though I do realize it has a number of historic frescoes and 5 small lateral chapels I’d have beloved to discover.
St. Luc church, on the high of Ménerbes ©OffbeatFranceOn my approach again down, I walked by an arch and onto a stone path referred to as “Chemin Rural”, or rural path. I did not suppose it led anyplace however took an opportunity and was rewarded with a brief however pleasant stroll by the woods and again up into the village.
A rural path main down from the highest of Ménerbes ©OffbeatFrance2. Maison de la Truffe et du Vin
Ménerbes sits within the coronary heart of truffle nation. From December to March, native markets rejoice the prized “black diamond” of Provence, and the Maison de la Truffe et du Vin showcases this obsession.
3. The Dora Maar Home
Dora Maar’s home in Ménerbes, sitting on the village ridge ©OffbeatFranceFor those who’re not conversant in her, Dora Maar was a surrealist photographer and painter who grew to become Picasso’s muse and accomplice. She photographed the creation of Guernica, Picasso’s monumental portray depicting the bombing of the Basque city of Guernica throughout the Spanish Civil Struggle.
Their relationship was passionate however emotionally harmful, ending badly, as did lots of Picasso’s relationships with girls. However he did give her a portray, which she offered to purchase her home.
She lived right here quietly for the subsequent half-century, portray and praying, and most of all avoiding publicity.
More often than not, Dora Maar’s home is closed to the general public. It’s now an artists’ residence, but it surely does open sometimes when it hosts an exhibition.
4. Saint-Hilaire Abbey
Simply down the hill from Ménerbes is a dream-like abbey based within the Thirteenth century, sitting in solitude on a ridge overlooking the northern slopes of the Luberon.
Saint-Hilaire is taken into account the primary Carmelite convent constructed within the Comtat Venaissin (then Papal territory), established round 1254 by hermits arriving from Mount Carmel in Palestine. Constructed over even older hermitage caves, this Carmelite cloister and chapter home was constructed into the land, adapting to the land and rock formations.
The abbey has miraculously preserved the total format of its convent buildings by eight centuries – church, cloister, refectory, dormitory, and chapter room – uncommon for a web site of its age.
A part of the Abbey’s façade ©OffbeatFrance
The Abbey’s cloister ©OffbeatFranceWhereas Saint-Hilaire is putting, there is a peace you may really feel right here, maybe due to the gardens or the terraced olive groves (restanques) that cascade down the slope, or due to the now-dry spring that when flowed from the rockface to the valley.
Search for the Fifteenth-century fresco in a aspect chapel, traces of medieval paintwork, and the remnants of a spiral staircase within the bell tower.
As we speak the abbey nonetheless belongs to the identical household that rescued it in 1961; restorations proceed underneath official authorities supervision, and occasional concert events and occasions are held right here.
5. Domaine de la Citadelle
If wine-tasting is in your menu, you may take pleasure in a cease at this refurbished area that was as soon as a farm and the way homes not solely a vineyard, however a unusual corkscrew museum.
You’ll be able to style three wines without cost, or six for a small charge, in addition to keep for lunch.
As soon as you have had lunch, you could need to stroll it off － and that is the proper place.
Above the area is an intriguing herb backyard, with the whole lot from medicinal to fragrant crops, and probably saving the most effective for the final: a magic herbarium, with crops as soon as used for casting spells. Only a phrase of warning: it is a steep 20-minute stroll to the highest however… it is value it, and consider the lunch you simply ate.
Additionally, whereas there is a normal overview of the backyard in English, the person crops are defined in French (together with their Latin names). However if in case you have your smartphone with you, you’ll translate these immediately.
One in every of a number of ranges of crops and herbs within the botanical backyard ©OffbeatFranceThen take the time to go to the distinctive corkscrew museum.
Based in 1993 by movie producer Yves Rousset-Rouard (of Emmanuelle fame), it’s one of many area’s most uncommon collections.
Inside, greater than 1200 corkscrews from the seventeenth century to in the present day hint the evolution of this humble software. You may immediately acknowledge even the oldest ones as a result of surprisingly, little has modified.
A tiny a part of the Musée du Tirebouchon, the Corkscrew Museum ©OffbeatFranceSome are whimsical, others intricate, and some… decidedly cheeky. Among the many shows is a discreet part of “erotic corkscrews” tastefully tucked away, however oh so very French.
6. Olive oil museum
If wine is a part of Provence’s DNA, so is olive oil. Simply as you style wine, you possibly can style the fruits of the olive tree, and place to try this is on the Olive Oil Museum at La Royère.
An audioguide in English (simply use your smartphone to attach) will deconstruct the oil-manufacturing course of and stroll you thru every part of manufacturing.
An oil tasting is a enjoyable technique to actually see simply how completely different oils might be － I tasted one with a peppery trace that I beloved, however I forgot I had a chilly for a second and nearly choked because it seared down my sore throat (nothing just a few glasses of water did not repair).
The museum can be a vineyard and has its personal AOP wines, in case the Citadelle wasn’t sufficient.
A couple of sensible factors
Attending to Ménerbes
Ménerbes is about half an hour’s drive from Apt and fewer than an hour from Avignon. The simplest technique to attain it’s by automotive (there’s parking just under the village partitions).
THINKING OF RENTING A CAR IN FRANCE?
Do not wait till the final minute, particularly in order for you one of many scarcer automatics.
🚗 Test availability at Uncover Automobiles (it is what I take advantage of to match costs).
Consuming in Ménerbes
The village has numerous eateries for all budgets.
- I just like the meals and the setting on the Café du Progrès, for the view but in addition as a result of it is half tobacconist and half eatery – very French.
- For those who’re headed in that route, attempt the 2 eating places at La Citadelle, Tayac and the Bistrot (however be sure to reserve first)
- If you need one thing gentle, the salads at L’Escandihado are good (and so they have pizzas, for a change)
- The Maison de la Truffe et du Vin is extra tasting room than restaurant, however you possibly can order gentle dishes on its terrace with panoramic valley views.
There are many others I have never tried however the high quality of meals right here thus far has been above common. For those who’re visiting low season, please name forward as a result of some eating places shut for the winter.
Artists and artisans
The principle road has numerous small galleries and workshops, in line with the village’s inventive previous. You may discover painters and potters and photographers, so do not hesitate to drop in and admire their work.
There’s additionally a weekly market on Thursday mornings (in season) that brings collectively native producers from the Luberon; you may discover olives, goat cheese, honey, and different native merchandise.
FAQ
Ménerbes is greatest identified for the five-year siege throughout the Wars of Faith within the sixteenth century, and in trendy occasions for uplifting writers and artists, notably Dora Maar and Peter Mayle.
The home will not be a museum however now serves as an artists’ residency. It sometimes hosts exhibitions, however most guests merely view it from the surface.
It’s a cultural and tasting middle devoted to native wines and truffles. Guests can study Provençal gastronomy, take pleasure in tastings, and purchase regional merchandise.
Two to 3 hours is often sufficient to discover the lanes, benefit from the views, and cease on the Maison de la Truffe et du Vin however if you happen to add in a number of the surrounding sights, you possibly can stretch your go to to a full day.
Ménerbes generally is a nice base if in case you have a automotive and would moderately keep in a non-public property than in a lodge (there are few). Nonetheless, public transport connections are very restricted, and villages like Bonnieux, Gordes, or Lourmarin usually provide extra choices for facilities and entry.
Earlier than you go…
For those who’re exploring Provence, you may also take pleasure in close by Lacoste, Bonnieux and Roussillon, every with its personal distinct rhythm.
As for Ménerbes, it rewards these of us with time on our fingers. It is a spot to linger at a café desk and wander the lanes as soon as most guests have left, permitting the village to disclose itself slowly as the sunshine slowly vanishes.
Did you take pleasure in this text? I might love if you happen to shared it!
