We’re leaving Roussillon, and traveling about an hour to the southwest, en route to Les Baux de Provence.  Les Baux is a medieval village  situated on a rocky outcropping in the Alpilles mountains, and is most noted for the castle ruins.  

Centuries ago, it was the seat of a powerful feudal establishment that controlled 79 towns and villages in the vicinity.  Today, you can wander around and imagine what life was like, defending your castle from all those marauding invaders, who sought to plunder, pillage, and steal your land.

In peak season, Les Baux is a tourist mecca, with day-trippers coming to explore the ruins.  If you’re lucky, you may happen upon colorful medieval re-enactments complete with costumed knights jousting on horse back, and medieval maidens in colorful garb.

Check out the medieval catapults! 

Despite all the attractions of this medieval Disneyland, the reason I visit Les Baux (and the whole reason I’m writing this post) is to introduce to you the incredible “museum” down at the base of the village of Les Baux.  Carrières de Lumières  (formerly known as Cathedral d’Images) is an absolute “must see” and worth a long detour. It is an unforgettable sensory experience, the likes of which you cannot imagine.

Leave it to the French to create a museum where the less imaginative of us would only see an abandoned limestone quarry.  The “museum” was an active quarry until the mid-1900s, as you can see the worker in this photo scoring the stone in preparation for harvest and removal. 

Limestone is bright white, and because of the harvesting techniques used, the remaining flat walls of the quarry have become the perfect natural backdrop for the most unique artistic display I have ever seen.  You can see how high the walls are from this photo.

The empty cavern has been turned into a multi-media feast for the senses.  Using a series of 50 projectors, thousands of art images are projected on the 20 foot high walls, as well as the ceiling, and floors.  A soundtrack is written especially for the each exhibit, and the slide show is professionally synchronized and choreographed to the music.

If you visit in the summer, you leave the blazing sun and bright white light of the Provencal countryside, and enter into a dark, cool, cave.  You are enveloped by the darkness, and the cave’s sharp contrast to your senses can be unnerving at first, as your eyes try to adjust to the light.  You stumble around a bit, trying to get your bearings, hoping here is a handrail.  But then, you hear the strains of the beautiful music, and off in the distance, the huge, colorful images come into view.

As you are drawn down into the heart of the quarry, you start to feel as if you are becoming part of the paintings.

The works of a different artist are featured each year,  In 2014, the works of Austrian artist Gustav Klimt will be featured "Klimt & Vienna:  A Century of Gold and Colours".

Visiting the cave was an extraordinary, life-changing experience for me, as I looked around at the moving, visual feast.   The image below ( from my visit in 2009) is projected on a wall about 20 ft. high.  Look closely and you can see the score marks in Vincent's "Starry, Starry, Night".

Stunning….powerful….masterful….magnificent……and something you must see and experience for yourself.  I get goose-bumpy just thinking about it.

Words fail me as I try to describe the experience, so I will point you to an article Jean Wright has written for Beyond France website to describe the masterpiece that is
Carrières de Lumières  http://www.beyond.fr/sites/cathedralimages.html

This has to be in one of those “Hundred Places to See Before You Die” books.  If not, I’ll have to start my own list!  C’est magnifique.

Today we leave L’isle Sur la Sorgue and travel about 30 minutes east to the ochre cliffs of Roussillon (roo see yohn).  Designated as one of the most beautiful villages in France, Roussillon is a small, quiet village, famous for its beautiful ochre cliffs. 

 Surrounded by a beautiful pine forest, Roussillon was home to a thriving ochre industry that began in the late 18th century and flourished well into the 20th century.  The ochre was harvested and used to tint paints before artificial pigments were introduced. 

 As you look across the cliffs, you see the whole color palette that inspired Cezanne, Van Gogh, Monet, Renoir  and other great artists.  Every shade of burgundy, red, rust, crimson, rose, salmon, peach, gold, saffron…even green is evident in the cliffs on which the village is built. 

The rich, varied hues are everywhere, in the facades of the buildings, the trompe l’oeil paintings, as well as the pottery and textiles.

Active travelers will enjoy one of the two hiking paths that wind through the pine forest…there’s a 30 minute loop and a 1 hour loop.  Art enthusiasts may want to check out the Conservatory of Ochre and Applied Pigments, where you will learn the history of the pigment industry and can join in on artist workshops. 

If you go in mid-summer (recommended), as you approach the village, you will be greeted on the outskirts by fields of brilliant sunflowers……which I probably never would have stumbled upon if I hadn’t gotten us hopelessly lost!  Good thing I didn’t listen to Giselle.

Next time you visit Paris, be sure to check into the Paris Museum Pass. 
SAVE HOURS OF TIME – NO STANDING IN LINE AT EVERY MUSEUM.
Save money too!   2, 4, or 6 day passes available.    http://www.parismuseumpass.com/en/home.php  Good for Louvre, Musee d’Orsay, Notre Dame; Pompidou Modern Art, St. Chapelle, Arc de Triomphe, Picasso & Rodin museums, Palace of Versailles & much more. 

Purchase your pass at any participating museum, Charles de Gaulle Airport, or Paris Tourism office on 25, rue des Pyramides, & major Metro stations.