What to do and see in Luberon, Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur: The Best Historic Sites

Reviewed By aquaspeleo - Derry, United Kingdom

Yes, we loved it. Once we found it!!! It isn't in the small village of Buoux but about 3 miles distant. You go through the amazing climbing area. Huge limestone walls and overhangs. Drive past all the car parks until the one immediately before the gates at the end of the road. 11 minutes of uphill walking on a good track give you a clue this is going to be a challenge. And it's an amazing walk past woodland and a lovely rock undercut. The gentleman at the house was very short on conversation but gave us an English guide. One sheet of a4 with 36 one word descriptions of items on the hand drawn map. Off we went up the rickety uneven walk, up slope to what appeared to be a very basic shell. In we went and got very confused. Which way? Where? What is what? Then it slowly dawned on us. This was a massive example of what Roman architecture was all about. And there was plenty of it! We climbed ever higher up the hill. It got more and more interesting. It lacked description of items but our discussions between us two finally sussed out what was going on. There were some extremely precipitous areas and it did really underline that it's very unsafe for children or those who can't be trusted to control their movements. I don't walk so well any more but my previous climbing skills ensured I was safe on the very uneven route. The final piece de resistance is the secret stairway out of the place. Here, if you suffer any vertigo, don't do it! Go back the way you came. But that exit route is a bit of a navigation challenge as the white painted arrows have slowly weathered down. But hey it was fun! And we learnt a lot! If you suffer from vertigo or you can't control your children or if you're infirm in your leg movements you might want to think twice but this place is well worth it if that's ok.