“Why don’t we try that way instead of going directly to Avène?” I suggested, pointing straight ahead. A tiny flicker of surprise rolled over Remi’s eyebrow. He is the suggester, the spot finder and an incredibly talented one at that. I am more of the “Can we head back now?” variety I have to admit. A lazy adventurer. But Remi is the real thing and there is never too far, too wide or too long to go.
So up the road we started and the further the car crawled, the steeper the hill, the blinder the turns and the worse the condition of the road. If I didn’t have supreme confidence in his driving (and I do, this is a man who has driven down Africa from north to south), I would have peered continuously over the cliff’s edge but instead I kept gazing forward, eager to see where the trail would lead.
The sign had indicated a distance of two kilometers and yet that small journey seemed a world away. “Who would live here?” we both wondered. We pulled to a stop in front of a smattering of homes, each more neglected and sadder than the next. Appropriate, as the village is called Sadde. It is what had piqued my curiosity in the first place. And then to arrive in the middle of what is already the middle of nowhere and find it abandoned…well, it was a mystery. What had happened here?
Perhaps it was the ambiance, perhaps it was tom-foolery of the light but I had trouble finding my focus.
So many locked doors and shutters closed tight.
Paint left to chip and iron to rust.
A breeze chased and found me, trembling tough flowers and vines overhead.
It sent a deep chill through my bones. All of this loss…left me feeling sadder than Sadde.
“Heather, come on up here,” Remi called to me quietly. I picked my way up a sloping stone staircase and took a sharp intake of breath.
“Nu-uh.” I couldn’t believe it for there, hidden amidst the ruins was a gorgeously renovated home, replete with a kidney shaped swimming pool suspended over the hills. It had been impossible to detect from the front but my, what a secret hideaway.
We laughed and began to see the village in a different light, especially eyeing (as we are want to do) un bergerie or sheepfold. Hmmm…we would keep the original elements of the sliding iron…
…and wooden doors but fill them in with steel-mullioned windows on the inside, add a sleeping loft, a fireplace and voila! The perfect vacation hut…
…with 360° of mountain tops for a view. Ah, not looking so triste after all, now is it?
Appearances are tricky and this particular discovery was enough to make this adventurer, lazy or no, feel a warm glow of the heart.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Oh no! Don't be sorry! I was just teasing you a little bit. 🙂
I should have read it better twice. There was something in my mind that you insisted to go that way. Sorry, Heather and Remi.
It's all so incredibly beautiful where you live, I am planning my great escape for my "old age" the only annoying thing is that hubs is 10 years younger than me, so for that reason we will be here for much longer than I would like.
You DO know what I am talking about but it was worse! Imagine a ONE lane road and one side is mountain and the other is a sheer drop off a cliff and the turns are SO blind that you have to honk before you go around them in hopes that there is nobody else or if there is that they will hear you…I know that I could never go back to visit again because of that drive. *shudders*
And it looked like there was one rental house that had been updated recently, another one not so much and the rest…? But then again, I totally missed the "fancy" house from the front so who knows?
It is at its height in late June/ early July and is harvested shortly after. Well worth a trip to see and I can tell you where to go where they won't be crowds! 🙂
And no bones about it Edgar, I miss long distance travelling SO much but we try to make do with what we can…
Merci Leslie!
No, THIS is what gentrification looks like in Provence: http://www.ouloger.com/jordane The cliché of a "pavillon" or villa with pool and bbq…
Oh I love that you look up places from here on Google Maps!! I never would have thought to try that! And I wondered if that house is a mobster's hideout or something…possible, non?
I think Remi is far better than I at finding the magic spots and if you tell him he has "feminine instinct" you are going to get into trouble, Mumbai!!! ;à
G, there is never any pressure to leave comments although I always appreciate knowing your thoughts. And noooormally, your comments should always go to my dashboard for approval, even if they are left a year after the initial post! Harumph.
And yes, the renovations were completed…but only in our minds. 🙂