Page 178 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Provence & The Côte d'Azur

176  PROVENCE AREA B Y AREA

Grand Luberon
This spectacular range of
mountains to the east of
the Lourmarin Coomb rises
as high as 1,125 m (3,690 ft)
at Mourre Nègre. The fine
view at the summit must be
appreciated on foot, and takes
several hours from where you
leave the car at Auribeau. The
area is outstandingly beautiful
and ideal to escape from the
crowds. The panorama from
the top takes in Digne, the Lure
mountain and Durance valley,
the Apt basin, l’Etang de Berre
and Mont Ventoux.

uApt comedy. Excursions can be Crusade (1096–9). In the apse
made to the Colorado de Rustrel, is a 15th–16th-century window
Road map C3. * 12,325. @
£ Avignon. n Av Victor Hugo. the best ochre quarry site that depicts the tree of Jesse.
( Tue & Sat. by the River Dôa, Nearby is the 17th-century
to the northeast. Hôtel d’Albertas.
Apt is the northern entry to the The medieval The items
Parc Naturel Régional du Luberon Cathédrale Ste-Anne on display in
(see pp174–5). The Maison du lies at the heart the Musée
Parc, a restored 17th-century of Apt’s old town. d’Histoire et
mansion, provides information Legend has it d’Archéologie
on the area, with details of walks, that the veil consist of
gîtes d’étapes and flora and fauna. of St Anne was prehistoric flints,
The busy old town of Apt has brought back from stone implements,
a square for playing boules, Palestine and hidden Gallo-Romancarvings,
fountains and plane trees. in the cathedral jewellery and mosaics
Surrounded by cherry orchards, by Auspice, who from that period.
it claims to be the world capital is thought to have 14th-century priest’s Just a few miles from
of crystallized fruit. The Musée been Apt’s first bishop. embroidery Apt, L’Observatoire
de l’Aventure Industrielle Each July her festival Sirene has an idyllic
explains how the production is celebrated with a procession. location and state-of-the-art
of crystallized fruits and earthen- The Royal Chapel commem- technology, ideal for star-gazing.
ware pottery combined with orates Anne of Austria. She
the extraction of ochre to bring paid a pilgrimage to Apt to pray E Maison du Parc
prosperity to Apt in the 18th and for fertility and contributed the 60 pl Jean-Jaurès. Tel 04 90 04 42 00.
19th centuries. The town is also funds to finish the chapel, which Open Mon–Fri (& Sat Jun–Oct).
famous for truffles and lavender was finally completed around ∑ parcduluberon.fr
essence. The Saturday market 1669–70. The treasury inside R Cathédrale Ste-Anne
offers Provençal delicacies and the sacristy contains the saint’s Rue Ste-Anne. Tel 04 90 04 85 44.
entertainment, including jazz, shroud and an 11th-century Open Tue–Sat. ∑ apt-cathedrale.
barrel organ music and stand-up Arabic standard from the First com
E Musée de l’Aventure
Industrielle
Pl du Postel. Tel 04 90 74 95 30.
Open Sep–Jun: Tue-Sat; Jul–Aug: Mon–
Sat. Closed Jan, public hols. & 7
E Musée d’Histoire et
d’Archéologie
27 rue de l’Amphithéâtre. Tel 04
90 74 95 30. Open only on special
occasions. &
E L’Observatoire Sirene
D34 Lagarde d’Apt. Tel 04 90 75 04 17.
Open daily by appt. Closed public
Jam label illustrating traditional produce of Apt hols. & 7 ∑ obs-sirene.com
For hotels and restaurants in this region see p201 and pp215–16