Luberon
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Luberon Massif (Provençal Occitan: Leberon in classical norm or Leberoun in Mistralian norm) has a maximum altitude of 1,256 m and an area of about 600 km². It is composed of two mountain ranges: the Big Luberon and the Little Luberon, lying in the middle of Provence in the far south of France. The valley between them contains a number of towns and villages as well as agricultural land.
The total number of inhabitants varies greatly between winter and summer, due to a massive influx of tourists during the warm season.
It is a favourite destination for French high society and British and American visitors because of the pleasant and picturesque towns and villages, comfortable way of life, agricultural richness, historical and cultural associations (e.g. Samuel Beckett lived in Roussillon during World War II), and hiking trails.
In the 1970s, people came from all over France to "Le Luberon" in search of a communitarian ideal.
The Force de frappe or French strategic nuclear arsenal used to be nearby, underground, on "Le plateau d'Albion" before being dismantled in the late 1980s.
In the last decades the Luberon became known in the English-speaking world especially through a series of books by British author Peter Mayle giving the chronicle of a British expatriate who settled in the village of Ménerbes. One of his books was made into a film A Good Year (2006) directed by Ridley Scott and starring Russell Crowe, which was filmed there.
[edit] Towns and villages of the Luberon
[edit] References
- Mayle, Peter. A year in Provence. New York : Vintage Books, 1991.
- Mayle, Peter. Encore Provence : new adventures in the south of France. New York : Knopf, 1999.
- Mayle, Peter. Toujours Provence. New York : Knopf, 1991
