THE MORNING LIST
Whether medieval or more recent, French villages, from Roussillon to Cléry-sur-Somme via Meyssac, are decked out in red: ocher facades from Vaucluse, Corrèze sandstone, orange bricks from Picardy or Sologne… the many shades invite the walker to visits as colorful as they are contrasting, between blood red and grenadine colour.
Roussillon, ocher painting
From ripe apricot to scarlet via vermilion: the facades of Roussillon (Vaucluse), adorned with light green shutters, display a vast color chart that distinguishes the village from other Provencal localities, where dry stone dominates.
Set on a rocky outcrop between the Ventoux and the Luberon, this village ranked among the most beautiful in France is the capital of ocher, a dye that has long been exploited by industry and still appreciated by artists. In the Okhra eco-museum, a former factory where ocher was “washed”, an operation consisting in separating the sand from the pigment, visitors will discover the history of the material.
Roussillon is the starting point of the Ocher trail, a walk in a former moon-like quarry. The path winds between the fairy chimneys dark orange, these large columns of rock topped with a block, which contrast with the raw green of the pines and cypresses. A postcard landscape.
Ligny-le-Ribault, capital of brick
Clay and wood. From these resources specific to the forest, the Solognots have built their houses. In Ligny-le-Ribault (Loiret), bricks are everywhere, lined up like Legos to form walls, stacked between timber framings, adorning facades with decorative motifs or raising door and window embrasures.
The village, which was built around the Solognot castles, is even home to the last artisanal brickyard still in operation in the region, the Tuilerie de Bretèche, founded in 1890. Its products, of various shapes and colors, are used to restore historic monuments. throughout the region and beyond.
Do not miss the town hall, a superb building skillfully decorated with bricks of different colors. Those who love the countryside will appreciate this “natural region, where life is good, between castles, hiking trails and birdsong”says Anne Gaborit, mayor of the village.
La Bastide-Clairence, the legend of beef blood
On Place aux Arceaux, in the center of the bastide founded at the beginning of the 14th centurye century, the sanguine color of the shutters, lintels, beams and half-timbering contrasts with the whiteness of the lime. The woodwork of La Bastide-Clairence (Pyrénées-Atlantiques) would be, as in many Basque villages, “brushed with ox blood, an animal that symbolizes power”, says Véronique Ruiz, head of the village tourist office. This is a beautiful legend that everyone is free to believe. The fact remains that the “Basque red”, used to paint the boats, is part of the Euscarian identity to the point that it adorns the flag.
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