Holiday homes in Le Barroux

Le Barroux is a hilltop village on a limestone outcrop between Carpentras and Malaucène, in north-west Vaucluse. From the plain of the Comtat Venaissin you can see it from far away. Steep, narrow lanes lead you up to the castle, once a mighty keep that guarded the plain. You can visit it: its chapel has 18th-century wall paintings protected as a monument historique, and today it is also home to an organic Provençal whisky distillery. From the esplanade by the Notre-Dame la Brune chapel you look east to Mont Ventoux, west to the limestone ridges of the Dentelles de Montmirail and straight down onto the plain. Stroll past the wash house on Place de la Barbière, the old Hôtel-Dieu and the communal oil mill built in 1808. About 3 km from the village stands the abbey of Sainte-Madeleine, where Benedictine monks sing their services in Latin and Gregorian chant. The church is open all day. Around Le Barroux grow vines, olives, cherries and apricots.