Beautiful Bonnieux
Located in the Luberon area of Provence, Bonnieux is one of the beautiful hilltop villages. With a cedar forest above the village and two churches, the 12th century parish church, Saint-Sauveur, known as the old church above the village and l’Église Neuve, the new church with its easily recognisable spire below the village.
l’Église Neuve the new church
The village has drawn us back 3 times and the last visit, in 2019 we stayed 4 nights at Le Clos du Buis, a family run 3-star hotel in the heart of the village with the added benefits of onsite secure parking, a washing machine and dryer (cost per load includes soap), a kitchen available to guests, a terrace, garden and pool. Breakfast is an additional cost and only available to guests staying in the hotel rooms. They even sell bottles of rosé at a great price for guests.
The hotel terrace looking towards the pool
Our accommodation was the Rose room with views across the terracotta roofs cypress trees to Mont Ventoux. In April, the pool was not open … understandably but the garden was perfect for lunch or an afternoon aperitif.
The Rose room
Stunning views across the terracotta roof tops of the valley and towards Mont Ventoux, above and below
The property has 10 rooms, all with ensuite bathrooms, heating, air conditioning and tea/coffee facilities. The property also offers a studio on site and some cottages off site, details can be found on the website. The hotel was previously a bakery, grocery store and a family home. Pierre and Lydia renovated and opened as the hotel in 1997. It is named after the 100-year-old box trees in the garden. We found this to be perfect base for our short stay as it provided us with all the facilities we wanted and it was a central location for our explorations.
In the village, there are enough amenities to supply you with the basics. The boulangerie has a beautiful array of tasty treats. There is also a small supermarket, a pharmacy, post office plus a range of cafés and restaurants to choose from.
Chris indulging in a tasty tart from the boulangerie, just a few steps from our hotel
The care and attention of food presented at L’arome restaurant
For our first evening, we enjoyed a magnificent meal at L’arome restaurant – 14th century vaulted room, just a few steps from our accommodation. Click on the link to see inside https://www.laromerestaurant.com/en/
Delicious dessert at L’arome restaurant
Another delicious meal was a short walk along the street to Restaurant La Flambée. Chris enjoying pizza
Best of all is the market, which occurs every Friday morning in the little square above the boulangerie. The view across the valley is a magnificent backdrop with lots of stalls, covered in brightly awnings to shade the displays of colourful, fresh produce. We purchased all the items for our picnic lunch back in the hotel garden. The hotel even has Its own wine you can purchase to accompany your picnic.
Enjoying a picnic with our market purchases and a bottle of wine available from the hotel. C’est parfait!
The village has many lovely, historic buildings to admire and after all the eating, you can certainly burn off the calories with some walking up and down the hill to explore the village and beyond.
The Luberon is a great area for cycling and if you don’t have your own you can rent a bike click here or here Explore the area via the Calavon Cycle path https://www.rentbikescooterluberon.com/circuits/the-greenway/?lang=en
Enjoying the traffic free cycle path and below photos on the Roman bridge, Pont Julien
From Bonnieux, you have easy access to the cycle path which begins at the village of Robion, then follows the Calavon valley, and ends at Castellet-en-Luberon. One of the highlights of this cycle path is crossing the Roman arched stone bridge, Pont Julien. Construction was ordered by Caesar in 3 BC, it was still in use for cars until 2005. On route to Pont Julien, you can stop at Chateau la Canorgue as seen in the movie starring Russell Crowe “A Good Year”.
Visit in June and July to see and smell the lavender
In late June and July, lavender fields can be seen below the village and in the wider area.
We couldn’t get enough of the beautiful lavender fields and when you cycle, you can stop and smell them too. This field was at the bottom of the Bonnieux hill towards the cycle path.
In 2009 , when we first discovered Bonnieux , we were staying in nearby Lourmarin. We fell in love with the lavender fields at the bottom of the hill. Then in 2015, whilst staying in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence and trying to find suitable cycling for me, we discovered the cycle path and rode some of it in either direction of Pont Julien before cycling up the hill to Bonnieux for lunch.
C’est moi on the terrace choosing lunch at Un P’tit Coin with views
The hill was a challenge, the reward was lunch on the terrace at the top. Cycling back down the hill back to the car was exhilarating. If the cycling path is not for you, there are a myriad of country roads taking you from one village to another.
A rewarding lunch after cycling up the hill to the village
Bonnieux was a nice choice for our 2019 trip and we wished that we had stayed here longer. Many people know about Ménerbes, made famous by Peter Mayle’s books and Gordes because Instagram is flooded with pictures of “capturing that view”. These are both lovely villages but we would suggest that you visit: Saignon, Goult, Roussillon and Fontaine-de-Vaulcluse . Of course there are many more that we still have on our list.
