I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. This is a place where the sorrows of the world seem far, far away. Not the joys, since we know how to enjoy life around here. But we tend not to worry too much. Even if we obviously follow the news. We read and debate about the independence of Catalunya, we comment on Trump and Brexit, we try to avoid politics but somehow always end up discussing it anyway, and we are keenly aware of the treaths of climate change. It hasn’t rained since April, and this is the driest summer in recorded history (which means around a hundred years). Day temperatures still rise to around +22-23 in the afternoons, even if nights are cold. At the end of October! Ce n’est pas normal!
We have joined a group of friends who go for hikes every Sunday, shorter or longer. The extreme drought is visible everywhere, as is the fact that there still is water around. Little creeks flow down the Luberon from some of the many springs, but the water level is much lower than normally.
One of the old bridges over the creek is built as a shell. This is a part of the old pilgrim roads to Santiago de Compostela that criss cross this area of France. The path runs through the Vallée de l’Aiguebrun, where there are signs of age old human presence everywhere. Prehistoric graves on a cliff, the remains of a small gaul village next to them.
Not far away lies Fort de Buoux, a fortress that played an important role for the defense of the area during the middle ages. But it was used much earlier, not in the least during Roman times. It is perched high on a hilltop so small and narrow that the only solution if enemies managed to drive the defense all the way up was to jump. Or use a rope. Or try to reach the secret staircase which leads away from the fort to the south. The fort was abandoned during the reign of Louis XIV, but the buildings were still in use another hundred years, until the inhabitants moved to the present village of Buoux around 1780.
The whole area is totally unprotected, and the staircase is very steep and partly narrow. No running! It is hard to imagine how people could have fled this way without risking their lives!
The forest path above the valley of Aiguebrun offers stunning views and hides some much more recent wonders. The pyramid and the birthday cake are both built by a professor of the English language, whom some of the members of our group called ”pretty mad but also brilliant”. He had been their teacher at school.
For hungry and tired hikers there are plenty of nice places to eat and rest.
O S M A F Frankenhaeuser 
