O S M A F Frankenhaeuser

”Le Pays d’Aigues, du côté Sud du Luberon, est le Pays de l’Eau. C’est la zone du Luberon qui compte le plus de sources.”  So, this water country. Or water land.

Water is indeed, surprisingly perhaps, a really important factor in this area, notably ground water. It hasn`t rained properly since April, but still the area looks very green. The wines, the bushes and the trees show remarkable resilience. They are still green, turning yellow and red now because of the approaching autumn, but they have not suffered notably from the extremely long dry period. And people we speak to here say no, this is not the worst they have seen. It can be, and has been, even drier. Vegetation in the area has been here before, and can easily put up with one year of drought. If it continues for many years to c9me I don`t know what will happen, but for now, its OK. Given there will be rain during winter of course. Old wines can push their roots down as deep as 15-20 meters, so it is no surprise they survive. But apparently trees and bushes also have deep roots.

In Lourmarin it is rare to find cellars under the houses. This is because there is water everywhere. Even now, water8s flowing in some of the little creeks and ditches. In the house where we are now staying there has been water in the well all the t8me, and it is not very deep.

One might expect that we by now would have seen most places, found all the really nice markets and learned about all there is to learn about this place. But no. There is more to discover and learn all the time. 

Last spring we found a splendid wine “negociant”, Tardieu-Laurent, just outside Lourmarin. They do not make much noise about themselves locally, which is probably why so few people have heard about them here. Among wine experts they are well known. They have excellent wines from the Rhone area. We spent a most pleasant hour in their wine cellar, testing wines directly from the barrels. Never done anything like that before, really interesting. It gives a hint of what it is like to taste young wines professionally. What it might be like to be a wine taster.

Last Sunday we went for a walk in the area around Goult on the northern side of the Luberon. This is a village we have driven through before, but never really visited. Charming, built almost entirely of ”pierre sèche”, dry stones. Most houses are in very good shape, but a lot of them are clearly already closed. Secondary houses for wealthy Parisians and foreigners was the dry verdict from one of our local walking companions. Which, unfortunately, means that the village is pretty dead in winter. A shame, since it is really pretty and has a lot of character. 

Carrières de Lumières this year shows Brueghel-Bosch-Archimboldo. I found it splendid, but our two year old grandson thought it was scary. I suspect that was mainly because it was dark when we first walked in, and the music is very loud. Or then he didn’t like the dragons and the funny birds and….. The way the paintings are presented and displayed is, however, truly amazing and very impressive. It is like being invited into another, long since passed world, full of amazing characters, some of them human, some of them pure fantasy, some of them actually a bit scary. Everything comes close. The buildings, the animals, the flowers, the food and all other things on sale on the streets, the expressions on peoples’ faces.

Nexts years show is Picasso. Another treat.

This has been a fall of a lot of travelling.

After leaving Träskholmen in August, having enjoyed an otherwise nice but exceptionally cold summer, we spent some weeks at home in Kullo, then left for a prolonged weekend in the Loire Valley in the beginning of September. We have talked about going there many times, but have never managed to get beyond the planning stage. So when Filip spotted cheap flights to Paris sometimes in spring he suggested we’d grab the chance to go to Loire. And since this was in spring and September seemed far away, it felt like a brilliant idea. However, the closer we came to the actual trip, the more we began to feel it was a all a bit much. Not just because of the trip to the Loire valley, but because of all that came after – Äkäslompolo, and then Provence.

Anyway, off we went, flew to Paris, rented a car and drove a few hours. We stayed in a nice little castle, Château de Nazé, close to Saumur. Pretty little place, with a very nice owner, who immediately took an interest in our interest for good restaurants, so we more or less went through her whole list of suggestions. Every morning she would eagerly ask us what we thought of last nights choice. And then we had a discussion about pros and cons with that particular restaurant.

Her place is up for sale, as are many, many other houses in the region, small and big.

Although the place is nice she might have some difficulties selling, because it lies very close to a motorway.

Castles is the main reason people come to the Loire valley, and then wine of course. But since we could not transport any wine home, we concentrated on castles. We saw quite a few. The best ones by far were Château de Chenonceau and Château de Villandry. The first because of its beauty and exquisite interior, the latter because of the garden. Never seen anything like it.

Everything in Chenonceau is beautiful – the floors, whether wooden or tiled, the windows, the furniture, the gardens outside, the kitchen, the wallpaper. And I simply loved that they had real flowers everywhere, extremely nicely and professionally arranged.

Apart from food, the wine and the castles – and, obviously – the way we were welcomed, the valley in itself and the river were something of a disappointment. Maybe because of the weather, which was not the best. Cold and cloudy all the time. Or then it was because we compare with Provence, where there is an abundance of pretty villages and the landscape is breathtakingly beautiful. Not so in Loire. The river is very shallow, and the landscape flat and often dull.

On the way back to Paris we stopped in Giverny to see Monet’s garden. A wonderful place.

A brief stop in Kullo, and then Äkäslompolo for four days of walking, or randonnée as the French would say.

Again, the weather gods were not on our side, but at least it did not rain. Nor was it cold, but the skies were gray and already in September, this means it is rather dark in Lapland. But we did some very nice walks and enjoyed good company and good food, as always.

And now we have been a little more than two weeks in Ansouis, Sud-Luberon again, enjoying an Indian summer. Nights are cold, but day temperatures have stayed around +25. A nice compensation for our summer!

We’ve had visitors, first Barbro and Antti and then Oskar, Frida and Morgan. It was great having them here and such a joy that the weather cooperated with us, for once. Now the rains can come, because they are badly needed here. It hasn’t rained properly since April!

The house is nice and the view is stunning – Luberon on one side and the village of Ansouis on the other. This is the fifth time we are here since 2015, always autumns and springs, and our third house. We have, however, stayed in the same area, close to Ansouis and Cucuron and with Lourmarin at a reasonable distance.

Another five weeks to go before we return to Finland. On est bien ici!

Since we left France at the end of April, assuring everyone there that summer in the Nordics is a must, magical, full of light and even warm, we have experienced an unusually cold spring, an even colder June, and now July looks equally gloomy weatherwise. One wonders what has happened? Are we now seeing the beginning of a permanent change, with warm, rainy winters and cold, rainy summers? If this is the case it does not sound very promising. 

But summer in Finland is still wonderful. It is quiet and peaceful. No crowds, no rush. The light is the same as ever, and since it has been so cold nature moves slowly æthis year. Which is not necessarily bad. Only a few wild strawberries around, tiny, tiny chantarelles if you know exactly where to look. And all flowers bloom late. It is green and lush everywhere. No water shortage this part of the world (although it seems the ground water level is low). But it would certainly be nice with somewhat higher temperatures. In the beginning of July it is  +15 C in the water, +12-14 C in the air when it is raining, slightly higher, +17-18 C when the sun is shining. It doesn’t really sound like summer, does it? Only for a few days in May and another few in June have we seen temperatures above +20 C. However, in pictures it does look very nice!