Voila Vincent: From ancient wells to elegant chateaux

Cucaron is an older shabbier village in a valley. Some of the houses have 1600s etched over the door to show when they were first built. It has ancient wells that need renewing, and a big market place shady with mature plane trees planted entirely around a giant rectangular etang (pond).

Some villages stand out. Two in particular.

Menerbes has lovely old homes with many brilliant new renovations complete. It has a very expensive air about it, and its views down into the wine valleys are awesome.

Lourmarin is the busiest of all the perched villages. It is approached by a narrow winding road, in and out, and no matter the time of day, tourist vehicles are bumper to bumper. This is an expensive village, and quite the most stylish of the Most Beautiful Villages we have yet visited.

The shops are boutiques. The art is in galleries. Restaurants, and there are many of them, have individualised and personalised menus. Money, money, money.

Peter Mayle, the travel writer, used to live in Menerbes. He left a little over 10 years ago, when he found perfect strangers cooling off one hot day in his private swimming pool, without so much as a by your leave. He later moved to Lourmarin.

Now, something is drawing all these hundreds of carloads, even busloads of tourist folk, to this particular corner of France. It is difficult to say what could be the catalyst, other than Peter Mayle’s depictions of Provence.

Actually, looking at the influx, I can imagine many Mayors in many of their little Mairies in communes all across France, terribly tempted to pay Peter Mayle simply to say that he lives in their town, their village, too. Perched, or not. Because the tourists, particularly this monied set of mature Americans hankering after the good life, are filling these boutiques, restaurants, markets, gites and wineries. To capacity.

And I am wont to wonder what history will make of all of it. And, whether, come October, as has happened just this week in Eus, that the shops, museums and bistros will all close their weekday doors and go away now until Spring. As happens in chalets in ski retreats when the snow and the skiers stop. As happens with Continental ferry schedules when schools start again in the autumn. As happens to all things that open and shut on the Greek islands once the tourist season is over. It all just closes up till the next hoard comes.