These two Provencal villages embody the art of living in the Luberon. Their narrow streets follow the line of the hillside, winding between houses built of stone or painted in shades of ochre, evidence of a tradition that is unique in every way.

The Luberon is one of those regions that has somehow been blessed. Not content with its exceptional climate and the gentle, harmonious lines of the limestone massif, it is home to many charming, characterful villages, of which Gordes and Roussillon are perhaps the finest examples. Images of Gordes, its dry-stone houses stacked up over the Calavon valley, have gone all around the world. With its calades (paved streets), the imposing outline of its Renaissance chateau and the luxurious perfumes that waft out of its hotels and boutiques, the village has become a tourist centre with an international reputation. Hardly surprising, perhaps, given its proximity to the magnificent Sénanque Abbey with its lavender fields, not to mention the unusual villages of Les Bories, a cluster of dry-stone buildings that date back at least 200 years, the legacy of some ancient building techniques.

Roussillon need not blush at the comparison. Ten kilometres from Gordes, the village is at its most exceptional around sunset, when the ochre shades of the restored facades glow in the last sunshine of the day. Ochre has always been a part of the history of the village, which made its fortune from extracting it from the surrounding quarries. This famous pigment has long been used in painting and industry. A footpath and ochre museum in the village are a fascinating reminder of this surprising local adventure.