Les Baux
Les Baux is a medieval village on a rocky hill in the centre of Provence. It was a fortress and the ruins of the castle on top of the hill are still there.
It is not lived in nowadays but is preserved as a historic site and a tourist attraction. We spent an afternoon travelling there from Aix by bus, walking around looking at the village, and returning to Aix.
Les Baux has ancient houses, cafes, an art gallery, shops and two old churches, one decorated partly by its patron, the Prince of Monaco.
The village is also famous as the place where bauxite, the ore from which aluminium is made, was originally found. That's why the ore is called bauxite.
Here is a corner of the village, with other visitors from our bus party looking around. There was a cold northerly wind blowing and we were eventually glad to get back to the warmth of the bus!
A painting of a Provencal scene on the wall of the village hall, originally the church, but redecorated for secular uses when the new church was built.
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