Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Les Terrasses €
( 04 90 75 99 77; cours Elzéar-Pin; mains €7-15; Thu-Mon, daily in summer)
Straddling the roadway, with cliff-side tables overlooking the valley, this brasserie - popu-
lar with a younger crowd - serves traditional fare and pizza. Incredible views: sit outside.
BRASSERIE
Information
Bonnieux Intercommunal Tourist Office
( 04 90 75 91 90;
www.tourisme-en-luber-
9.30am-12.30pm & 2-6.30pm Mon-Fri, 2-6.30pm
Sat)
Covers the entire Petit Luberon.
MARTYR VILLAGES
The Luberon's pastoral bliss belies a dark history. People of 11 Luberon villages, including Ménerbes, Lacoste
and Lourmarin, were brutally massacred on 9 and 10 April 1545, under the terms of the Arrêt de Mérindol, a bill
passed by the Aix parliament condemning anyone of Waldensian faith to death. In one village alone (Cabrières
d'Avignon), over 700 men were killed, and women were locked in a straw barn and burnt alive.
The Waldenses (Vaudois) were a minority Protestant group who sought refuge in the Luberon hills and other re-
mote parts of France and Italy, following the 1184 excommunication of their leader, Pierre Valdès, from the Cath-
olic Church. What remains of the original castrum in Mérindol guards a memorial to the estimated 3000 murdered
and 600 sent to the galleys in the two-day massacre.
Lacoste
POP 436
Its name is unrelated to the brand, but Lacoste, 6.5km west of Bonnieux, does have cou-
turier connections. In 2001 designer Pierre Cardin purchased the 9th-century
Château de
Lacoste
( 06 82 25 36 06; www. demeures-du-luberon.com; adult/student/child €10/
7/5; 11am-6pm Jun-Sep)
(and much of the village), where the notorious Marquis de
Sade (1740-1814) retreated in 1771, when his writings became too scandalous for Paris.
The château, where de Sade hosted notorious orgies, was eventually looted by revolution-
aries in 1789, and the 45-room palace remained an eerie ruin until Cardin arrived. He cre-
ated a 1000-seat theatre and opera stage adjacent, open only during July's month-long
