The village of Oppède le Vieux on Friday, Sept. 17th
It's one of those rare Provençal days when the clouds are low, where little droplets of rain give the countryside a feel as if in Britany. The old village is in ruins -- entirely -- but at its peak 900 inhabitants lived within the ramparts. There are no stores here, no tourist shops, just ancient cobbled steps leading through a labyrinth of stone buildings. I'm the only visitor here today, and with the low-lying clouds and rain the village has a beautifully haunted feel.
The ruins of the castle overhang a vertiginous drop, and I scramble up passageways to reach the top platform, looming above the rest of the village.
