Discovering Author Samuel Beckett’s Roussillon in the Luberon Valley

The red hills of Roussillon are an inspiration for artists, but I had no idea how many famous authors came to visit Roussillon.

On my first visit to Roussillon, while riding along the winding roads of the Luberon, it amazed me to see the massive red hills up ahead. They seemed to appear from nowhere. The nearby towns had only small tinges of red.

“How is it possible that so much red is in one place?” I said to myself.

Continue reading to see Deborah’s photos of this extremely beautiful setting in Provence’s Luberon Valley and her discovery that it was also the home of writer Samuel Beckett during the 1940s. Roussillon is a village of artists, legends and gorgeous colourful views.

Roussillon Ochre

French artist Sabine Pinon-Amoore describes her first visit to Roussillon in 1989. She was curious about this town. “My hotel was only a few kilometres from Roussillon, one of the most stunning open-air ochre sites in France. Visits there were highly encouraged by my good self (not after doing this job I can tell you) as one of the highlights of the area. Guests would return enchanted and…orange! The soles of their shoes filled with ochre, their feet, their clothes, their hair too it seemed. Bathtubs would be ringed with colour, towels with indelible patterns. As much as I tried to consign them to oblivion, drown them down the drains, there seemed to always be that one little particle left that would turn the whole effort into yet another puddle of pumpkin soup…which is exactly how you make paint of course!”

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Deborah Bine

The Barefoot Blogger, aka Deborah Bine, loves to share tales of her solo life in France as an American expat who speaks no French. Retired from a career in advertising and marketing communications, and divorced after a 40-year marriage with children, Deborah left Beaufort, South Carolina and all of her belongings last year to move to the south of France. Now that she has found her "bliss," her passion is to encourage others to break away from whatever is holding them back and to go after their dreams. "We're on life's journey alone. Be certain you love where you are."

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