Our first class field trip was an excursion to the Vaucluse
region, north of Provence, on 1 July. There we visited and
discussed the medieval hill towns of Bonnieux, Lacoste, and Gordes, walked into a large borie, and closed up
with a tour of the Cistercian abbey of Sénanque.
The bories are enigmatic stone structures dotted around the
south of France. Although they only date back to the 17th century, their
design goes back as far as the Neolithic era, and their original use is
presently unknown. They may have been dwellings or storehouses for
hunters.
Sénanque is a Cistercian abbey, which meant that it was designed
with purity and simplicity of form which also made for unbelievably
good acoustics. Singing was the one pleasure afforded the monks, who were
otherwise bound to vows of silence. The abbey is also famous for its
magnificent lavender fields.