Getaway in the southern Luberon
The Bassin de l'Etang in Cucuron
The life of Cucuron is organised around a vast basin, in the shade of tall plane trees.
A large basin at the heart of the village
The Bassin de l'Etang in Cucuron is striking for its scale. The water spreads out and stretches lengthwise, held by the line of plane trees and the surrounding facades. You can walk around it, passing terraces, benches and house thresholds before returning to the narrower streets in the centre of the village.
Its proportions are surprising in a village of the southern Luberon. Around sixty metres long and about two metres deep, the basin was designed for use. Fed by springs from the Luberon, it once served as a watering place for livestock and helped power mills downstream. In a dry country, this water gathered at the heart of the village spoke of work, animals, crops and daily organisation as much as pleasure.
From working water to shaded terraces
In the nineteenth century, the mills disappeared, the plane trees were planted and the basin gradually changed role. Water remained at the centre of the place, but it began to accompany other uses: shade, pauses, conversations, tables set beneath the trees and quiet walks around the clear rectangle of water.
Today, the Bassin de l'Etang remains a public place before it is a backdrop. Market days, local festivals, tables beneath the trees and conversations in the shade all return here. Swimming has no place in it: the basin belongs to the daily life of Cucuron as much as to the village's memory.
The site has also drawn the eye of cinema. Several films have used it as a natural setting, including The Horseman on the Roof. The basin needs no artifice: water, trees, stone and terraces already form an open-air stage, strong enough to stay in the memory without being overloaded.
Cucuron, a stop in the southern Luberon
The basin does not sum up all of Cucuron, but it gives the village its character. From this water square, streets climb towards the older quarters, facades draw closer together and views open at times towards the silhouette of the Grand Luberon. Around the village, roads cross vineyards and olive groves towards Vaugines, Ansouis and Lourmarin.
Cucuron therefore finds a natural place in a stay in the Luberon. You may stop here for a pause in the shade, the end of a morning after a market, or a stage between several villages in the south of the massif. The place stays in the memory through this simple composition: still water, plane trees, terraces, then streets rising towards the old village before the open roads return towards Vaugines, Ansouis, Lourmarin or the Durance valley.
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Guest houses around Cucuron to extend the getaway
Around Cucuron, Lourmarin, Vaugines and Ansouis, the southern Luberon lends itself to a guest house stay between villages, vineyards, small roads and shaded terraces. The portal favours direct links to owners' websites, so you can compare atmospheres and prepare a stay close to the territory.