Lourmarin and Cucuron: Serlio's Renaissance Wing, Camus's Grave and the Plane Trees of the Étang
Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France
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200
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+100 France
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1 day
Lourmarin and Cucuron: Serlio's Renaissance Wing, Camus's Grave and the Plane Trees of the Étang
200 + 100 XP
The château of Lourmarin has two halves: a medieval forteresse rebuilt in 1480 by Foulques d'Agoult, friend of King René, and a Renaissance wing added from 1526 whose façade came from the Italian architect Sebastiano Serlio. Found derelict and about to be sold for its stone, it was bought in 1920 by the Lyon industrialist Robert Laurent-Vibert, who wanted an artists' residence there and left it to the Académie d'Aix; the foundation that bears his name still runs events in it through the year. Albert Camus kept a house in the village with his wife Francine Faure and is buried in its cemetery, and at Cucuron, six kilometres east, plane trees shade the quadrangular Bassin de l'Étang of the early 16th century on the north side of the village.
Required Activities
1
of 3
In the Renaissance wing at Lourmarin, climb the great spiral state staircase and find the chimneypiece whose caryatids have Amerindian faces, then step out onto the loggia and work out where the chapel stood before it was moved to make room for it
2
of 3
In the village cemetery at Lourmarin, find Albert Camus's grave — he died in a car on the road at Villeblevin in 1960, hundreds of kilometres from here — and then Henri Bosco's a few rows away, and compare the two stones of the two writers who both chose to be buried in the same small Luberon village
3
of 3
Walk right round the Bassin de l'Étang at the north end of Cucuron under its plane trees and work out which way the water left it to drive the village's communal mill, then climb through the medieval gates to the clock tower and go down to the 16th-century olive mill cut into a cave under the ramparts on the south side
In the Renaissance wing at Lourmarin, climb the great spiral state staircase and find the chimneypiece whose caryatids have Amerindian faces, then step out onto the loggia and work out where the chapel stood before it was moved to make room for it
In the village cemetery at Lourmarin, find Albert Camus's grave — he died in a car on the road at Villeblevin in 1960, hundreds of kilometres from here — and then Henri Bosco's a few rows away, and compare the two stones of the two writers who both chose to be buried in the same small Luberon village
Walk right round the Bassin de l'Étang at the north end of Cucuron under its plane trees and work out which way the water left it to drive the village's communal mill, then climb through the medieval gates to the clock tower and go down to the 16th-century olive mill cut into a cave under the ramparts on the south side
Before you go
The château of Lourmarin is open all year but takes a fortnight off in January — 5 to 16 January in 2026 — and closes on 25 December and 1 January. From November to March it shuts for lunch, 12.45pm to 2.30pm, closes at 5.15pm and takes its last entry 45 minutes before that, so the effective winter cut-off is 4.30pm. Camus's grave in the village cemetery and the plane trees round the Bassin de l'Étang at Cucuron are open at any hour; the bassin is at its best when the trees are in leaf, and bare from November to April.
The château at Lourmarin is open to visitors all year but on a foundation's timetable, with concerts and events that close rooms off — check the day's programme, and do not expect to see the graffiti room in the west tower, which is shut. Cucuron's market is on Tuesday and there are four night markets round the étang across late July and early August, which is also when the village is unparkable. Both villages have narrow one-way streets with no room for a long motorhome: use the car parks on the edge and walk in.
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XP Breakdown
Challenge XP
200 XP
France country bonus
+100 XP
Potential total
300 XP
Country bonus earned on completion of your first challenge in France.
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