We actually visited two villages today – just across the hills from each other, but I’m going to write separate posts for them because they’re worth it.

We think we saved the best of the 9 ‘themed’ villages to last. But we didn’t know that until today.

We had great difficulty finding a park in Callian this morning, but after a bit of patience, we found one beneath a tree, very near the Church.

We didn’t know how lucky we were until a short time later when we reached the main Church Square.

Just as we’d finished parking, we noticed an official with the letters ASVP on her shirt. We’d seen one of these ‘agents’ before in Bagnols-en-Forêt, and we assumed they had something to do with parking procedures. It actually stands for Agent de Surveillance de la Voie Publique – Public Way Monitoring Officers – they can give out parking tickets. Luckily I’ve not had to worry about that …… yet!

This was the reason for the difficulty with parking. A funeral was just commencing when we arrived, and following the service, the attendants gathered beneath this beautiful tree to toast the recently departed.

Of the nine themed villages, this is my favourite, it has more going for it than Seillans, which I love too.

Take a look at some of these cute streetscapes.

The streets were so cool as we weaved our way up towards the Château.

The Château belongs to the village and is part of the Hôtel de Ville.

This rounded tower dates back to the 12th and 13th centuries – but Mick is much younger than that!

The Goerg Château takes its name from Edouard Goerg, an expressionist painter who lived here for more than 70 year until his death in 1969.

I’m standing very near to the front entrance of the Hôtel de Ville, which was massive, especially considering only 3000 people live here.

We made our way back to the square for morning tea.

We stopped in here, and instead of a croissant something else caught Mick’s interest. It was called a Sacristain.

We ordered coffees and enjoyed the shade, and the quiet, as the funeral was still underway.

This pastry, according to Mick, was like a croissant covered in crunchy meringue dotted with tiny pieces of bitter chocolate. He loved it.

As the funeral was concluding, and the tables were being set with dozens of wine glasses, we took our leave and headed towards our next village- Tourrettes.