What Are You Doing This Weekend?

The weather is gorgeous in Provence and it looks like it will be a perfect weekend. If you're around, here are some things that might interest you...

This is the launch weekend for Sun-e-Bikes in the Luberon. They've got 200 new electric bikes for rent and you can pick them up and drop them off in any of three villages. There are battery charging stations along the way and rates are very reasonable. To get all the details about the new Sun-e-Bike program, click here (French only; English coming soon) or call 04-90-74-09-96. To see their great multi-day packages that include hotel stays, click here. And to read more about electric biking in Provence, click here.

Saturday and Sunday is Les Printemps de Châteauneuf-du-Pape up in--you guessed it--Châteauneuf. Seventy-eight wineries will be pouring; tickets are 7€. Get all the info here.

The Carrières de Lumières (Quarries of Light) officially opened today in Les Baux. You may remember it as the Cathedrale des Images. It's been closed for more than a year and it's now being managed by the folks at Culturespaces. It's a dramatic sound and light show in a vast bauxite quarry. The new 35-minute show is called Gauguin and Van Gogh: Painters of Color and it runs until January 6, 2013.  Rumor has it that more than €2 million was spent to refurbish the 5000-square-meter site and launch the show, which uses 70 video projectors, 3,000 images and high-tech audio adapted specifically to the site.  Friends who saw Gauguin and Van Gogh last night say it was terrific. The Carrières de Lumières is located in the Val d’Enfer, a stone's throw from Les Baux. Dramatic and otherworldly looking, the area has inspired artists of all sorts; the Val d'Enfer provided the setting for Dante’s “Divine Comedy” and Gounod created his opera “Mireille” here. Later, Cocteau came to film “The Testament of Orpheus” in these very quarries. The Carrières du Val d’Enfer has been awarded Natural Monument status in France. For all the info, click here.

Finally, there's a picnic happening on Sunday, up at the Lac des Peiròu in St. Remy. The idea is to bring together French, American and English folks of all ages, just for fun. Bring a blanket, bring your own food (and supplies), bring something to share if you like...and call Magali on Saturday, please, if you plan to come. The picnic starts at 11:30. Magali's phone: 06-49-58-33-75. Don't know the lake? It's an historic reservoir and one of the prettiest places around. You can read about it here.

Photos: The reservoir in St. Remy by De Crig; images from "Gauguin and Van Gogh" at the Carrières de Lumières.