The former ochre quarries of Roussillon in the Luberon

Proudly perched on a hilltop, Roussillon overlooks the first quarries carved out over two centuries ago. The red of the cliff faces, to which respond like an echo the red of the buildings' façades, certainely explains the attraction of this village which is the only one located in the heart itself of the ochre deposits. Father to the east, south of Rustrel, the "Provençal Colorado" is the most spectacularof the ochre sites. A small stream which flows from Gignac to Apt and which, with the rains, swells and sweeps along yellow waters rich in ochre, the Doa has over the centuries worked away at the earth's layers, exposing the white limestone, green clays and banks of ochre sands, which here take on a tormented form rarely seen elsewhere.

Discreet, Gargas distinguishes itself by the cliff faces on which have been carved galleries in the form of arches. Endless red mazes, which go down in to the heart of the hill itself. They are not (yet) open to the public. Some of them act as mushroom beds; the darkness and moisture are in effect favorable for cultivating mushrooms...