Sablet 1900 Festival

It has been a while, much too long in fact, since I have posted about Sablet where we have been blessed to own a beautiful stone house in the center of the village for the last 10 years.

For those of you who don't know, Sablet is a small village (population 1264) located at the base of the jagged Dentelles de Montmirail west of Mont Ventoux in the Vaucluse region of Provence, France. The village sits on a hill bordering the rich alluvial plain of the Ouvèze River.

Although the first fortifications of the village were most likely built in the 9th century to ward off attacks by the Saracens, the walls and towers were not started until the 14th century. These ramparts have recently been restored the by the Association des Compagnons des Barrys.

Sablet is filled with charming and picturesque shaded streets adorned with flowers, passageways with exposed beams, and fountains. Stone village houses like ours line the narrow streets that curl in concentric circles up to the Romanesque church of St. Nazaire (12th century). St. Nazaire’s bell tower is the highest point of the village.

Sablet is known for its production of Côtes du Rhône Villages wine. The vineyards were first cultivated by the Counts of Toulouse, to whom the area then belonged. During the 14th century, the vineyards became papal possessions when the papacy moved to Avignon. Sablet was awarded the classification of Côtes du Rhône Villages Sablet in 1974.

Sablet is also famous for its book fair, Journee du Livre de Sablet, celebrated in the center of the village which takes place this year on Saturday, July 21 and Sunday, July 21. Well known authors and literary enthusiasts from all over come to the village for book readings and signings for this fête which spreads to many of the Sablet wineries where special events are held with music and other entertainment.

Another village festival is "Sablet 1900" which celebrates the past through costumes, music, folk dancing and demonstrations. The pictures which follow are a few from last year's festival.

Sablet

Sablet Entrance

Women demonstrating how clothes were laundered in olden times near the Sablet fountain and Lavoir near our house

Woman wearing clothes from olden times near her table with soap

Woman demonstrating how weaving was done in olden times

Sheep herder

Antique motorcycles

Costumed drummers

Strolling ladies and gentlemen

Costumed ladies and gentlemen stroll through Sablet

The parade of costumed ladies and gentlemen continues through Sablet

Costumed drummers

Dancing ladies

More dancing ladies

Costumed ladies and gentlemen

The parade continues past the Café des Sports

Costumed ladies and gentlemen stroll through Sablet

Drummers

Dancing ladies

If you have been dreaming about visiting Provence, consider staying at our house in Sablet. We have weeks available for rental between June 22 and July 10 and August 14 to September 18. We are offering a special rate of $1100 per week or $950 per week for two or more weeks.

Sablet 1900 - Provence Village Festival

As you know, we own a house in Sablet, in the Vaucluse region of Provence France. We think Provence is a magical place, especially our region. Throughout the year, there are various festivals around the region, lots of them during the height of the tourist season in June, July and August.

Last weekend was the 27th annual Journée du Livre (book festival) in Sablet which is the biggest festival of the year in Sablet. So I was super surprised to read on my friend Barbara's blog Cuisine de Provence that there was a "Sablet 1900" village festival in Sablet this weekend.

We did not go to Sablet this summer for lots of good reasons, including a month-long visit from Mathilde, the niece of Bruno and Sylvie who own Cafe des Sports in Sablet, and the arrival of a precious new granddaughter Jilian Kensie a week ago. If we were there, we would have shared pictures of the Sablet 1900 festival with you. Instead, I am sharing Barbara's post on my blog.

Before I do that, I should tell you that if you live in the Vaucluse or are visiting the area and you want to increase your repertoire of Provence dishes or you want to learn how to cook Provence dishes to impress your friends back home, you should take a class from Barbara. You can find all of the information on her website.

We almost missed it - there were no flyers distributed and no posters advertised this lovely Provençal village fête "Sablet 1900" this morning in our neighboring village of Sablet. And although it is the height of the tourist season in Provence we heard no Dutch, no English, no German - it seems the Sabletains (as the inhabitants of Sablet are called) wanted to keep this true village fête for themselves.

A magnificent Gallic Rooster

 Très chic - very elegant ladies

 L'accordéoniste - accordion player

 This is how coffee was cooked in 1900

 Monsieur le Curé - the Village Priest

 Le Berger - The Shepherd

 Traditional Provençal Dance

Le Facteur - the Postman

 

You can see why we love Sablet. The Sabletains love to have a good time and put on great festivals. Thank you so much Barbara for taking the pictures. Have a great week. A bientot.