Lacoste FRANCE 🇫🇷 A Guided Walk 🤩 Hilltop Village in Provence [4k]

📌 Location: Lacoste, Provence, South of France

🇬🇧 Bonjour! Welcome to Lacoste, a hilltop village in the heart of Provence and the Luberon.
Lacoste is a charming medieval village steeped in history.
This little gem in Provence is famous for its castle, once home to the notorious Marquis de Sade.
Perched on a hill, Lacoste treats you to stunning views over the Luberon.
As you stroll up and down the cobbled streets, you’ll get a snapshot of traditional Luberon villages with well-maintained stone houses.
This guided walk is a perfect way to uncover all the hidden gems and understand the allure that Lacoste has to offer, ensuring that visitors leave with lasting memories of this enchanting French village.

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🎦 Filmed in high-quality 4K in Lacoste, 29 September 2023.
Turn on optional [CC] English (United Kingdom) captions to follow the commentaries.

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🌐 Learn more about LACOSTE on the blog!
– Lacoste in Provence: What to see and do: https://frenchmoments.eu/lacoste/
– Chasing Autumn in Provence: A Traveller’s Tale: https://frenchmoments.eu/autumn-in-provence/

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📚 Get the eBook “LACOSTE: A Guided Walk of the Hilltop Village in Provence”
The irresistible companion to your exploration of Lacoste!
This comprehensive discovery guide takes you on an immersive 10-stop journey spanning 1.4 km (0.9 mi) of pure enchantment.
Get your copy here 👉 https://sowl.co/s/hvaV2

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✅ Chapter Markers
00:00 Intro
00:45 Place de l’Église
01:39 Rue Basse
03:56 Place de la Mairie
04:42 Rue du Four
06:16 Towards the Belfry
07:16 Rue de la Frescado and Temple
08:44 Back to the Belfry
10:01 Ascent to the Castle
11:28 The Castle
16:05 Back to the Village
17:20 Rue Saint-Trophime
19:34 Back to the Place de l’Église
20:35 Final words

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🔔 Subscribe!
If you like our videos, give them a like 👍 and subscribe to the French Moments channel.
@FrenchMoments

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📝 Follow along using the transcript!
My commentary during the visit is delivered in English, accented with a touch of my French accent 😉.
To ensure you can easily follow the names of the places we explore and understand the historical dates, I recommend turning on the subtitles!
Click on the TRANSCRIPT button below ⬇️

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” Lacoste FRANCE 🇫🇷 A Guided Walk 🤩 Hilltop Village in Provence [4k] : https://youtu.be/hUJsLkpGq18 ”

Bonjour, I’m Pierre from French 
Moments and in this video, I’ll take you for a walk through the streets 
of the hilltop village of Lacoste in Provence. For this exploration, we’ll start from 
the church square at the entrance to the village and climb the steep 
streets that lead up to the castle. If you enjoyed this video, 
please hit the like button! It really supports the channel and helps 
us bring more amazing content to you. Also, if you haven’t already, click on 
the subscribe button and turn on the notification bell so you never 
miss out on our latest videos. Let’s begin our tour at the church 
of Saint-Trophime, which stands at the northern entrance to the village.
I’m currently on the Chemin de Saint-Véran, coming from the car park “Parking Paysager” 
near the cemetery, 5 minutes from here. The church of Saint Trophime is 
located outside the medieval walls. The church was founded in 1123 and its oldest 
parts date back to the 12th and 13th centuries. This is the Place de l’Eglise, where you will find 
the entrance to the church and the Tourist Office. From the Place de l’église, there 
are two ways to discover the village. Most visitors go up the Rue 
Saint-Trophime on the right. Others, like us, will follow the Rue Basse 
to the Place de la Mairie, and from there, we’ll gradually climb up to the 
castle before returning down to the Place de l’église via the Rue Saint-Trophime. We will pass under the Porte Moderne,
which dates from the 16th century. This simple arch was pierced through the ramparts
and leads to the Place de la Mairie. On the right is the village’s convenience store. and on the left is SCAD FASH. As you explore the village of Lacoste,
you’ll see the word SCAD numerous times. It stands for the Savannah College of Art and Design, which has renovated and occupies 
many of the village’s landmark buildings. In the 1970s, American painter Bernard Pfriem 
fell in love with Lacoste and its region. He set up an art school, which was taken over in 2002 by SCAD,
the American arts university based in Georgia. Today, the Lacoste campus welcomes more than 80 students
every term, in 8-week sessions, to study visual arts, architecture and photography. This is the Place de l’Ancien Temple.
Here stood the Protestant Temple, which was destroyed by order of Louis XIV in 1665. Lacoste is a village exposed
to the sun in the morning and the shade in the afternoon and 
is also protected from the Mistral wind. As I’m recording this video during 
a late afternoon walk, most streets we’ll cross will be in the shade. We arrive at the Place de la Mairie at the very south of the village. On this square is the Town Hall. If you turn left, you’ll come to the 
charming terrace of the Café de France, with its incredible view of the 
Luberon and the village of Bonnieux. Let’s retrace our steps, 
keeping an eye out for traffic. We’re on a busy road that crosses the lower part 
of the village between Bonnieux and Ménerbes. We’ll now begin our ascent of the old 
village by taking the Rue du Four. Lacoste is a charming medieval 
village steeped in history. This little gem in Provence is 
famous for its castle, once home to the notorious Marquis de Sade.
Perched on a hill, Lacoste treats you to stunning views over the Luberon.
As you stroll up and down the cobbled streets, you’ll get a snapshot of traditional Luberon 
villages with well-maintained stone houses. Here, we are at the intersection 
with the Rue Saint-Trophime. It’s time to catch our breath while admiring 
the picturesque atmosphere of the place. Here’s the old bakery, the sign 
on the facade half faded with age. Let’s continue along the Rue 
Saint-Trophime as far as the Belfry. We’ll walk past 16th-century facades still 
inspired by medieval architecture and gardens created on the site of destroyed houses. Before climbing up to the castle via the belfry, let’s continue straight ahead on the Rue de 
la Frescado to view the Protestant temple. From the end of the 15th century to the 
beginning of the 16th century, the village gradually became depopulated, forcing the local 
lord to bring in Waldensian families in 1533. However, the Waldensians had rallied 
to the Protestant Reformation, and persecution was organised against 
them by the Parliament of Aix in 1545. The village was raided, the land 
confiscated and the villagers killed, whether Protestants or Catholics.
The massacre at La Coste is said to be one of the most horrific of the 
persecution of the Waldensians in the Luberon. The devastated village was gradually 
rebuilt over the course of the 17th century. And despite the terrible events of the Wars 
of Religion, a large Protestant community remained in Lacoste over the following centuries.
The current protestant church was built in 1885. The building has not been used as a 
church since 1976 and has become a multi-purpose hall for the commune. Let’s retrace our steps and go back under the fortified gate. This fortified gateway is called the Portail des Chèvres and dates 
back to the 14th and 15th centuries. It opened the medieval town to the south 
and was the upper entrance to Lacoste. In front of us is the Lacoste belfry, which 
dates back to 1550 but was restored in 1793. Let’s go under the belfry and take the 
lane that will take us to the castle. The belfry marked the entrance to the 
lords’ domain, that is the castle. This area was protected by its own walls.
The clock tower is crowned by a magnificent wrought-iron campanile, which 
we will admire from above. Now, the climb up to the castle has really begun! While we’re climbing up to the castle,  
let’s talk history. We know that the quarries next to the castle provided the materials needed 
to build the Roman cities of Apt and Cavaillon. Roman artefacts and Greek 
amphorae have been found there. The first mention of Lacoste dates back to 
1038, with the phrase “castrum de Costae”. The name is derived from costa (Latin for coast). The lords of Agoult-Simiane took possession 
of the village at the end of the 11th century. In the Middle Ages, the village grew around 
a major attraction: its castle, which proudly dominates the surrounding Luberon countryside. La Coste was in Provence, unlike the neighbouring towns of Bonnieux and Ménerbes, which were part 
of the Comtat Venaissin, that was papal lands. The town became part of the Kingdom of France in 
1481, at the same time as the County of Provence. We’re not far from the summit and we can see 
the first defensive structures of the castle. Now we’re on the castle esplanade, 
which is open all year round. In front of me is the west facade of the castle.
Let’s head closer to the castle. This statue is one of a group of 
modern statues next to the castle, interpreting the works of the Marquis de Sade. In the distance, you can see
the hilltop village of Bonnieux and, to the right, 
the Petit Luberon mountain range. The castle belonged to the Lords 
of Simiane until the 16th century. In 1716, Isabelle Simiane left it to 
her cousin Gaspard François de Sade. This man was also the grandfather of Donatien 
Alphonse François, known as the Marquis de Sade, also known in French as the “Marquis Divin”.
This sulphurous 18th-century writer spent many years in prison for his 
deviant and corrupt writings. In 1766, Sade undertook the restoration 
and embellishment of the castle, but made only brief visits to Lacoste. This statue of the Marquis de Sade was created by the Russian sculptor Alexander Bourganov. It is a reminder of the Marquis de Sade’s
visit to Lacoste. The green space is vast and, when the sun isn’t shining too hard and the wind isn’t blowing 
too hard, it’s a lovely place to have a picnic. And here’s the breathtaking 
panoramic view over the Luberon. You can see the Calavon Valley, 
the Monts de Vaucluse, Mont Ventoux and the hilltop village of Bonnieux. We’ll return to the village
by the same route we took before, but to do so, we’ll pass through the moat
that once protected access to the castle. The site was plundered 
during the French Revolution. Throughout the 19th century, the castle was passed 
hand to hand, gradually being demolished and its materials reused in some of the village’s houses. The castle was saved from ruin in 2001 by the famous fashion designer and businessman Pierre 
Cardin, who undertook a partial restoration. You can visit the interior to admire furniture 
from the couturier’s private collection, brought back from his many trips to India, China 
and Italy, as well as contemporary works of art. The cobbled streets of Lacoste 
can be slippery in the rain. When you walk downhill, be careful not 
to slip and wear comfortable shoes. As you can see, Lacoste is not a 
village for stilettos or flip-flops! Let’s go back under the belfry 
and turn left down the Rue Saint-Trophime towards the Place de l’Eglise. In the 20th century, famous artists discovered the village of Lacoste: André Breton, 
Max Ernst, Pablo Picasso and René Char. As I mentioned earlier, fashion designer Pierre 
Cardin bought the castle of Lacoste in 2001. He continued the restoration work begun by the 
previous owner, turning it into a residence. Pierre Cardin created a summer festival 
dedicated to theatre and opera. But not everyone was happy with the 
presence of the great couturier, and a certain controversy 
flared up among the villagers. Some criticised Pierre Cardin for 
having bought forty or so houses, in other words, a third of the village. Some were used as showcases for works  of art, but most remained uninhabited. Then Pierre Cardin put his mark on Lacoste, wanting to make it a “Saint-Tropez 
of culture without the showbiz”. This is the Portail de la Garde. It is a fortified gate of medieval origin, it was rebuilt at the same time as the village 
walls in the second half of the 16th century. And here we are at the very bottom of the 
old village, back on the Place de l’Eglise. As for me, I’m going to get back to my 
car at the Parking Paysager by walking back along the Chemin de Saint Véran. If you’re watching this on YouTube and you’ve been to this part of Provence, I’d love 
to hear about your experiences in Lacoste! Drop a comment below and tell 
us what you loved about it. We’re back where we started, and that’s the 
end of our discovery walk through Lacoste. Thank you for joining me on this 
exploration of Lacoste in Provence. I’ve truly enjoyed sharing this journey with you.
Stay tuned for more exciting adventures ahead! A bientôt!