Scattered on the hilltops and in the valleys along the Rhone and Soanne  are stories of aesthetic and ascetic experience. Mountaintop experiences of ordinary living with extra-ordinary devotion.

The Semang Monastery, restored and captured in the dawn light.  In the foreground the rows of Lavender.  Between the rows evidence of a weeded meditation.  The morning mist settles on the gossamer threads of webs holding colour.  In the corridors of the Monastery and chapel restoration reveals history and dedication.  The austere interiors a reflection of a very simple life.

A few kilometers from the Monastary, Gordes is perched on a hilltop.  The buildings boldly displaying the works of a favorite resident.  The design-line driven art of Victor Vasarely presented in contrast to the winding ways of the roads.  On descent two figures exhibit the aesthetic values of the community.

The sculpted forms celebrating life on the mountaintop.  The lyrics of Paul Stookey come to mind as from the mountaintops of Monasteries or Villages there is a renewed perspective on how life is lived “in the valley below.”