Three bells in Bonnieux

Bonnieux is a village perched on a hill in the Luberon. At the very top of Bonnieux, is the old church, which the Knights Templar began building in the 12th century. Its cloche, or bell, is only rung on special occasions, and a person has to go up in the tower to ring it. 

Seven hundred years later, older parishioners had too much difficulty ascending 429 meters to the old church, and another church was built lower in the village. This 1870 church is still called the new church. Its automated bell rings once on the half hour. 

The best part of this Bonnieux bell business is double ding-dongs of the bell on a building I don’t know the name of. It rings on the hour. And then a few minutes later it chimes the time again for us slow-witted time-tellers who were caught off-guard by the first bells and forgot to count the rings. Helpful, don’t you think?