Villages... quaint... perched... crumbling... picturesque.... are what make Provence, Provence. The two areas that I am most familiar with in Provence are the Alpilles.... where I live... and the Luberon which is about 45 minutes away. The Luberon and the Alpilles are very different and the title to be the 'best' is fiercely fought. A little like the Sydney/Melbourne thing if you are Australian or the Boston/New York rivalry for Americans. I keep out of it... I am just happy to be there...
5 villages not to miss on a day out in the Luberon... Maubec, because it's small and authentic. Bonnieux and Ménerbes because visually they are superb and while they are popular they are still drop deadly breathtaking... Gordes is one of the prettiest and even though in the summer it is overrun with visitors... the view is nothing short of spectacular... Lourmarin... a little further away but worth the drive... the architecture, the restaurants and the boutiques are gorgeous...
Been in all of them...and a handfull more.
ReplyDeleteAs much as I love my own country I cannot help loving luberon.Have a lovely day, Rosanna
Oui très beaux villages et surtout Saignon, un petit village perché au-dessus d'Apt. Il est un village historique sans prétention. J'adore le marché Lourmarin.
ReplyDeleteI was in this region in April with my husband and 2 young children. We visited several towns and was taken aback how gorgeous and picturesque they all were. It is a sight to behold! Gordes was like looking at a painting. I would also recommend Roussillon. It has the colors of Sedona, Az. I am new to your blog and are grateful to have found it. It is wonderful to know there are others who adore France as much as I do!
ReplyDeleteGorgeous....all of them. It must be heavenly to live where you do Vicki. XXXX
ReplyDeleteBeen to two and must visit the others on my next adventure. Love love love Lourmarin! Especially the shop La Boutique de Antiquaire where I find the most beautiful hand dyed lavender grey linen sheets by Nathelie:)
ReplyDeleteXO
I love those massive blue doors!
ReplyDeleteI experienced the magic of southern French villages last September. You're right. It's all true.
A peace comes over me when I look at the cities that you post (live in and around) so enchanting...I must come one day. I have a client from your city and he said I must visit and stay with his family...your blog certainly beckons me!
ReplyDeleteYes, yes, yes. They were all just preciously french! If you ever stumble upon Saignon just above the hillside from Apt, it is a tiny quiet spot with a wonderful little inn Le Presbytere. Bonnieux of the ones you highlighted definitely captured my admiration.
ReplyDeleteLove them all—you are on lucky girl!
ReplyDeleteSo beautiful!! Yes I loved the charming Peter Mayle books - the first was still the best!! There's a reason so many fall in love with this area!!
ReplyDeleteMais tu te promènes en Provence,et les olives....
ReplyDeleteAmicalement,
Manon
Ah, the doors.
ReplyDeleteI love doors, and these are wonderful!
I have been fortunate to have been in a few of these and some others I didn't know the name. I was with my husband and we were taken around by his local business associates. This was a very nice way to experience the culture, especially since we speak little/bad french. I did try though :) I just love France, would come back tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteYour post is timely. We're planning a family bike trip through Provence this coming summer. Thanks for the inspiration!
ReplyDeleteI am hoping to visit these villages someday soon and can't wait till you start posting photos of all the holiday festivities--I never tire of provence at Christmas!
ReplyDeletexo Mary Jo
We have been following Peter Mayle through many of his adventures. In his books and in France as well. Next summer will bring us back, I can't wait to put an Itinerary together!
ReplyDeleteYou are most fortunate to be surrounded by all that history and timeless beauty! But you know that...
xoxo
Australia is the country of my birth but France is the country of my heart. I have never been(well almost twice- once I was standing at the ferry in Dover but never got on board). I have French blood in me perhaps thats why my heart skips a beat and I am sometimes brought to tears when I see images of villages in France. We're hoping to go next year.. until then I can only dream......... xxCorrina.
ReplyDeletei have visited all those you mentioned and agree 100%
ReplyDeleteSo charming! Thank you for the wonderful tips, Vicki. I have a gorgeous illustrated copy of A Year in Provence ~ one of my most treasured books.
ReplyDeleteStunning! Looking at the pictures I can tell that these are the moments you just stand there drinking in all the beauty; and then you glance back for just one more look.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely beautiful.
Thank you so much for the recommendations! Steve and I are planning a trip to Provence in the beginning of July.
ReplyDeleteI will save this in my travel folder to use as our plans take shape.
xo
Brooke
Vicki I loved reading a Year in Provence! Visiting these villages would be a walk into the past!
ReplyDeletexoxo
Karena
Art by Karena
I love the pictures. One of my favorite books, and A Good Year is one of my favorite movies. The pictures are gorgeous. Share some more, please! Eye candy :)
ReplyDeleteHi Vicki!
ReplyDeleteWhat a blessing to live in such a beautiful place. I enjoy following your blog. So thankful you decided to share with us through a blog. I blogged about how I learned about you, your French Essence book and blog today. Feel free to visit and read. http://fromruthiescorner.blogspot.com/
Oh, how I would love to visit such lovely places! I read "A Year in Provence" a few months ago, while flying from Sydney to L.A. The book inspired me beyond description, --making me want to keep flying, to travel all the way to France!
ReplyDeleteThose are too beautiful for words. Really. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteOn our first visit to Provence this time last year we visited several of these -all beautiful. The rest will have to wait till next time. Truly gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the education. I so want to visit.
ReplyDeleteCindy
I hope to visit them all in the spring.
ReplyDeleteLovely selection of villages Vicki, especially if you like to visit the markets, which we do. Personally Saint- Remy & Eygalieres have a warm spot in my heart
ReplyDeleteSam
Well, you wouldn't have any reason to know this, Vicki, but one of the Luberon's least predictable experiences (to phrase the matter diplomatically) can be had in Lacoste. For some reason, we'd never actually visited the village until last summer. Once there, we'd been trawling around in our usual way for only about an hour when I said something to Herve in English...and suddenly two remarkably large, 20-something girls swooped down on us, loudly esxclaiming "Oh Mah GAWD! Y'awl from the South!?!?!? Oh, Mah GAWD!!!...." (etcetera, ad infinitum). I allowed as how I was, indeed, very much from the South, and I even made the mistake of letting them know that I'd gone to The University of the South when I was their age. That, of course, led to an even more pressingly hysterical grilling over who we HAD to know in common. Those dang girls followed us all around the ruins of the Marquis de Sade's castle, chatting away at us the entire time. Herve finally turned to me and directly asked "Well, do you think it might be time for us to get some lunch?".....which was immediately followed by their proclaiming "Oh mah Gawd! We know the BEST PLACE!!!".
ReplyDeleteAnd, yes, they did end up sitting right down with us at the cafe, talking NON-STOP (grilling me on how you "make it in art" and Herve about every "weird" French habit/custom they'd encountered), until we finally finished eating and simply fled. I recall Herve's saying, as we drove back down into the valley "You know, for a moment there, I thought they were going to clamber into the trunk of the car."
Our Young Interrogators were from Savannah, Georgia....students from the Savannah College of Art & Design (which owns a couple of buildings and runs a Summer program in Lacoste). Rather obviously, they'd grown less than entirely fascinated by the charms of LaCoste (it IS, after all, very small) and the demands of their curriculum.
Oddly enough, we ate dinner that night in Menerbes (where we were staying) and found ourselves sitting next to a Frenchwoman who, after I complimented her very fine dog, turned out to have spent several years teaching at The University of Virginia.....so, we spent half an hour swapping stories of mutual acquaintances in Charlottesville.
All in all, it was a very amusing day...although not so very amusing that I'd fly 3000 miles again to repeat the experience.
P.S. I'll get those photographs of Apache to you, Vicki....but I've just realized that, courtesy of my digital "No Paying For Film!" camera, I seem to have about 50,000 unlabelled photographs on my computer. Presumably, Apache's pcitures are among them....somewhere.
Bemusedly,
David Terry
www.davidterryart.com
Thank you for this post! We are planning our first visit to Provence next May and I've been trying to find the prettiest villages in this area. I already had Gordes and Bonnieux on my list so Im glad to see I'm on the right track - now I've got three more to add! If you have any further suggestions I'd love to hear them if you have time.
ReplyDeleteMerci,
Michelle
agardennearthesea@gmail.com
Thank you for your advice--we will be traveling to the south of france in a few weeks and hope to do some day trips. We are staying in Noves with lots of time to discover new and wonderful places during the holidays.
ReplyDeleteSo beautiful! I love your blog.
ReplyDeleteI am so glad that I've found your blog. From afar I long for the South of France having visited in 2005 with my husband. I have your book on my bedside table and am inspired by your story & images. I hope to take my little boys there soon and so I will read with interest your coming posts.
ReplyDeleteHi Vicki I am having an all afternoon visit here and rekindling my trip in 2006. Of course, Mr Mayle was the very reason that I included Provence in my trip. Gordes was breathtaking and I am an avid fan of the movie " A good year" for obvious reasons! I feel like writing a post about it now but my photos are not all that good ... How I would love to return....and spend longer than the previous trip.
ReplyDeleteVeronica