So I've heard of Provence, but where exactly will we be?

the red star indicates the area of Provence where we focus
(click the photo to enlarge)

 With just a little over 8 months before we leave for France, we wanted to give you a better idea of just where Provence is, and where we're going to be... So Provence is one of the largest, and by most people's opinions, the most beautiful and geographically diverse regions in all of France...

France, in Western Europe,  is roughly the geographical size of Texas with a population of around 66 million people and encompasses medieval cities, alpine villages and Mediterranean beaches. Paris, its capital, is famed for its fashion houses, classical art museums including the Louvre and famous monuments like the Eiffel Tower. The country is also renowned for its wines and sophisticated cuisine. Lascaux’s ancient cave drawings, Lyon’s Roman Theater and the vast Palace of Versailles all attest to its rich history.

And while all of France is beautiful, they call Provence The Crown Jewel of France!  This famous region in The South of France bordering Italy and the Mediterranean Sea, is known for its diverse landscapes; from the incredible mountains of the Alps... to the wilderness reserves of The Camargue Delta... to it's amazing rolling vineyards, olive groves, fruit orchards, pine forests and it's oh so famous lavender fields. To the south is the Côte d'Azur (or French Riviera), where the elegant city of Nice and glamorous resort towns such as Saint-Tropez, Cannes and Monaco line the coast. (all very, very expensive - makes Paris look cheap!)

We're in The Bullseye!

Provence in The South of France is one of the largest regions in the country encompassing approximately 12,000 square miles and has a population of around 5 million people, the bulk of which live in it's larger cities like, Marseille, Aix-in-Provence, Avignon, Arles, Orange, Toulon, and Nice...   Much of Provence is rustic & rural with a similar look and feel to what many of our guests have experienced on our Tuscany Expeditions;  an exceptionally unique landscape filled with incredibly quaint & charming, pastel colored hilltowns perched atop rugged granite outcroppings... surrounded by softly rolling hills... dotted with magnificent, rustically elegant old stone built Villas... Beautiful undulating hillsides covered with the distinct diagonal lines of gorgeous grape vineyards & the wonderful silvery hues of opulent olive orchards... All connected by wildly winding roadways lined with Provence's festive Sunflowers, Plane trees and of course, those iconic fields of luscious Lavender!

Our Villa, Château du Soleil, sits on a hilltop on it's large Estate overlooking the quaint & charming hill town of Venasque...  It sit's in the middle of vineyards, olive groves, and cherry orchards surrounded by Provence's most famous villages, including Gordes, St. Remy, Le Baux de Provence, Roussillon, Arles, and L'Isle-Sur-la-Sorgue...  All of this in the shadow of majestic Mont Ventoux in the Alps, that we'll navigate for our Le Provençal Classique Road Rally! Yes, that's right... The Villa sets in the foothills of The Alps! 

the red star here indicates the location Château du Soleil and you'll notice it's proximity to 
Marseille (where the airport is) about an hour and 15 minutes south and Avignon 
(where the Rail Station is) about 40 minutes west of The Villa. (click on the map to enlarge)

This area where Château du Soleil is located is what is called the Vaucluse Region of Provence between the Lubéron Massif and Mont Ventoux. The Vaucluse and the Lubéron was made famous and gained international recognition by Journalist Peter Mayle when he released his most famous bestselling book "A Year In Provence" in 1989 about he & his wife's move from London to Ménerbes to restore a Provenćal Villa.  

We highly recommend reading this book if you want to gain a better understanding of the Provençal French Country culture. (there is a BBC miniseries that came out a few years back that you might find streaming, but it really doesn't do the book justice).  (click here for the book) If you're not a big reader, you can get an unabridged audio version of the book online from services like Amazon's Audible, and it's actually pretty good! (careful, it's hard to find the unabridged audio version).  Reading or listening to this book will give you a feel for the unique culture that made Provence so famous, and undoubtedly enhance your vacation experience in Provence!

This area is in what locals have often called The Golden Triangle of The Luberon/Vaucluse, and our Villa sets right in the very center... It is indeed, The Bullseye!  This is truly the area to be, if you want to really see and experience the magical French Country culture of Provence. And we've chosen Château du Soleil after several research trips to Provence and an exhaustive month long search touring wonderful Villas all over the region.   

So we'll educate you more about the region in future posts, but suffice it to say, you'll be in one of the most iconic and aspirational vacation destinations in all the world! This is indeed where the rich and famous come to play!  Get the book / audible book, you won't regret it!

Loren Allred is just spectacular in her rendition of this clastsic... 

We're not necessarily implying that Loren is singing about Provence,

but rumors have it she had just returned from a vacation in 

The South of France when she recorded this!