Provence from Fayence outwards

Four Seasons Terre Blanche reviewed by Wall Street Journal

The Four Seasons Terre-Blanche near Fayence gets a gushing review in the WSJ: "beautifully landscaped with lavender, white and pink oleander, and other flora that make the air intoxicatingly fragrant."

The writer was troubled by the bugs, though: "Many creepy crawlers found their way into our suite (as one manager told me, “It was a forest; they still think it is their home”). To discourage them, I put plastic shower caps over the cookie-and-sweets plates left daily in the suite."

Watch out for the Caesar's Salad: "...with four nuggets of chicken and roughly five romaine leaves for about $40. "

Provence by Lonely Planet

Engaging images and commentary about Provence from Lonely Planet - maker of the guides. Holly the Australienne creates a pleaseant, warm feeling about the place, featuring roman ruins, French markets with heaps of garlic, lunches in vineyards, Plane-tree lined avenues and lots of sunshine - enjoy!

Romance of Provence

It's amazing the lure that Provence has for non-residents or distant watchers. I am not undermining its charm and splendours, but some of the notions folk concoct about life in Provence are amazing.

In Evansville, USA, they imagine this: "Wouldn't it be nice to live somewhere romantic such as Provence or Tuscany, where all you have to do is step out your back door to find tasty wild greens and herbs growing on the hillsides?"

In Canada, it's this: "The roots of the Roman Empire run deep throughout southern France, no more so than in rural Provence. With its sunny scrublands, Riviera, vineyards, olive trees and Mediterranean cuisine, parts of Provence could pass for northern Italy. But Francophiles will find Provence also offers the best of la belle France -- Sunday markets, sleepy towns where locals play petanque, fields of lavender and salade Nicoise."

Maybe I shall compile a guide book of journalistic expressiveness about Provence.

Cycling in Provence

I am constantly reminding folk what a great place Provence is for cycling holidays - not that I would do it myself. Guests to our house at Mons do the 4km to the local village (with 300m of elevation) with gusto, and David our neighbour punishes his body with a 60-80km road trip every Saturday, dreaming of Lance Armstrong. 

Here's Nicholas Roe of the Daily Mail trying to enjoy 3 days on the saddle.  "If you're going to try a biking holiday, Provence is a wonderful place to start. Sure, it's hilly  -  my own 75-mile, three-day circuit had many climbs on the first two days, although it was almost entirely downhill on day three. But distracting you from the pain of effort is an almost constant parade of scenery...And when you get tired? Well, there are beautiful villages to welcome you with cries of 'Bonjour Monsieur!' and coffee, wine and cakes. "

What to do near Fayence

The folk at "Lost in France" were good to enough to publish an article that I penned - full of good tips about what to do near Fayence on your holidays.

Four Seasons Provence

Cracking review of the Four Seasons Terre Blanche upmarket resort. We advise friends to nip down for a burger or if you can run to it a 100 euro per head slap up meal.

The Four Seasons now boasts a spa, which our friend Arja who understands and appreciates fine things, has joined and she loves it. Arja has become an Ambassador and offered us a day pass so we could try its delights, but sadly we had to fly back to the grey and cold.

Drome

Drome is nNot quite Provence, but you have to go through it if you're driving down. I enjoyed this piece in Telegraph about Drome, covering Le Palais des Bonbons et du Nougat in Montelimar, La Ferme aux Crocodiles and the gorgeous town of Grignan.

"Here is a land at that point where Provence and the Alps, the Dauphiné and the Rhône valley all segue into one another, with Provence in the ascendant...this is the south we've always longed for: of hills, mountains and lost valleys, of olives and vines, of lavender, cicadas and warm, scented breezes in the late afternoon."

Provence Spa

The Four Seasons (Terre Blanche) has finally opened its spa. We are sooooo excited and have watch the development with interest over the past year or so. You can expect steep prices, but you can expect the Rolls-Royce treatment (I mean Louis Vuitton).

Julia Brookes from the Times went and she writes: "My 110-minute Espa Provencal Escape started with a tingling body scrub using Camargue coarse salt, olive oil and lavender buds which I showered off before being cocooned in a white heather honey, aloe vera and red clay concoction and then wrapped up snugly to relax while my hands were massaged. After another shower came a massage using olive oil infused with lavender and rosemary which was hard enough to feel that it was making an impact but still enabled me to drift off."

Mmmmm.

Best Villas in Provence

The secret is out, courtesy of the Belfast Telegraph and I'm gutted. "Premiere maison a gauche" is not even on the list of best French rental villas. Provence provides three out of five. The villas in Aix-en-Provence and St. Tropez are 10 times what we charge, though.

Maybe we should be investing!

Provence villa rental

Provencal Mas for rent in Mons

For those of you looking for the perfect Provencal holiday, I''m sorry to say that we are down to our last two weeks of availability - 9th to 23rd June.

Having said that, middle of June is the ideal time. Still quiet, uncontaminated by the Euromasses and great weather.

Here's a recent picture from the Easter break.