Provence from Fayence outwards

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.

Cycling in Provence

"The warm embrace of the sun and the soft kiss of the wind, the tastes of freshly picked cherries and wines from a dozen rare appellations are part of Provence I will always remember. Not to mention the warmth of the friendly welcomes wherever we went, the savory fragrance wafting from a field of fully blooming lavender, and the song of the cicadas - these are my memories from a week of touring the Vaucluse region of Provence, France, by bike."

And thus commences a readable arcticle about some folk from Bend Oregon who cycled in Provence. Makes you want to go, hey?

St Tropez

I came across this rather sad excerpt about St Tropez in the Telegraph:

"These days, in the summer months, a colossal din fills the air, day and night. There are the comings and goings of noisy vehicles and throbbing yachts; the dishevelled throng filling the rowdy nightclubs, the chains of restaurants and the gulag-style campsites. The cicadas have fallen silent. The little fishing smacks have gone. Provencal market gardens have given way to shopping malls and parking meters stand where fig trees once grew. Petrol fumes have chased away those garrigue aromas of thyme and marjoram. The fishing nets that used to dry at La Ponche have vanished forever."

In the spirit of research, I tried to Google the book it came from "In the spirit of St. Tropez" and tracked it down. It's out of stock, but I remain piqued and want one. The forward is by Ms. Bardot and the images look interesting.

Sentier Martel: Gorges du Verdon

The Sentier Martel that schleps along the bottom of the Gorges du Verdon is one of the supreme hikes in Europe, by a country mile. It takes about 6 hours and boasts everything: ascent/descent, mountain streams, vertical ladders and pitch-black tunnels. We saw eagles too.

Here's a map. A man called Rikly has taken photos of the Sentier Martel at every step of the way.

My top tip: park at Point Sublime, call a taxi from La Palud and get dropped off at the easterly start (Châlet de la Maline). Hike back. Enjoy a well-deserved beer at the bar. Drive home knackered, but enriched.

Planning your Fayence holiday

I finally cracked and wrote a summary of our "what to do in Provence" recommendations for visitors to our house near Fayence.