You may not be able to spend "A Year in Provence" but after you spend a week there, you'll wish you could!
A Year in Provence is the title of the best selling book written by Peter Mayle... It was Mayle's 7th book about Provence; A Good Year; that was the inspiration for Ridley Scott's Film A Good Year highlighted below
Provence... so incredibly magical it seems like a dream... It's as much an emotion, as it is a place... the purity of the air filled with the pungent sweet scent of lavender... the tangy aroma of freshly pressed olive oil and the classic sound of cicadas softly singing in a light summer breeze...
Narrow winding country roads lined by majestic plane trees leading into rugged granite mountains, topped by pastel tinted villages... In your mind's eye you can picture the brightly colored cafe umbrellas lining the cobblestone streets of quaint & charming medieval villages...
Well have you in this spot on the Tour!
This is one of those quaint & charming villages; the village of Gordes... it's an iconic provençal hilltown, very near to
Château du Soleil, and we will of course take you here! It's a spectacular village... all stone built and standing majestically over grape vineyards, olive groves and lavender fields! And while so many times the views of destinations can seem enhanced, this view, which is on one of the roads leading into the village is one you can easily get to...
If you've ever seen the movie A Good Year with Russel Crowe & Marion Cotillard, this is the village where it takes place! If you haven't seen it, we highly recommend watching it before you travel as it's a wonderful movie to give you a feel of the culture & emotion of Provence...
The Famous Abbey de Sénanque is just down the road...
As you wind down the steep mountain road out of Gordes on the road to the Villa, you'll come across Abbey de Sénanque... Originally built in the year 1148... You've probably seen pictures of the Abbey... It's famous and it's photos tend to show up anywhere Provence is mentioned! Nearly 1000 years old, this is still a working Abbey where Monks live in silence and grow lavender and tend bee hives for honey... We'll stop here to enjoy the Lavender Fields... It's very spiritual! And their gift shop / book store / perfumery is outstanding! And best part is that's it's only about 8 miles from the Villa.
Below is a scene from one of our very favorite movies that we mentioned earlier; "A Good Year" with Russel Crowe & the French actress Marion Cotillard...
The Plot:Young Max Skinner, whose parents died in an accident, spends his childhood summer holidays learning to appreciate the finer things at his Uncle Henry's vineyard estate in Provence in southeastern France. Twenty-five years later, Max is a successful but arrogant workaholic trader in London with a cheeky-chappy persona. Following his uncle's death, Max is the sole beneficiary of the French property. He travels to Provence to prepare a quick sale. Shortly after arriving, by driving while fumbling with a cell phone, he unknowingly causes a local café owner, Fanny Chenal, to crash her bicycle.... We'll not tell you more as to not spoil the movie for you
The movie was set & filmed right in the area where our Villa is and many of the scenes take place right in the center of Gordes, pictured above... We often eaten lunch in the exact same terrace as in the restaurant scene in this clip... it's one of the most famous medieval stone built villages of Provence and it's just down the road from our Villa Château du Soleil... You'll love Gordes! We highly recommend you see this movie before the Tour... It will give you a much better feel for Provence! I'm sure you'll find it on one of your streaming outlets like Apple TV, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, etc.
