Provence, France
My spirit home
I first visited the south of France in my early twenties and I vowed I would live there by the time I was fifty.
Well, life takes hold. A career was started, a love was found, a home was bought and I still live in the U.S. But, Provence has remained a beloved destination; I like to say that my spirit lives there. I confess to being a francophile. I love French poetry, literature, style, music, and, of course, food. While Paris is spectacular, I feel most at home in the south.
I try to travel to Provence every other year (pandemics and other issues allowing). The in-betweens, I travel to see, taste, and learn about other parts of this amazing world.
When I visit Provence, my favorite place to camp is Saint Remy de Provence. I typically fly into Marseilles, rent a car, and then make the slightly over 1 hour drive to that most charming of little towns. I have a favorite VRBO that is walking distance to town. St Remy is a great place from which to take day trips all around Provence visiting the towns in the Luberon, especially Bonnieux, Gordes, Roussillon, and Cavaillon. I keep a list of the market days in each village and visit on those days. I will never tire of seeing the local fare and crafts in each market. I come home laden with new finds and each is a treasure.
If, oh I should just say when, you visit Provence, be sure to look up the market days and plan your travel around them. You will feast your eyes and your palate sampling local cheese, produce, and bread. And, save room for the famous roast chicken - a dozen birds spin on a rotisserie dripping their juices onto a pile of potatoes. It is succulent.
We like to plan our arrival to coincide with the St Remy market, which takes place on Wednesdays. This is reputed to be the best market in Provence, I tend to agree. We will stock up our refrigerator and pantry and have dinners at home after a day of touring the stunning countryside and precious villages. A vineyard or two are invariably added to our agenda.
Visiting Provence
If your stay is long enough, choose a VRBO location. This really does allow you to take advantage of the goods at the markets. You can plan breakfast, lunch or dinner around your exploring.
Choose a town or village that gives you easy access to the places you most want to see. If the Luberon is your destination, you might want to stay in Bonnieux; it’s quite central. If you want to visit the most southern areas of Nice, Cannes, Marseilles, you might want to stay in Aix en Provence and take day trips from there.
To really see the best of Provence, a car is required. You could hire a driver each day if budget allows. Otherwise, rent a car that you are comfortable driving. I always plan to head out early for exploring so that I am off the roads by nightfall. It is very very dark and many of the roads are quite narrow.
The Food
You will likely come home and crave the French breads for weeks. It is nearly impossible (although there are more options lately) to find true French bread in the U.S. If you decide that you must learn to make your own (which I heartily encourage), find a good book and a good YouTube channel. Seeing French breads made is really important to getting the technique down.
If you live in northern Virginia, you are in luck. There is an amazing master of bread making and she happens to be a fantastic teacher. Visit Knead and Know for Melinda’s schedule of classes.
As a special treat, and a challenge, I have attached Julia Child’s croissant recipe. Croissants are truly a labor of love; they take a couple of days to make. But, when that first beautifully layered flaky goddess comes out of the oven, you will be so proud. This recipe makes a dozen, so eat one and freeze the rest before baking them.
