The Wanderer’s Guide to Provence

Welcome to one of the most beautiful places in the whole world.  The Provence region of France is everything you expect it to be and more…warm, sunny, green, full of magic and mystery and WINE!

I seriously don’t know how to describe this place, so I’ll show you in pictures…

Our first stop in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region was actually Nice, but I wrote a whole post on that for you to peruse!  On our way from the coast into the deeper heart of Provence, we stopped at Aix-en-Provence for lunch.  I was famished and was starting to have intense allergy symptoms, so I didn’t fully appreciate where we were or the history of this town and took no pictures.  Ugh, I’m so sad, but all the more reason to go back!  I just watched an episode of Bizarre Foods: Delicious Destinations featuring Marseille; they took a quick trip to Aix-en-Provence so I had a chance to see some of what I missed.  I will definitely be visiting this region again!

We were too early for the famous lavender fields blooming, but that will stay on my bucket list until next time! We stayed in a centuries-old castle in the tiny town of Châteauneuf-de-Gadagne, which is about 30 minutes outside of the medieval town of Avignon.  There’s just so much history in this region (and country in general!).  The château we stayed in was on a huge piece of property with sweeping views of the valley and mountains, and several different structures and houses.  It was so amazing.  The owner of the property was named Joël and he gave us some of the history of the area.  This home had been in his family for generations.  During World War II, the Germans actually occupied their home because of the size of the property and high elevation, which allowed them to scout if Allied troops were approaching the region.  The Germans expected the Allied troops to enter France from the south because they had just invaded Italy, and this location would allow them to see their approach because it’s located with a view of the road they would have traveled to get through France to Paris.  Little did they know, the Allied troops would be entering through Normandy!

This house also had the friendliest dog named Misty who I quickly became BFFs with and who made me miss my dogs terribly.

We were in total veg mode when we first got to the house and were just ready to enjoy some delicious wines and take in the warm weather and view!  Above are a few of my travel companions….literally living their best lives right here.Rosé all day was our philosophy here.  So cliché, cliché, cliché (cue Beyoncé voice), but we didn’t care.  I was also obsessed with the fact that there was just wild rosemary growing all over the property.  I don’t even know how long I walked around with this rosemary sprig and sniffed it.  I just felt like I was truly in Provence at this point.

There wasn’t a ton of activity in this small, sleepy town, but there was a great restaurant, Le Bistrot de la Pastiere, where we ate at least 3 times.  The food was a mix of French and Italian food, with a great outdoor patio and wood-burning oven for pizzas.  I had the most life-changing calamari and an amazing lemon meringue tart.The sunset view was incredible!

There was also a wonderful little market with the freshest produce, cheese and meat.  I had some of the best fresh, creamy goat cheese here, and I made a delicious tomato salad for a little snack for everyone (sorry for the bad picture quality, I had probably imbibed in some wine at this point).  I will find a way to cook everywhere I am!We also went wine tasting in the Châteauneuf-de-Pape region.  This AOC-protected, world-renowned wine is one of the most affordable high-quality red wines you can buy, especially considering the rigorous work that’s required to harvest the grapes. The terroir is unique because the grapevines are grown under a layer of stones, which retains heat during the day and releases it during the cooler nights, which helps ripen the grapes faster.  Did you know that you should never drink a Châteauneuf-de-Pape with a production date less than 5 years from now?

I highly recommend hiring a tour guide for a wine tour.  We had a flamboyant, well-versed French tour guide who was a wealth of knowledge-and humor.  Plus he drove us everywhere, so we can all enjoy as much as we wanted!  We were able to experience a lot of the area and visited some beautiful vineyards.  I brought home a few bottles of wine, including a Châteauneuf-de-Pape from 2001 that I’m saving for a special occasion.  I’m assuming I’ll just know when it’s right to drink it!

 

One winemaker has a prized collection of various wines from the region, which we were lucky enough to get to see.  Some of these wines are from the early- to mid-19th century!

One of the tasting rooms was built next to ancient ruins believed to be a spot where wine was made, found during excavation and building.

We also spent some time in Avignon, a city on the Rhône which dates back to the 4th or 5th century AD.  The city is built around the Palais des Papes, when the papacy was brought from Rome to Avignon in the 1300’s until the 1400’s.

Avignon has tons to offer, but we didn’t have a lot of time to spend in the city itself.  The main street has tons of sub-par, tourist trap restaurants, but a quick walk off the beaten path will find you better, more authentic restaurants.  We came across one that had fantastic food, but I can’t figure out what it was called.  Lesson learned: If you plan to blog about your travels, you should definitely carry a little notebook around to take notes so you’re not on Google Maps searching for some place in a city you barely know.

And now it’s time to say goodbye…I snapped these on the last day in this magical place. I’ll be back Provence…until next time.