Provence Provence, France

We went to Provence because of a movie. Jamey watched A Good Year years ago and it’s been his secret life ambition to own a vineyard ever since, so when we finally pointed a third summer at Europe, the first leg was the south of France. Here’s the honest read up front: Provence is basically the Tuscany of France. Beautiful, slow, cool. We’re really glad we did it. But we’re Italy people, and where Tuscany has us saying “we’re going back,” Provence has us saying “that was great.” Both things are true.

Home was a HomeExchange stay in Ventabren, a little perched village twenty minutes from the Aix TGV: Marie-Joelle’s house, a kitchen, a pool, and a terrace looking down the Arc valley with light that runs until almost nine. The exchange made the lodging close to free, which is one of our favorite travel-hacking plays, and the location put the whole region inside an easy day trip: Aix is the quick hop, the Luberon about 55 minutes, St-Rémy around 40, Cassis 45. We drove out each morning and came home to the same kitchen and the same terrace every night.

The town that won us was St-Rémy. A magical little place, Melissa loved the shopping, and it pairs with an afternoon at the Carrières des Lumières, the old quarry where they project art across the stone walls. The kids did not want to leave. The other day that was special: the Aix Saturday markets on Place Richelme. Flower market, food market, fish, vegetables, clothes. Start with a croissant at Farinoman Fou, the cult bakery a short walk away, before the stalls fill, then post up at a sidewalk table right on the square at Le Petit Bistro — espresso for us, a mid-morning mojito because we were on vacation, the whole market filling in around us. We gave each girl 20 euros to spend, and JJ kept running back wide-eyed holding her change: “This town is amazing! You give them money and they give you money back!” She had not grasped the concept of change. We may need more math. Later, a few squares over on Place de Verdun, a street musician set up in front of Café Le Verdun and JJ danced his whole set for a terrace full of strangers. We just sat and let it run.

The Luberon loop is the postcard day: the overlook at Gordes, the lavender rows at Sénanque Abbey (we went for a photo, stayed for the tour, and the girls thought the abbey was really cool), and the ochre cliffs at Roussillon. And give it a full calanque day at Cassis: hike to Calanque de Port Pin, swim, then rent the paddle boat in town if you want to pay good money for an hour of leg torture. Jamey’s dad used to complain about paddle boats. He gets it now.

43.5297° N, 5.4474° E

On the food: this is where we’re honest. We don’t love French food the way we love Tuscan food. There’s pâté on everything and Melissa struggled with some of it. But the French make the best burgers we’ve had anywhere, something about the coarse-ground beef, and the best one was at Le Teston in Gordes. Dinner doesn’t start until 7:30 here, so you’re signing up for late nights and slow mornings either way.

One thing we’d do differently: our house in Ventabren was beautiful, but it was a 15-minute drive from Aix proper, and it’s always more fun to stay somewhere you can walk to dinner. Weigh that when you book.