Provence (France) > Reviews > Birthday in Provence

Author's product rating:   

Value for Money	Good
Sightseeing	Excellent
Shopping	Average
Nightlife	Average
Ease of getting around	Excellent

Advantages:	Friendly people, gorgeous scenery, lovely red wine  :  - D
Disadvantages:	Too hot at times

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

This summer (August) my partner and I went to Provence for 6 days to celebrate my birthday and loved it.

The plan was to see the lavender fields and the sunflowers but unfortunately we were a little late as the majority of lavender was harvested in July but we did manage to find a few fields at a place called Sault and it was beautiful to see, it looks like lakes of rippling purple water and smells gorgeous. Even more impressive though was an enormous field of 6ft high golden yellow sunflowers and of course being a total child I had to run and stand in between them all and have a 'photo moment' with my head surrounded by sunflowers.......will possibly regret this when I see said photos!

If you're a wine lover (like we are) then I recommend you go to Chateauneuf-duPape to indulge in some wine-tasting, great fun and possibly quite fatal for the credit card. The Chante Cigale cellar is our favourite and the lovely lady is very happy for you to try as much as you like.....and of course it'd be rude not to!

We stayed for 4 nights at the gorgeous 'Hotel l'Hermitage' just outside a little town called Pernes-les-Fontaines (near Carpentras). The staff are very friendly and helpful with ad-hoc French lessons thrown in (probably to spare themselves of our useless attempts to speak the language!) and they'll happily book restaurants for you and advise on where to visit and when. The gardens are very peaceful and ideal for taking afternoon tea and having a nap in the sun or a swim in the outdoor pool. If you're after a relaxing break with easy access to great surrounding towns and villages then this is the place for you. The only downside is that it doesn't have it's own restaurant but we found some great places to eat (and a couple not so great!).

The best place we ate (and luckily was my birthday dinner) was Restaurant L'Esprit Jardin attached to Hotel des Pins in Bedoin near Mont Ventoux. Absolutely superb! The food was divine, the service excellent and the setting just perfect. I just wish we'd tried the hotel out for our last night as it looked very welcoming but maybe next time!

www.hotel-lhermitage.com

www.hoteldespins.net

I hope you find this useful and if you venture to Provence have a fantastic time!