Provence
Why go?
You don’t need us to tell you, but Provence has a timeless
wonder, a fragrant beauty which not even the summer hordes can
dilute. The Romans came 2,000 years ago and have left a rich
legacy: amphitheatres, aqueducts, temples, old theatres. There are
impeccably preserved medieval towns, 500-year-old papal palaces,
Côtes-du-Rhône vineyards and stunning gorges. You can
wander the Alpilles hills in Van Gogh’s footsteps or explore
Arles, where Picasso, Hemmingway and Cocteau hung out in the '50s
and '60s. You can browse weekly markets, wash up in tiny hamlets
for a bistro lunch, drive through fields of lavender, or saddle up
and ride along the beaches of the Camargue. It's glorious country
where an uncomplicated past survives, shining in the honeyed stones
of the mas farmhouses and in the ebullient spirit of the
locals. They cook with style, they chat at the markets, they remain
delightfully unfazed by all the fuss the tourists make. But the
fuss is justified, and a trip down to the vineyards, olive groves
and lavender fields of the Midi never disappoints.
However, high season is impossibly busy. Prices can be higher than
Paris. You can circle a Provencal village for half-an-hour
searching for a parking place. Tourism is the primary economy now.