We visited Provence as part of a week-long trip exploring the South of France. Even though we only spent two full days in the region, I can confirm it is heavenly and it's since been added to my list of destinations I definitely want to go back to.
From restaurants in the middle of nowhere to TikTok-famous tourist spots, here's everything we got up to during our time in Provence.
Where to stay
We stayed in a magnificent chateau in a little town called Vins-Sur-Caramy. And yes, it was as dreamy as it sounds. Our room had wonderful views of the fields of Provence and had all the cosy, oldy-worldy vibes you’d expect from a chateau. The four-poster bed was very comfortable and there was plenty of space in the room to relax. We also had access to the library, a living room, the gorgeous gardens and the swimming pool that overlooks fields.
The chateau is a B&B so every morning we were served fresh croissants and bread from the local bakery with honey, jam with tea. It was a real added treat and set us up for our days of exploring. Our host, Jean-Luc, was lovely and really attentive. When we mentioned we’d quite like to taste some local wine, he offered us to do this at the chateau and opened a bottle of local, organically produced rose. It was delicious!
We had a wonderful stay in the chateau and would recommend it to anyone. I should mention that you'll definitely need a car if you want to explore the local area, though.
Things to do
📍Gorges du Verdon
On our first full day in Provence, we made our way to Gorges du Verdon, a gorgeous natural lake I’d seen on TikTok. It took us about an hour and a half to get there from Vins-Sur-Caramy. But we didn’t mind. It was great to see more of the countryside on the journey.
Having researched beforehand, we decided to head to Les Salles-sur-Verdon and check out what we fancied hiring for the day. There’s a car park in the village and a path down to the lake. On the shore, there's a lovely cafe with tables and chairs facing the water. This is also where you can hire electric boats, paddle boards and pedalos.
We hired our boat for three hours, which was enough time to head up to the gorge and back. It takes about 50 minutes to get to the gorge from Les Salles-sur-Verdon, and you can spend about half an hour making your way between the cliffs. The scenery is very beautiful but if you go in peak summer, you’ll probably find that it’s very busy up by the gorge. Hiring your boat or paddleboard from a little further away as we did will allow you to have a bit of peace on the lake.
We took a French stick, prosciutto and cheese and had a picnic in the middle of the water – it was bliss.
After we got back, we decided to go for a swim in the lake. We hadn’t been able to do this from the boat as there was no ladder. Although a little cold, the water was very refreshing and it was the perfect way to cool off before the car journey back to the chateau.
📍Valensole Lavender fields
After our second alfresco breakfast in the chateau courtyard, we headed out in search of the Lavender fields. The ones nearest to us were in the Valensole region, which was about an hour-and-a-half drive from where we were staying. Unsure where exactly we were heading specifically, we found the coordinates for what seemed to be a popular field that people were visiting and popped them into Google Maps.
I wasn't really sure what to expect before we got there. Would the fields be gated? Would you have to pay to get in? But it soon became clear that as you enter the region of Valensole, you just stumble across the deep-purple fields on the side of the road. Some of the fields have little huts on the side, selling local produce such as lavender oil and lavender honey, but for the most part, you can just pull over, hop out of your car, take some photos and enjoy the scenery. You then move on and repeat when you see another. We were driving from the south, and we saw a couple on the approach to the town of Valensole and then lots of beautiful ones when we carried on for about 20 minutes after leaving the town.
I found this blog from Le Long Weekend really helpful for finding the best fields and routes to drive.
We spent the majority of the morning exploring the region before heading back towards Vins-sur-Caramy and going for lunch in the lakeside cafe La Guinguette du Lac in the neighbouring town of Carces. The salads we ordered were very nice, but we felt it was a little overpriced for what it was.
We then went back to the chateau and lazed by the pool for the rest of the afternoon, working up an appetite for our evening meal.
Where to eat
📍 La Fontaine, Le Val
On our first evening, we went to one of Jean-Luc's recommendations for dinner, which was in the nearby town of Le Val. The restaurant was called La Fontaine, and it had a lovely courtyard seating area that soon filled up with local couples and families. I had a fish dish and Jake had duck. We then shared a creme brulee topped with lavender honey. It was delicious, and the perfect start to a week of eating delicious French cuisine.
📍 Pizza La Cinco y Média, near Vins-Sur-Caramy
In the evening, we struggled to find somewhere to eat, discovering that lots of the restaurants in rural Provence are usually shut at the beginning of the week. Though where we eventually found was perfect.
We stumbled across a roadside campervan selling fresh, wood-fired pizzas. The van was parked in a field that had tables dotted around, facing the pinky-hued sunset sky. We just got one pizza to share: a ham and mushroom one. Although we started our evening searching for a proper restaurant, where we ended up couldn't have been nicer. Sitting outside with fresh pizza, watching the sun go down is actually one of my favourite memories from the trip.
📍 Les Chineurs, Carces
For our last evening, we drove back to Carces, to a restaurant called Les Chineurs. Again, despite it being a Tuesday evening, the restaurant was packed with locals coming together to enjoy each other's company and yummy food in the warm evening sun. We sat next to a group of five elderly people. They were drinking wine and cocktails. They shared a pizza for as a starter and each had a huge bowl of mussels as their main followed by dessert. They were laughing, and even though there was a language barrier, you could tell they were being hilariously cheeky. They reminded me of the group in Richard Osmond's Thursday Murder Club books. Jake and I both agreed we want to be like them when we're old. And the following week, when we were back home cooking after a mundane day at work, I imagined that they were back at the restaurant giggling and keeping each other young. We wished we were back there too.
Anyway, back to the food: Jake had gnocchi as a starter, and we both had mussels for our main. Jake had a white wine sauce and I went for a tomato-based sauce. We tucked in, tackling our way through the gigantic pile in front of us and using leftover French stick to mop up whatever of the sauce remained. Delicious. We then shared a custard dessert called Il Flotant afterwards, a slight sadness hanging in the air as our Provence trip came to an end.
We headed back to the chateau, packed up our stuff and got ready to head off on the second leg of our trip the following morning. It was clear that our time in Provence hadn't been long enough and we left already excited to return.
We didn't know it yet, but we would have just as much fun at our next stop in Nice! A blog post on this part will follow soon...
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