Provence

Provençal France is nothing short of magical. By some miracle, there still remain small, medieval villages built entirely from stone, perched on top of hills with sweeping views of vineyards and lavender fields, that have not succumbed to the throngs of tourism.

Accessibility is difficult. The region is accessed by winding, narrow country lanes. Between fields of lavender, forests of oak and pine, cherry orchards and meadows of wildflowers, small villages lay forgotten in time.

We travelled from Amsterdam, via Paris, to arrive at Aix-en-Provence train station on a hot summer evening. Train travel is the far more pleasing mode of transport in Europe. We spent the week staying at an ancient Provençal farmhouse, lovingly restored into comfortable accommodation that still reflected its roots. The salt water pool provided hours of cool relief from the summer heat, even well into the night, when the mid-summer sun kept the first stars from appearing until well after 10.00pm.

The house was a 20 minute stroll through the french countryside to reach the charming town of Cucuron. In the town, we wandered through the old alleyways and explored the produce market in the shade of the two-hundred-year-old plane trees that line the central square.

The town hosts the Michelin star restaurant La Petite Maison de Cucuron, where we enjoyed an incredible meal prepared by the long-serving chef, with one of the best desserts of my life.

In the surrounding hills and valleys of the photogenic massif of Luboron, we explored picturesque and quiet villages built of honey-coloured stone, still standing after hundreds of years. Little towns like Lourmarin and Venasque, which despite their remote locations and small size, host restaurants serving some of the best food you will ever eat in your life.

The impossibly beautiful town of Gordes is perched on the side of a rock to which its stone buildings blend in seamlessly. Seeing it left me speechless and it deserves its title as one of the most beautiful villages in the world. But there are other towns which are far less famous and which retain the old French charm of the south - where weekly produce markets are held in the square, locals head out to play petanque and endless glasses of rosé are drunk from noon until sunset from chairs along the sidewalk.

We visited local vineyards where we drank endless amounts of wine, particularly rosé.

And we travelled further to the prestigious wine appellation of Châteauneuf-du-Pape in the southern Rhône wine region. We drank what is regarded as some of the best, and most tightly controlled, wine in the world. And afterwards, ate lunch in the courtyard of a castle, perched above the sprawling vineyards below.

We frolicked in fields of blooming lavender.

Lavender is synonymous with Provence. The limestone-rich soil, coupled with the hot, dry summers and mild winters, creates a perfect environment for lavender to flourish.

We went truffle hunting. And ate a lot of fresh truffle.

We picked fruit straight off the trees in orchards.

And finally, to escape the heat and take a break from the delicious gastronomy of Provence, we ventured to the Côte d’Azur, where we found refuge in the small coastal town of Cassis.

There, we spent a lazy day at a beach club where the hardest decision was whether to drink more rosé, take a refreshing swim in the turquoise waters of the Mediterranean, or nap under the shade of the umbrella.

The experience reinvigorated my love of France, French culture and of course, French food. I am quite sure there is nowhere else on earth that not only rivals the culinary and gastronomy traditions, but is also as spectacularly beautiful as southern France.