This April I had the astute privilege of accompanying my mom on her company trip to the Provence region of southern France. Let me tell you: I thought Paris was my favorite, Provence wiped the floor with the competition. Between the gorgeous landscape of fresh blooms and crisp rosé, there are few things to not love about this beautiful place. This guide has an emphasis on luxury experiences around Provence, including the best wineries, restaurants, & other can’t miss destinations along the way!
Wineries
Love wine? Is the Pope Catholic? You’ve come to the right place. France is world renowned as the taste maker in all things wine & champagne. For this trip, my mom and I were spoiled beyond recognition as my mom works for a wine group that distributes french wine (HUGE thank you to Boisset!). Breaking down a few of the best wineries we had the pleasure of visiting:
Château La Coste – Le Puy-Sainte-Réparade
The best way to describe this winery is if a modern art museum had a baby with a classic Napa Valley winery. Château La Coste is a 200 acre estate complete with tree lined gardens, art installations surrounding the entire property (the spider one is mildly terrifying), & even a crystal clad ‘chapel’ which made me want to go ahead and elope. It is a stunning property with an emphasis on organic wines.
La Maison Bouachon, Le Pavillon des Vins // chateau maucoil – Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Our group was fortunate enough to not only visit the beautiful castle, but also have a tasting and dinner adjacent to the wine barrels at La Maison Bouachon. Châteauneuf-du-Pape is highly praised as one of the best wine regions in Rhône, known for their bold Grenache-based red blends (thank you Google). Few things delight me more than pairing decadent chocolates with wine, which is exactly what the night held for us. Although i’m 10 years old and downed some of the chocolates when I wasn’t supposed to..#sophisticated.
Chartreuse de Bonpas – Caumont-sur-Durance
Castles are ‘a plenty’ in the South of France and Chartreuse de Bonpas was a stunner. The epic grounds of this 70 year old monastery turned winery are absolutely worth a stop over. They offer a historical tour of the property where we had a quick tasting of their vintages. Fun fact: part of the infrastructure was looted and used as a stone quarry during the French Revolution! IT’S THAT OLD!
Restaurants
La Bastide Saint-Antoine – Grasse
Maybe it was because this chateau was the first one we visited, maybe it’s Maybelline. But what I do know is I was deeply obsessed with La Bastide Saint-Antoine & its food. We enjoyed small nibbles, a cheese course (which I realized is served with every meal in France) and dessert. I highly recommend trying the salmon in gravelax or (and please bear with me, I cannot find the name of it online) but essentially a waffle appetizer with an olive tapenade…sounds weird, but trust me. the It was worth including an image of the eye catching grounds when the flowers are in full bloom, which is easily a reason to come back…right?
La Table Haute – Hôtel La Mirande, Avignon
La Table Haute is a Michelin Star restaurant. Enough said. The food here was out of this world, and I loved that the kitchen felt like we were in someone’s home enjoying a comforting French meal. The restaurant is in a hotel, which is well worth a walk around as you’ll be rethinking every home decorating decision you’ve ever made. Try the beef bourguignon as it was probably the best version of the French dish I have ever had in my life!
Restaurant La Cabro d’Or Baumanière – Les Baux-de-Provence
Hands down my favorite food of our trip was from Restaurant La Cabro d’Or Baumanière. Not only is the restaurant and hotel jaw dropping (in my dreams I pictured summering here as my French alter ego), but they offer some of the most incredible dishes. AND DID I MENTION THE PETTING ZOO ON PROPERTY?! The cod I will go down in history as one of the most delicious things I have ever tasted, as is the passionfruit cheesecake. If you’re going to splurge on dinner anywhere, this is the place to do it!
Explore
Provence is immensely diverse – known for their olive oils, quaint city streets, shopping & art, there are heaps of hot spots you cannot miss when visiting the South of France!
Moulin Castelas – Les Baux-de-Provence
Visit Moulin Castelas for a decadent taste of a variety of olive oils. Because the French are good at everything, the miles upon miles of olive oil trees boast incredible olive oil and a cute gift shop to boot! Among my favorites were the garlic and the lemon rosemary. And if you can, give the Moulin Castela mascot, Olive the dog, the pets if she isn’t busy chasing mice!
Shopping and exploring – Avignon
The city of Avignon is a favorite to explore among the Provence region. Surrounded by castle like walls, Avignon is a hot spot for casual eats, beautiful flower walls, & of course, shopping. We did an incredible amount of damage shopping here, snagging some beautiful lingerie pieces from Luna Di Seta, and purchasing beautiful french boutique clothing from Les Petities Bombes. Get lost for hours and enjoy a gelato while you’re doing it. France rocks.
Galimard perfumery – grasse
Name something less iconic than making your own perfume in France. I’ll wait. This experience was so incredibly fun and (brides) a great place to create a wedding scent! Your experience will include smelling loads of your favorite scents and have your favorite bottled at the source. Take a tour of the Galimard Factory a few miles away and learn about what it takes to have a ‘perfume nose’ exclusive to only a couple hundred people in the world.
Carrières des Lumières – Les Baux-de-Provence
Art lovers: rejoice. The Carrières des Lumières is a wildly unique way to celebrate the classic exhibition of Italian art and architecture. The space is entirely constructed of a massive stone quarry, or cave where the art is projected. The experience even lended an emotional turn for my mom and continues to be something we discuss when we see each other. Tickets are 14.5€ and make sure to bring a jacket! The temperatures inside are close to 50 degrees.
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Cheers,
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