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Hello everyone!
Currently typing this with major holiday blues which means that we really did have such a perfect holiday!
We stayed in a little villa in the South of France/Provence area called Malucene which I’ll link here https://www.oliverstravels.com/france/provence-alpes/avignon/maison-ventoux/ we booked though Olivers Travels and have no complaints. The owner was great at keeping in touch and provided us with an amazingly detailed welcome pack on places to visit and how to use everything within the villa.
The Villa itself was perfect. Clean, bright and it had everything you could possibly think of, and I mean EVERYTHING! If you needed a commode, sellotape, or a meat thermometer they had it! One of our main reasons for choosing this villa was partly down to the fact that they had a Big Green Egg (*linked here https://rstyle.me/+TP03vILWUFEYY3NUA5HPGw) After hearing so many people express a deep and undying love for these, we were super excited to see what all the fuss was about. I can confirm that we have also been converted! It was simple to use and produced the most delicious food, what more could you want!!
The second reason for choosing this Villa was due to the heated pool! We were blessed with lovely weather while we were there, between 21-24c which is way above average, however having a lovely warm pool to dip into made everything that extra bit more enjoyable.
Our last reason for choosing here was the location. Nested at the bottom of Mont Ventoux is the picturesque village of Malucene with its many pâtisseries, restaurants and very well stocked little supermarket all within walking distance of our villa, which made the whole stay rather pleasant! We frequented those pâtisseries every morning and slathered even more delicious butter over our purchases and now I am thinking I might need to head to the gym to make good on some of those calories! I'm typing this on our first day back and feeling rather sad to not have had a croissant for my breakfast!
We made the most of our time here by hiring a car straight from the airport. My dad was a bit of a hero and offered to do all of the driving which we were very grateful for (mainly because the scenery was breathtaking, and I could be a passenger princess)
The French drive on the other side of the road which was initially quite confusing and our car was a manual and considering I have driven an automatic for the past few years, I really didn't fancy giving it a go! We were overwhelmed with beautiful places to visit however we were very keen to visit Chateauneuf-de-pape. The week before they had held a festival so this week the town was beautifully empty, and we made the most of being able to take in all the scenery and enjoy a leisurely lunch at a restaurant recommended by everyone who we asked. We would
have been fools to have not given it a try!
Lots of restaurants here offer a Plat Du Jour menu which is often 3 courses at an absolute steal (usually around 20 euros!) However, we opted to order from the full menu, and we weren't disappointed with our choices! My husband's pork chop was cooked VERY rare which was a bit of a shock however he said it was delicious!
We spent the next few days similarly visiting different villages and having a long and lazy lunch before popping into the shops to buy some delicious, fresh produce to cook on the Big Green Egg for dinner and of course, splashing in the pool!
Sofia’s confidence in the pool grew with each time she got in, which was wonderful to see! She isn't able to swim unaided, however we give her every floatation aid possible, so she is completely buoyant, and she is able to kick her legs and bob about lovely! It goes without saying that she is never left unattended I might add for anyone who doubts my parenting skills or is unaware of how extreme and debilitating my anxiety is haha!
I wish we could have spent longer here as there was so much to discover, however I'm glad we managed to squeeze in so much. I would have to say my top places were Fontaine-de-Vaucluse and Vaison La Romaine. The first being breathtakingly beautiful and the latter was full of lovely shops and eateries, you could easily spend a whole day there and still be finding shops in the side streets which you may have missed on your first wonder round.
It's also worth mentioning that we actually stayed right on the route for the Tour De France! Despite this, we didn't see as many cyclists as I thought we would, however, we did see quite a few cycling up the mountain (as we sheepishly drove past!) Cycling up is no mean feat and props to everyone giving it their best as I would NEVER!
I didn't manage to take as many pictures as I would have liked, however I did vlog the trip and it's here on my YouTube if you fancy a watch!
It's now time to go back to reality I suppose and unpack the suitcases that are languishing behind me taking up all the room in our kitchen. I suppose I better make a cup of tea and get on with it!
Until next time xx
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