By GLENN GARNETT
Three years ago, my wife and I paid our first visit to France. While Paris was everything we thought it would be, alive with history and bathed in romance, it remains a very large, busy city and an expensive place to visit.
It was the south of France we fell in love with, the little towns and villages off the autoroutes, with their Roman ruin and medieval cathedrals, lush vineyards and noisy cafes. We stayed in a former convent, today a guest house run by soft-spoken nuns, in the city of Grasse, France’s perfume centre. The city, terraced on a mountainside with a distant view of the Mediterranean Sea and Cannes, and the surrounding countryside, offered us a taste of France off the beaten track.
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Yves Barthalay manages a number of vacation homes in the Provence region in the south of France, each a unique experience in rural French living. If you’re for something a little different in a summer getaway next year, this could be it.
James Brown of Ottawa (no, not that James Brown), who has stayed at one of Barthalay’s residences in Provence, says he enjoys renting homes or cottages in far-flung places.
" I have rented homes in England, France, Italy and Mexico," he says. "It is my favorite way to visit a country as you not only get to see the sights but you can live the 'life' as well."
When asked what North Americans enjoy most about cottaging in France, Barthalay says: " I don't know about France (in general), but in Provence, it's the history. We have lot of Roman and Medieval vestiges."
But if you have visions of dragging bored kids - or spouses - through yet another ruin or museum, there’s plenty of other things to do.
"We have equestrian activities, climbing (the Buoux rock is famous), hiking, biking, golf, and there are a lot of villages and sites to tour," Barthalay says. And after all that activity, there are plenty of places to enjoy Provencal cuisine and the fine wines of this unique part of France.
While the nearby ruins, castles and other buildings are steeped in history, so, too are some of the residences managed by the Barthalays. A farm they rent is three centuries old while their house in Viens, called Charpin, is medieval. All have been restored over the past five years.
While you may usually head for the cottage in July and August, that’s peak tourist season in Europe and the continent is quite crowded. Barthalay also noted it’s very hot in the south of France at that time of year.
"I think the best time to come is May-June and September-October," he recommends. We visited France’s sunny south during late May and the weather was just right.
Marianne Ames of Scottsdale, Arizona says her group was enchanted by their experience at the Barthalay’s house in Viens. "It was perfect for us - four American women wanting to savor Provence!" she recalls.
While Viens is a fifteenth-century walled town, Barthalay’s renovated and restored Charpin has all modern conveniences and a breathtaking view of the nearby Luberon mountains. Ames and her travelling companions used Viens as a jumping-off point for explorations of other historic locales such as Avignon, Marseilles, Chateauneuf de Pape, Aix-en-Provence, and St. Remy.
"One of our favorite morning or end of the day stops was at the Cafe Petite Jardin in Viens, where we would either enjoy morning coffee and croissants or evening cocktails and occasionally dinner if we weren't too tired from our travels!" she says. "Viens itself has an interesting history as a feudal town with an adjoining church and views in various directions. We hope to visit again one day."
We talked to a number of North American visitors to Provence, but no one more enthusiastic or as vividly descriptive than Jennie Shankel of Walnut Creek, California. She stayed at the Barthalays’ equestrian farm, Les Laurons, located near the village of Caseneuve in the heart of the Luberon Regional Park in Provence.
"I still recall my first morning there - I opened the shutters of my bedroom window onto the sight of orchards and vineyards, and distant farmhouses with smoke curling out of their chimneys," she recalls. "The Grand Luberon Mountains were dark and cloaked in a mist, and the sun was just beginning to rise. The crest of the hill below me was receiving the very first rays of light when suddenly the birds began to sing, joined by a rooster on the neighboring farm. I don't know how long I sat there on the ledge, freezing my tail off (it was January), but I simply could not tear myself away from the sights and the sounds and the fresh smell of clean air."
From Les Laurons you can take a horse carriage or go horseback riding to the top of the Luberon mountain which offers a wonderful panorama from the Alps to the Mediterranean. The equestrian centre offers Western-style horseback riding and lessons.
Shankel’s "gite" was an apartment in a typical Provencal mas, or farmhouse. Barthalay is unsure of the age of the building because, like most every farmhouse in Provence, it had been built one room at a time as the family grew and as money allowed.
Shankel says travelling off-season gave her the quiet and serene getaway she had hoped for. The nearby town of Apt offered all the provisions she needed: "The well-stocked Intermarche carried everything one would expect to find here at home in a supermarket, but with the shelves looking more like a gourmet shop packed full of the finest ingredients I have ever seen. Fabulous produce, fresh fish, a meat market, fresh farm eggs, and virtually hundreds of cheeses!"
Although Shankel saw many of the famous sights the region has to offer, it wasn't long before she realized that her happiest moments were on or near the farm.
"There was no greater pleasure than to watch Monsieur Barthalay (Yve's father) bring out the sheep and goats to pasture, with the help of his amazing little dog," she says. "The Saturday market in Apt was amazing, and local farmers were out in force - even in January - with their produce, cheeses, meats, fish, bread and other foods. I counted no less than twenty varieties of olives!
"An hour's drive could lead us through ochre canyons known as the Colorado, through villages crowned by medieval castles and churches, or to forts on sites that had been occupied almost continuously since the stone age," she adds. "In village churchyards, we lunched beneath sycamores that were seven hundred years old, and we walked along cobblestone streets that had been the core of village life for centuries. And wherever we went, we were treated to the colors of Provence, in the winter landscape of green fields, the earthy tints of plaster walls, and in the brightly painted shutters in every conceivable shade of periwinkle, lavender and sage."
Shankel says that while you might find yourself at a very slight disadvantage if you don’t speak French, she found almost everyone she met in Provence to be very friendly and helpful. "Beyond a serviceable guidebook, a detailed map is essential, and driving is a must since the Luberon is not well serviced by public transportation," she recommends.
This fall, Shankel is returning to Les Laurons for a very special occasion.
"My fiancé and I have chosen the farm as the ideal place for a small, informal wedding we hope to have in one of the pastures, weather permitting," she says. "I am smitten with the place, and I hope one day to return for good and call the place my home."
For more information on Yves Barthalay’s vacation residences in Provence, check out his complete listings under France in CottageLink’s Rentals by Region. Or e-mail Barthalay at ybarthalay@aix.pacwan.net
