A Week in Provence

What if the old holiday ideas are the best ones?

While summers spent in the South of France weren’t really a commonplace thing growing up in Skegness, the concept still felt a little clichéd. Until we gave it it a go ourselves…

How we got there: Car & Le Shuttle

Hours from Calais: 12 hours (we stopped overnight near Dijon)

Cost: 3 bedroom villa, £210 a night, Le Shuttle £237 return, fuel £180

Obsessed with quests to visit the pine-lined beaches of the Costa Brava, many of our recent stays in the South of France have been hasty stopovers, but we had the increasing feeling that we were doing both the area and ourselves a disservice. As other people’s holiday snaps started to flood social media platforms each summer, it dawned on me that despite living closer to mainland France than we do to London, we hadn’t spent more than a few nights in a row there in the last decade.

Intent on righting this wrong, I started relentlessly quizzing people about places in France they adored the most and quickly fell in love with the idea of going to Provence.

When a friend not only recommended the small town of Aups, but also a stunning place to stay there, we were sold. Typically, the confines of our leave days meant we ultimately couldn’t book that first historic townhouse, but their advice was still golden, helping us to discover just what we were after… a picture-perfect Provence setting.

Aups

At first glance Aups might lack the wow-factor (and accompanying tourist crowds) of some parts of Provence, but its charms are many. From the medieval buildings and hidden streets of its old town to its bustling market square, it’s a display of all there is to love about France condensed… leaving you feeling that Belle from Beauty and the Beast might emerge in full song any second.

As well as ancient houses, fountains and gateways, there are two good bakeries, several restaurants, including a reasonable little crêperie and Auberge de la Tour, a historic restaurant offering stunning courtyard dining. There’s also a twice-weekly produce market to shop for tasty lunches and rotisserie chicken (along with truffles… a local speciality) as well as a Sunday brocante.

But while there’s lots to explore in town, one of Aups’ biggest selling points is its proximity to the Lake of Sainte-Croix and the Verdon Gorge.

If you're usually a coastal person, the idea of heading to a lake instead can feel like a shift. But the second we spotted the blue waters, ample beach space and cool little waterfront bar, any concerns evaporated.

Not that Provence is only about eating pastries and lounging by a lake, unless you want it to be…

Chasing Waterfalls… Things to do & Where to stay