Visiting the small villages of Provence

One of our conversation partners invited us to visit her Summer cottage in the middle of the Vaison region. We decided to spend one night with her and another one visiting Arles, a town made famous by Van Gogh. Nicole's village is named Roaix and had a total of 500 inhabitants. Nicole's petite cottage was on the hill in the ancient section of town near the church and the castle or manor house of the village.

The view from her cottage was picturesque and very quaint. We toured the castle and we were impressed by the manicured grounds. The castle is now owned by a retired American, who owns several homes all over the world and only comes for short visits. We met the housekeeper and the gardener and we were enthusiastically invited to the annual feast provided by the American for people in the village. We were heading for Arles the next evening, so we regretfully declined.


Nicole took us to visit the town were her grandparents lived (Entrechaux) and we had breakfast with her childhood friend. Michel was very engaging and we spent a very enjoyable time talking in French and sharing travel experiences with him. He is an opera buff and we are not but somehow we faked our lack of opera knowledge and were able to participate in the conversation without a hitch. We had other opportunities to briefly converse with the locals and we felt so privileged to experience France from an insiders' perspective.

Vaison la Romaine is a nearby village of 6,000 people. It attracts more tourists than Roaix with its Roman ruins and ancient medieval town. It has a very active cultural life. In the Summer there are many concerts and cultural presentations in its Roman amphitheater. I think Jeff would consider an extended visit to this charming town.