I realize that this might be an incredibly bold statement, but I’m just going to go with it – Provence is my favorite place in the entire world. Honestly. I fell one hundred percent in love with the area,  especially the hotel where we stayed, and started researching ways to return while I was poolside on the terrace, glass of rosé in my hand, looking at Mount Ventoux. ‘Magical’ was a word I used over and over again throughout our short time in Provence, but honestly, it’s the single best way I could possibly describe the region that completely stole my heart.

As a photographer, I’m always taking note of the light around me, and in Provence, it seems as though near-perfect light is never too far away. Open shade in the Provençal towns absorb just the right amount of light from the surrounding bright walls, that everything seems beautifully lit even when it’s shaded. It might have been some magical illusion, but the famed ‘golden hour’ that we experience just before sunset seems to last much longer than an hour in Provence – a photographer’s paradise, indeed. As if I haven’t come across as melodramatic (borderline crazy) enough already, the pastel colors of Provence absolutely transfixed me, and since returning home, I’ve found myself drawn to those same hues in an attempt to recreate my beloved Provençal villages and countryside.

Having a rental car let us experience so much more of Provence, and overall we were so grateful to have the flexibility to explore various towns of the Luberon. There were times, however, that Michael’s manual-driving inexperience (and the temper that followed) showed on the small hilly streets and I found myself wishing we were just on some sort of hot and cramped tour bus.

Although we missed the peak of the lavender season by mere days, we were lucky to experience many bits & pieces of Provençal culture that we now attempt to incorporate into everything we do. Rosé, as we noted to our Instagram followers, really is cheaper than water… and obviously much more delicious. My greatest sadness will come in a few short weeks when summer is over and it is no longer as acceptable for me to order a glass of rosé at dinner, or it’s too chilly to enjoy some Pastis with friends on the patio. For now though, we’ll take full advantage of the warm weeks we have remaining!

The food in Provence was outstanding, and returning home to Maine during the height of tomato season with roasted Provençal tomates fresh in our minds, has had a serious effect on our evening meals. In fact, the first weekend after we returned, we prepared a spaghetti & mussels dish featured in a recent Martha Stewart Living, and tried to create the tomates dish we had for lunch one day in Crillon le Brave (of course a bottle of Rosé made an appearance). We’ve even made plans to turn a neglected side garden of ours into a boules court for next summer (we just happened to pick up an issue of the British publication, House & Garden, during our trip that lays out the steps for such a project – fate is obviously on our side with this one).

Attempts to recreate our experiences in Provence will obviously pale in comparison to the time we spent there, but hopefully it won’t be long before we have the opportunity to return to revisit old memories and make new ones.‪