Provence

Why Provence works

Provence's identity is written in its light — the same clear Mediterranean sun that drew Van Gogh to Arles and Cezanne to Aix-en-Provence still defines the region's painterly landscapes. Between mid-June and early August, the Valensole Plateau turns violet with lavender in bloom, its rows radiating toward Mont Ventoux on the horizon; smaller, equally photogenic fields surround the abbey at Senanque. Hilltop villages (villages perches) like Gordes, Roussillon — built from ochre-red cliffs — and Les Baux-de-Provence cling to rocky outcrops, their stone houses and Romanesque churches largely unchanged since the Middle Ages. Aix-en-Provence, Cezanne's home town, offers tree-lined boulevards, burbling fountains and a Saturday market piled with olives, tapenade and Provencal linens, while Roman-era Arles retains a working amphitheatre once used for gladiatorial combat, now hosting bullfights and concerts. Avignon's Palais des Papes, seat of the exiled medieval papacy, is Europe's largest Gothic palace. Vineyards around Chateauneuf-du-Pape and the Luberon produce robust reds and roses best sampled at small domaines. Market days — Provence has a different town's marche each day of the week — remain the best way to taste the region: goat cheese, herbes de Provence, tapenade and just-pressed olive oil, sold from the same stalls for generations.

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