Blanche Fleur

To be honest, I had the most magical, fairy-tale version of what Provence would be like set in my mind for months before we ever even traveled there.  And truth be told, my ideas were based completely off of assumption and fantasy.  I had pictured us staying in a tiny little village, almost in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by vineyards, and passing our time by visiting the local markets, having picnics, drinking wine, and relaxing by the pool.  Obviously, it all sounded pretty perfect to me.

As you might be able to imagine, my wildly colorful imagination can sometimes get the best of me.  But when it came to Provence, my imagination was just the beginning.  Our experience was far beyond what either one of us could have possibly dreamt.

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As we drove away from the Marseille Airport to Domaine de Blanche Fleur, the property where we would be spending our first few days in Provence, our scenery shifted with us.   What started out as lush green mountains, with old castles and beautiful architecture, turned into smaller towns, and then villages, and then even smaller roads.  And then homes fewer and farther between, and then more and more vineyards, and then fields of wildflowers in full bloom.  We turned off of the main street, and down a little dirt road.  We crossed a tiny moat, and there we were.  Blanch Fleur.  We had made it.

The property itself was exactly what I had been dreaming of.  It was a beautiful old French home that had been renovated into small apartments, just oozing with Provençal charm.  The kitchen featured the most gorgeous slab of marble, the antique dining table was covered in local linens, and the walls decorated with antique French plates.

We were surrounded by lush gardens, a private pool, a private chapel, butterflies, dragonflies, and loads of the most gloriously delicious sunshine.

We spent our early mornings enjoying the peacefulness of the property.  We sipped our coffee, enjoyed a little piece of leftover baguette (with the creamiest French butter of course), and sometimes a bit of fruit.  We walked the property, taking in the fresh morning air, listening to the birds chirp, and the soft sound of the gravel drag under our feet.  And when we were ready, and only then, we planned.

Each day we picked out a different market to visit as our main heading, with one very simple goal: find something delicious to eat for dinner.  And luckily for us, the markets in Provence were truly the best that we have ever been to, making our task impossibly simple.

the beautiful old ruins behind the main property

After the market, we were faced with our other big decision for the day: wine.  On paper, wine tasting sounds easy enough, but never have we ever seen such a saturation of vineyards anywhere. . .and with each offering some of the most prized wines in the world.  Literally at any twist or turn of the road, we found ourselves with five or more different vineyards.  The easy part was finding a beautiful bottle of wine to enjoy.  The difficult part was simply deciding where to taste from.

But once we were settled, we gleefully drove our way back through the vineyards and country, and home to Blanche Fleur.  It never really mattered what time we got back, but whenever we arrived, it always felt like the perfect time to open up the windows, open up the wine, and hover around our bread and cheese as we prepared the rest of our meal.

Our afternoons and evenings felt so magical at Blanche Fleur.  As the day drifted to night, the twinkly lights turned on just outside of our patio doors, the breeze turned a bit cooler, and everything seemed to turn just a little bit out of focus in the best possible way.  I can still hear the music, I can still taste the wine, and I can still feel those moments.  It was almost like a dream.  Almost.

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Our stay at Domaine de Blanch Fleur was generously provided for us; however, no compensation was received in exchange for my writing.  All of the opinions that I have expressed are my own, and are an honest account of our experience.