Provence: A Place to Stay
Our first trip to Paris was the first time we rented an apartment rather than staying in a hotel. It made us into believers that staying for periods longer than a week and having a truly “home” base is the best way to completely buy into the vacation mind set. By staying local and digging deep into the activities and resources of a community, we think we are able to truly appreciate the culture of our destinations.
Vacation rentals are a highly popular option in Europe. In some neighborhoods and towns, the overwhelming majority of residences can be vacation rentals. Vacation rentals differ slightly from home exchanges or bed and breakfasts. They are often dedicated properties and may be one of several offered by an owner.
A more detailed explanation of vacation rentals is available at Slow Travel. There was recently a discussion in the community about how to tell if a rental listing is reputable.
My first stop for considering vacation rentals in France is VRBO.
Our requirements for this trip were pretty simple. We wanted a one bedroom apartment a) in a central location, that had b) a good bed that was legitimately queen sized, c) a high quality kitchen that two people could use together, and d) a shower with a high ceiling.
It’s important to know exactly what you need in a trip. We learned quite a bit on our first trip to Paris. Like, a shower with a six foot ceiling is not good for people who are six feet or taller — like us. We like to eat lunches out but breakfast and dinner in – hence the need for a kitchen we can actually cook in during our stay. While a double bed is great if you’re short, if you’re more than six feet tall, all it does is cut off the circulation in your feet. Finally, we ultimately decided that Provence was too vast and we’re not beach people, so when we looked for a location, we wanted something further north — hence our decision to stay in Apt.
So, after sifting through the many listings on VRBO and a few of the classified listings on Slow Travel, we found perhaps a dozen acceptable apartments from townhomes in small perched villages or apartments on vineyards. From those, perhaps half were available for early April. But there was one that was an absolute gem both in style and price. At 500E, it was one of the cheapest one bedroom apartments we found, located just across the canal from central Apt, in a manor home.
La Madone is owned by a husband and wife who are antique dealers and interior decorators. They are slowly renovating their 18th century manor home into a series of apartments for letting out to visitors. The results are just stunning and perhaps the most beautifully appointed apartment I saw in all of my searching.
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