This year, we chose to go to La Soleiade in June to enjoy the cooler weather, less crowded towns and the beauty of June’s amazing Agapanthus and Bougainvillea.

Last year, we replanted our Agapanthus garden – pulling 600 bulbs out of the overcrowded area and replanting about 200 or so! It was a lot of work to pull out all the old vegetation, improve the soil and then replant the best 200 bulbs, but we were rewarded this spring with more than 200 big beautiful blue Agapanthus – we are proud :-).

It was also a beautiful surprise to arrive at La Soleiade and find the Bougainvillea in full bloom and in all of its spectacular glory – must have been a mighty spring in the South of France!

Of course, plenty of time had to be allotted to working on our petanque game too. Our good friends and neighbors love to play and enjoy the playful banter that is a traditional part of the game.

My brother and wife were visiting and we decided to visit Gordes and the region where we had visited together 24 years ago on their honeymoon (I got to join the honeymoon bc I was the ‘local’ ). The picture of them in front of Gordes is the same as the one that we took 24 years ago. Gordes is one of the pleasant and picturesque hill-top perched villages of France’s Luberon region. The Luberon is a massif of the Pre-Alps situated in Provence and has a handful of beautiful villages.

Monday is market day in Gordes, so it is quite crowded, even in June, and parking is at a premium, however the market is one of the better ones in Provence and you can find a lot of traditional foods, tablecloths, olive wood utensils and lovely summer dresses.

Roussillon is another of the more well-known perched villages. It is known for the rich deposits of ochre pigments found in the clay near the villages – you can see the ochre and other traditional Provençal colors in the cliffs and in this picturesque village.

During our visit to the Luberon region we stayed in a quiet small village located in the midst of it vineyards – Gigondas. We stayed at the newly opened La Maison des Jardins in the heart of the village – we had a large room and a large private terrace. Our host was friendly and super accommodating making us reservations at nearby restaurants and arranging for a private wine tasting in the village. While small and quiet, Gigondas boasts a cave where you can taste some of its 70+ Gigondas wines. It also boasts a Michelin star restaurant, which is excellent. On this trip, we discovered white Gigondas, which we enjoyed at a beautiful garden restaurant a short five minutes from the village, Les Florets.

Lovely three weeks in the South of France and Provence – can’t wait to get back.