The Ultimate Retreat: Provence

Oh man, Provence is one of my favorite places in the world. The fruit is some of the best I’ve ever had. And the food in general is rustic yet amazing.

You also can’t beat the scenery. Everywhere you turn is postcard perfect.

There are so many great B&Bs, too.

Cheese. All the French cheese.

And some bread to eat with it. 

Of course we need a guided tour led by our own sleepingbooty

Other than that, you ladies have pretty much covered all I can think of, apart from the Peas themselves. 

Just let me nap on an oversized hammock under a shady tree, and wake me with delicious food.

We would have to have a La Fermiere yogurt eating workshop to free up some of those pretty pots for our craft rooms!

Book it, Dano!

I don't think I'd really want to crop, other than the fabulous ideas here (memento book and impressionist painting class). I'd just want to sight see and relax and eat good food and drink yummy wine and be with the peas.

Aww, look at this thread. Maybe we'll have our retreat one day!

It could also be fun to do quick rounds to keep up with photos, memories and memorabilia (quick edit, writing down the events of the day) in the evenings and then scrap them in a TN/mini album at the end of the week.

@zingermack Which monastery did you visit? I love Ganagobie, personally.

The Verdon Gorge is a canyon river with turquoise waters in the Alps of Provence.



We took some foreign friends travelling through the region for six days, going from east to west. They loved it. You go from the luxurious Riviera side to the end where it's less touristy, less expensive. We left from the Mediterranean Sea in Nice, went up into the lower Alps and then travelled back down to the Calanques around Cassis and Marseille. The Calanques are a protected natural region so they're not built, unlike the eastern side of the Riviera. My parents sail and have their boat here so this is always a nice way to take friends out into the Mediterranean itself.



Avignon is another must-visit, especially the Palais des Papes (palace of the popes), to better understand the history of the region, its importance and its dependence towards Rome (and then France). The Palais des Papes is also the biggest gothic construction of the Middle Ages, very impressive to visit.



If you ever visit here during the Festival d'Avignon, do book a ticket and go see an opera in the courtyard. There's nothing like it. The atmosphere in the streets is electrifying and fun too.

Here's my favourite winery in the region. Tipsy vineyard visit with la Booty!

I wouldn't have remembered, but luckily the hiking company still does the same trip - 15 years later :*)

It was Sénanque Abbey.  Gorgeous.  The most wonderful trip. 



Also did St. Remy, the asylum where Van Gogh resided for a while....I'm getting sick just thinking how much I'd like to go again.

Hope we can make this work sometime.  I think we'd have near-illegal levels of fun.

I volunteer.  

I need all the French pastries and chocolate to wash down the wine et fromage.  

I love the the idea of a yogurt eating workshop!  

So I am thinking a three week retreat where the first two and a half weeks are just exploring and taking pictures.  The last three days are filled with putting pictures on premade layouts that elves were making at the end of every day of our trip.  Then we all go home with a large completed book.  

950nancy I'm sorry, I have no clue. Maybe sleepingbooty can help?

I'm not sure this is a French brand of Tequila. www.quitequila.com/
ETA: But I can't find any, so that could work, right?   

I'm more than ready to cook it for all of you.  Now, to eat it is another story.