There is something about eating outside in Provence that feels less like a meal and more like a revelation. The light is different — warmer, more generous, falling across the table at an angle that makes everything look like a painting. Somewhere nearby, bees are working the lavender. The wine is cold. There is no reason to rush.
A Provençal picnic is not a packed lunch. It is a composed experience with menus drawn from local farms and producers, settings chosen for their beauty and quiet, every detail arranged so that all you have to do is arrive and be present.
Once your villa booking is confirmed, our concierge will be happy to arrange activities for you, or share contact details if you prefer to book yourself.
The best picnics here follow the rhythm of the season and the logic of the land. Menus lean on whatever is at its peak — vibrant summer vegetables, freshly pressed olive oils, regional cheeses, charcuterie, fruit that has actually ripened in the sun, tarts and sweets made by people who have been making them the same way for a very long time. It is simple food at its most considered.
Settings matter as much as the food itself. A vineyard at midday. A hilltop with a view of three villages. Your own villa garden, transformed for an afternoon into something you didn’t know you needed. The concierge team will help match the right setting and style to your group — intimate for two, festive for a larger gathering, gentle enough for children, relaxed enough for everyone.
Some picnics are the centerpiece of a full afternoon in the countryside — packed into a basket and carried to a spot only a local would know, paired with a leisurely walk or a lazy hour reading in the shade. Others are delivered straight to your villa garden or poolside, ready to unfold at your own pace with no planning required. Both are Provence doing what it does best: turning the ordinary into something worth remembering.
This is also the kind of experience that travels well. Bring it along on a lavender tour, set it up after a morning at the market, or let it anchor a long, unscheduled afternoon with the people you came here to spend time with. The setting takes care of itself. The food does the rest.
Tucked between Gordes and Roussillon, Joucas is the Luberon village that rewards those who wander past the obvious — lavender fields, honey-stone lanes, and genuine serenity. […]
Tucked between Gordes and Roussillon, Joucas is the Luberon village that rewards those who wander past the obvious — lavender fields, honey-stone lanes, and genuine serenity. […]
Tucked between Gordes and Roussillon, Joucas is the Luberon village that rewards those who wander past the obvious — lavender fields, honey-stone lanes, and genuine serenity. […]
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Tucked between Gordes and Roussillon, Joucas is the Luberon village that rewards those who wander past the obvious — lavender fields, honey-stone lanes, and genuine serenity. […]
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- offering all comforts and amenities - pool, housekeeping, and chef services.
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Only Provence co-founder Lydia Dean writes about their experiences raising a family, building a business in Provence, and later combining the love of travel with giving back in "Jumping the Picket Fence”. In 2021, she published “Light Through the Cracks,” a continuation of her journey, much of which has been based in Provence. Both books are available Amazon, Amazon.uk, and Amazon.Fr.
