After ten years of living in Provence, I’m still hesitant when someone asks me for my favorite village.
The region is home to so many villages, each with its own character. Some are famous for good reason. Others are easy to overlook until you stumble upon them on a quiet afternoon and find yourself returning again and again.
The places featured in this video are not necessarily the most photographed or the most visited. They are simply the villages that have stayed with me over the years. The ones I recommend when friends come to visit. The ones I find myself revisiting in different seasons.
What draws me to them varies. In Oppède-le-Vieux, it is the sense that nature and stone have reached a kind of truce. In Saignon, it is the sound of water from the village fountain and the vast views over the Luberon. Fontaine-de-Vaucluse is at its most spectacular in spring, when emerald water surges from the source of the Sorgue. Ménerbes sits above the valley like a watchtower, while Ansouis feels almost improbably lush, with roses, greenery, and hidden corners around every turn.
Together, they represent many of the qualities I love most about Provence: beauty, certainly, but also history, landscape, and a sense of place that remains remarkably intact.
After all this time, these are still the villages I return to again and again.
