La Bastide de Vaison

La Bastide de Vaison

The bastide is on the Route d'Avignon, a few kilometres outside Vaison-la-Romaine, surrounded by vineyards and with the jagged silhouette of the Dentelles de Montmirail on one side and Mont Ventoux on the other. The building dates from the 13th century, originally a roadhouse used by the Knights Templar, and the bones of it are still very much present: thick stone walls, original vaulted ceilings, and the kind of quiet that comes from a building that has been absorbing the Provençal heat for eight hundred years. Maxime and Cédric, who run the place with the attentiveness of people who arrived here with intention, have restored it carefully and with good taste. There are 14 rooms, each decorated differently, simply but well, with comfortable beds, good linens, and the kind of art on the walls that suggests someone with a heart for art chose it. The vaulted breakfast room is the most beautiful part of the building at that hour, with organic and seasonal produce, local cheeses, and bread that makes it easy to stay longer than planned. The pool in the courtyard is surrounded by lavender and old stone, and the terrace is the right place to be with a glass of local Gigondas at the end of an afternoon. The location is the real proposition. Vaison-la-Romaine is a ten-minute drive, with Roman ruins, a medieval upper town, and one of the best Tuesday markets in Provence. Séguret, Crestet, and Gigondas are all within fifteen minutes, and the Dentelles offer some of the most rewarding cycling and walking in the region. This is not a hotel you come to for the amenities. It is a hotel you come to because you want to be in this particular corner of Provence, and it happens to be exactly the right base for doing that properly. The short version: A 13th-century Templar roadhouse turned small hotel in the vineyards outside Vaison-la-Romaine, run with real warmth by two former hoteliers, with 14 individually decorated rooms, a beautiful vaulted breakfast room, and one of the better locations in Provence for exploring without a plan.