An attractive and comfortable house, much as we expected from the website and owner's description (they were also most helpful in answering any questions before & during our stay). It's well equipped and provided virtually everything we needed for a most enjoyable 2 week stay. The pool was regularly and diligently maintained throughout and the property and grounds provide pleasant, elevated views towards Barjols and pretty hills in the distance. Barjols itself is an attractive large village with an impressive collection of fountains, narrow streets and pretty houses. There's a good boulangerie and an Intermarche within a 5 minutes drive of the house and another small supermarket the other side of the village plus independent shops in Barjols center.
We fell into our usual pattern of alternate days out and days at home enjoying the pool, house & location.
For shorter day trips, there are numerous attractive towns and villages within easy striking distance. Too many to explore in a single holiday. Most boast at least a few restaurants plus interesting and attractive old buildings to visit and explore. It doesn't take long to work out that the countryside in this area can quickly change from forested to open, hilly to flat, cultivated to wild - all of which adds to it's charm and interest.
We also struck out on some longer day trips:
- St Tropez - prettier, with a nicer atmosphere than we'd expected - best approached along the attractive coast road from the west to avoid jams,
- Verdon Gorge - very scenic - requires a complete day to do it justice - one scarily high road bridge,
- Mount Ventoux - the climb from Sault is attractive and not too steep - what a view from the top!!
- Avignon - really, it needs more than a day, loads of history,
- Monte Carlo - lots of hustle and bustle, a set of streets you simply have to drive, and a harbour you have to walk.
- The Camargue - Saintes Maries-de-la-Mer and especially Auiges-Mortes are well worth seeing.
At the end of each long day it was great to get back to the house. We slept well there, nights being cooler than days.
So, it's a great base for exploring the area - the east-west motorway (within 20km of the house) making some longer trips possible.
You really do need a car to explore this part of France although we avoided the largest cities of Nice, Toulon and Marseille because even their outskirts were busy. For these, public transport might be a better option.
A great base for exploring.
