Boutique hotels
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Château de Massillan
- Style
- Hip historical
- Setting
- Secluded meadows
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Hotel Crillon le Brave
- Style
- Trad turreted eyrie
- Setting
- Seven-house hamlet
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Jardins Secrets
- Style
- Toile de Jouy, tant de joie
- Setting
- Hidden in Roman Nîmes
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L'Hôtel Particulier
- Style
- Urban mansion
- Setting
- Aristocratic Arles
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L'Oustau de Baumanière
- Style
- Chic country retreat
- Setting
- Rocks and ruins of Les Baux
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La Bastide de Moustiers
- Style
- Alain's inn
- Setting
- Lavender, herbs and olive trees
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La Maison sur la Sorgue
- Style
- Well-travelled townhouse
- Setting
- Waterside brocante market
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La Villa Gallici
- Style
- Chintz with chutzpah
- Setting
- Cultured vieille ville
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Le Couvent des Minimes
- Style
- L'Occitane-enhanced convent
- Setting
- Aromatic Luberon gardens
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Le Mas de la Rose
- Style
- Fabulous farmhouse finesse
- Setting
- Van Gogh country
Self-catering properties
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Maison de Mons
- Style
- Minimalist apartments, merveilleux mansion
- Setting
- Haut Var hilltop village
Provence Eating, drinking and dancing
A selection of Mr & Mrs Smith's favourite restaurants, bars and cafés in Provence. There are more Smith favourites just across the border in nearby Languedoc-Roussillon and Vaucluse, so check out our eating and drinking recommendations in those destinations, too.
Restaurants
(+33 0(4) 90 90 60 34)
Chez Bru
Run by a Belgian couple, Chez Bru, aka Le Bistrot d’Eygalières, is a Michelin-starred place of pilgrimage for gourmets. Their salt-marsh lamb is perfection.
rue de la République, Eygalières
(+33 (0)4 90 97 26 96)
La Chassagnette
Deep in the Camargue, in a building that used to be a sheepfold, this restaurant is unmissable. Sit in the kitchen garden at lunchtime and enjoy their modern organic, bio-dynamic cuisine. The restaurant even supplies diners with straw hats on sunny days. Typical dishes include squid stuffed with fennel, grilled gilthead sea bream with mushroom fricassé, lamb tagine, and Camargais bull steaks. Reservations advisable. Closed in winter (www.chassagnette.fr).
Route du Sambuc, 13200 Arles, Provence
(+33 (0)4 90 18 25 05)
Le Cilantro
In the heart of the historic town centre of Arles, this modern, contemporary restaurant offers world cuisine with a Mediterranean influence, a wide selection of wines and a good-value fixed-price lunchtime menu.
rue Porte de Laure, 13, Arles
(+33 (0)4 66 67 29 15)
Le Lisita
This restaurant next to the amphitheatre in Nîmes is a stylish option with a fine, seasonally adjusted menu based around local suppliers and ingredients.
Boulevard des Arènes, 2, 3000 Nîmes
(+33 (0)4 66 76 11 00)
Le Magister
Established over 20 years ago, Le Magister is an intimate, family-run restaurant with an extensive menu of Provençal specialities and fine wines of the Languedoc region.
rue Nationale 5, Nîmes
(+33 04 90 95 98 89)
Le Petit Bru
Chez Bru’s baby sister bistro is very popular, with good reason – the food is excellent.
Avenue Jean Jaurès, Eygalières
(+33 (0)4 90 91 07 69)
L’Atelier de Jean-Luc Rabanel
Tucked away on a narrow alley close to the town hall and a short stumble from the Roman amphitheatre, this diminutive 35-seater packs considerable punch in the haute cuisine arena. Book ahead to taste ‘surprise’ menus of 10 or 16 light courses, all created by the immensely talented chef Jean-Luc with sensational seasonal ingredients from the restaurant’s privately commandeered bio-dynamic kitchen farm.
7 rue des Carmes, 13200 Arles
(+33 (0)4 66 37 05 04)
Restaurant L’Amphitryon
Spoil yourself at this sweet courtyard restaurant in postcard-perfect Castillon. Traditional-with-a-twist French dishes created with seasonal, local produce: we loved the roast turbot with fennel and baked clams; and the rack of piglet with a balsamic reduction. The wine list and the cheese trolley are a downright dangerous combination, and you’ll probably want one of the puddings, too, so go for dinner, and go hungry.
Place du Vieux Village, 30210 Castillon du Gard
