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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La Maison sur la Sorgue
- Style
- Well-travelled townhouse
- Setting
- Waterside brocante market
Vaucluse, Provence Eating, drinking and dancing
A selection of Mr & Mrs Smith's favourite restaurants, bars and cafés in Vaucluse. There are more Smith favourites just across the border in nearby Languedoc-Roussillon and in Provence, so check out our eating and drinking recommendations in those destinations, too.
Restaurants
(+33 (0)4 90 14 20 20)
La Mirande
This Michelin-starred restaurant housed in a 700-year-old building, has a beautiful garden terrace, a cookery school, an art gallery, and does a nice line in afternoon teas.
Place de la Mirande 4, Avignon
(+33 (0)6 08 05 63 57)
Anne-Sophie l’Huître et la Vigne
Charming tapas and oyster bar in a modest building among the vines, a 10-minute drive from the Pont du Gard. Start with tapenades and dips (olive, artichoke, sun-dried tomato, brandade) and marinades (baby octopus, prawns and salmon), then move onto a seafood and shellfish platter, loaded with fresh oysters, crayfish, mussels and whelks. Buy some of Anne-Sophie’s own-label rosé to take away. Reservations essential, as opening times vary (www.lhuitreetlavigne.com).
1 route de St Hilaire, Peyre Plantade – D792, 30210 St Hilaire d’Ozilhan, Gard-Provence/Vaucluse
(+33 (0)4 90 61 84 55)
Chalet Reynard
Located above the tree-line, near the summit of the Mont Ventoux, this Alpine brasserie is popular with mountain thrill-seekers all year round.
Mont Ventoux Cote Sud
(+33 (0)4 90 58 39 29)
La Compagnie des Comptoirs
Set in a 14th-century convent, whose handsome cloisters are now fitted with giant cushioned couches, trestle tables and palm trees. Here you can eat chilled zucchini soup, lobster tajine, prune-lacquered duck, or a grilled côte de taureau — that is, bull — a meat popular in the nearby Camargue.
Rue Joseph Vernet, 83, Avignon
(+33 (0)4 90 82 20 22)
Le Bercail
While away the hours in on the leafy terrace at the informal Le Bercail which looks straight across to Avignon's bluffs from its position on an island in the middle of the Rhone.
Chemin des Canotiers, Ile de la Barthelasse, Avignon
(+33 (0)4 90 46 18 12)
Le Grand Pré in Roaix
There’s a romantic atmosphere in this well-known, Michelin-endorsed gem, with a great garden for outdoor dining. Raoul Reichrath, his Mexican wife Flora together with long-time local resident Patricia Wells have created an innovative menu with a discernable Latino influence.
Route de Vaison-la-Romaine, Roaix
(+33 (0)4 90 61 61 09)
Le Mas de la Bonoty
A favourite with ex-pats, this restaurant on the road between St Didier and Pernes serves excellent traditional cuisine of the region.
Chemin Botony
(+33 (0)4 90 30 72 18)
Le Tourne au Verre
Wine bar and restaurant on a well-trodden part of the Cairanne-Gigonadas wine trail with excellent trad French lunch fare; get a table outside in good weather and soak up the sun while you sip hearty Rhone reds and enjoy the simple set menu.
Route de Sainte Cécile, 84290 Cairanne
Cafés
(+33 (0)4 90 12 36 64)
Du Verre a l’Assiette
Modest regional restaurant perfect for a sunny lunch at bistro tables with charcuterie platters, grilled goat’s cheese salads and home-made tarts. Wash down with plenty of the local red stuff, Gigondas (you can buy bottles of the restaurant’s house wines at the little cave shop directly across the little square).
Place du Village, 84190 Gigondas, Côtes du Rhone
