It Isn’t Too Late To Book The Ideal Provence Vacation This Summer

Provence Emotional Escapes introduces three new gorgeous luxury villas for your dream vacation. Whether you envision a Provencal gourmet escape with a personal chef, an outdoor getaway filled with tennis, hiking, and biking, a retreat with your own personal lavender field, or the ultimate Provencal shopping adventure, these luxury homes offer something for every kind of traveler.

Rent a Provence Emotional Escapes luxury villa and encounter an entirely new way to travel. Enjoy a cooking class in Provence, tour a Chateauneuf du Pape vineyard, discover the lavender harvest in the Luberon, the possibilities are endless. At the end of each day you will find yourself in your very own short-term dream home to fully enjoy a stress-free vacation. Should you desire an intimate meal cooked in your villa by a private chef, an in-home spa treatment, a walking tour, a yoga session, a cooking class or a language lesson, Provence Emotional Escapes, will find you the perfect luxury service provider to complete your holiday experience. Provence Emotional Escapes’ portfolio of luxury rental properties has been amassed over 12 years with most discerning clients in mind. The company relies on local managers at each of their destinations to seek out the best properties for their clients and to ensure that their current portfolio of properties are being maintained at the highest standards. They corner the market on offering an unprecedented selection of quality rental properties in the most beautiful destinations in France.  Their local specialists work together to pool regional knowledge, offering expertise on a global scale. Just relax, indulge, enjoy, breathe and let Provence Emotional Escapes do the rest. www.provence.emotional-escapes.com

Fontaine de Saumane (Isle sur la Sorgue, sleeps 18)

Fontaine de Saumane is a spectacular property dominating the countryside close to Isle sur la Sorgue and the Luberon. Undoubtedly one of the most stunning properties in Provence, it has all that a discriminating visitor could want: a long and fascinating history; an impeccable and careful restoration, which, while keeping many aspects of the ancient building, melded them perfectly into the newer construction. The estate has a superlative location close to the Luberon, with views on the national park and the Monts de Vaucluse. La Fontaine de Saumane is centrally located, thus an ideal place from which to visit the many Provençal attractions travelers want to see.

This is a grand estate was restored by English designer and architect, Giles Vincent with both comfort and authenticity in mind. The main house has seven bedrooms, each with bathrooms en-suite. There is an apartment in the main house as well, and a guest house set away from the main house, with two bedrooms, sharing a bathroom. The estate was named after the many magnificent water features on the 40 acre site. La Fontaine de Saumane has an extraordinarily rich history. During its existence the property has been used as a tile making factory, and at one point as a Benedictine Priory. It was given over to agriculture and silk worms in the 19th century before silk worms were devastated by disease.

Key features include:

·        10 minute drive from L’Isle sur la Sorgue, the famous market and antique center, 30 minutes from Gordes and the Luberon, with many of the perched villages classified among “france’s most beautiful villages,” 30 minutes to Carpentras home to the oldest synagogue in France, and 40 minutes to some of the most famous Cotes-du-Rhone wine villages of Chateauneuf-du-Pape, Gigondas, Vacqueras, and Beaumes-de-Venise

·        An on-site housekeeper and gardener

·        Fresh bread and croissants delivered daily

·        Tennis, jogging, hiking, biking and extensive parkland at your doorstep

·        A quick drive to Bedoin, one of three access points cyclists take to climb the world famous Mont Ventoux, the highest mountain in Provence, made famous by the Tour de France

Chateau Condrieu (Isle sur la Sorgue, sleeps 10)

A stunning, historical luxury vacation rental enjoying an elevated, dominating position with far-reaching views over the Ventoux valley, Château Condrieu was built on remains of a 12th century fortress, but has been enhanced with all the modern conveniences. Making for a truly hedonistic stay, the on-site chef will prepare breakfast, lunch and dinner for you daily so that you can enjoy the site, its vistas and your vacation to the maximum. You can expect to be treated to regional and seasonal specialties during your stay: asparagus, mushrooms and strawberries in the spring; cherries, peaches and melons in summer; mushrooms, game and truffles in fall and winter. Meals can of course be accompanied by the fantastic local wines. The house is filled with special finds from the world-famous antique center of L’Isle sur la Sorgue, just minutes away.

La Maison des Fragrances (St-Remy-de-Provence, sleeps 13)

Enjoy your own personal lavender field at La Maison des Fragrances, a luxury vacation rental in the outskirts of St-Rémy-de-Provence, one of the most beautiful small towns in Provence. This beautiful home owned by descendants of the family that introduced aromatherapy to France, boasts 20 acres of olive orchards, pine groves, lavender fields and cypress trees, a large swimming pool and total privacy. Just a few minute walk from the center of town, there are six bedrooms with bathrooms en suite, sleeping 13 guests. Past meets present in this stunning home. The interior is a mix of beautiful, authentic Provencal furniture in a home that has been fully modernized. The estate is quite large, with a large welcoming entry courtyard, lots of tables under mature trend trees for outdoor dining. St-Rémy-de-Provence, is known as a sophisticated country town with some of the best Provence has to offer including:

·        Central location, with great historical significance including the ancient Roman town of Glanum, the birthplace of Nostradamus and St. Paul de Mausole, with its 12^th century cloister and chapel, and the hospital where Van Gogh lived for most of the last year of his life

·        Excellent cafes and restaurants including excellent regional cuisine and world renowned Michelin star restaurants

·        Famous Wednesday morning Provencal market, excellent permanent foods, local boutiques and galleries

·        Close to excellent Alpilles vineyards as well as Cotes-du-Rhone, Chateauneuf-duPape, Gigondas, and Vacqueryas

Exploring Europe Through The Eyes Of Van Gogh

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In the 125 years since Vincent Van Gogh’s death, his paintings have inspired countless art lovers to scramble for a map.

Scenes conjured by Van Gogh’s paintbrush – the billowing skies of Starry Night, his swooning Sunflowers, Provence’s cypress groves – make many of us wish we could step right into his paintings.

Pin this imageVincent Van Gogh, seen here in a bronze statue in the Netherlands, has inspired many travellers to explore Europe . Image by Paulina Lenting-Smulders / E+ / Getty Images

American artist Mac Cauley created a virtual reality experience allowing users to do just that. But more enjoyable than strapping on a headset is seeking out the locales that glow so irresistibly in Van Gogh’s work. The locations of his most famous paintings form an arc from Belgium and the Netherlands through to Provence in the south of France. Some are wonderfully unchanged, others have been eroded by time and tourism. But they all offer glimpses into the artist’s mind – plus an excellent excuse to explore some of western Europe’s loveliest regions.

Rural intrigue in Nuenen, Netherlands

Pin this imageNuenen hasn't changed a great deal since Van Gogh painted the town all those years ago. Image by Luis Davilla / Photolibrary / Getty Images

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Wandering Nuenen today, with only the whirr of bicycle spokes disturbing the streets, is calming. Some might say soporific. But it was in this peaceable Dutch town, amid churning watermills and tree-lined lanes, that Van Gogh completed his first major work.

Having spent his early life travelling between the Netherlands, England and France, he paused in Nuenen, 7km east of Eindhoven, to spend a couple of years avidly sketching farm workers. His breakthrough was The Potato Eaters (1885), a complex, earthy depiction of a family settling in for a meal.

It’s a smouldering image, one that brims with life. Following the painting’s origins to sleepy Nuenen might have you blinking in surprise. But the contrast was precisely Van Gogh’s aim: he wanted to reveal the lesser-seen aspects of peasant life, with all its earnest, robust pleasures.

Experience it: Nuenen’s major sight for fans of the artist is Van Gogh Village (vangoghvillagenuenen.nl), rich in stories about his early life and archives of his letters. It has an ‘outdoor museum’ that leads a trail through sights in Nuenen that he sketched. Nuenen is thin on sights from Van Gogh’s major works but a stroll from the south end of Parkstraat up to the north end of Berg bypasses the artist’s former lodgings; slightly north of here is Gerwenseweg, thought to be where he painted The Potato Eaters.

Self-abuse in Antwerp, Belgium

Pin this imageThe Belgian city of Antwerp has modernised, but some of the sights from Van Gogh's day - such as the Grote Market - remain. Image by Jorg Greuel / The Image Bank / Getty Images

Shortly afterwards, Van Gogh painted his iconic Skull with a Burning Cigarette (1885-6). Details are hazy, but it's thought this famously macabre image came from Van Gogh’s time as a frustrated student of Antwerp's Academy of Art.

Some see this work as a swipe at artistic dogma. For others, it alludes to Van Gogh's (partly self-inflicted) poor health. During his time in Antwerp, Van Gogh was enfeebling himself on a diet of bread and tobacco. He began to seek solace in absinthe, the anise-flavoured spirit known for its green colour and mild psychoactive properties. All the while he worked voraciously, sketching the city sights.

Experience it: Today’s Antwerp has a slick modernity thoroughly alien to the creaking port city Van Gogh knew. To marvel at the contrast, stroll from gabled 16th-century Vleeshuis down to steel-lined Theaterplein. But some sights remain the same: from the Het Steen fortress on the banks of the Schelde, walk east to Grote Markt – Van Gogh faithfully sketched both of these well-preserved sights.

Capturing the romance of Provence, France

Pin this imageVan Gogh committed himself to the Saint Paul-de-Mausole asylum in Saint-Rémy, but produced works of sublime beauty in spite of his mental anguish. Image by Helena Lovincic / iStock / Getty Images

In Provence, the air is thick with the fragrance of lavender. Cicadas as big as a thumb whirr across wheat fields that blush gold with the setting sun. Here in southern France, mostly around Arles and Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, the artist painted with the most vibrant colours of his career.

Van Gogh lavished his canvases with Provence’s cypress and olive groves. In city scenes like Café Terrace at Night (1888), he hinted at the excitement and mischief of Arles’ nightlife. The same month, Van Gogh painted Starry Night over the Rhone (1888), whose light-dappled view remains the same today, mere paces from where Van Gogh lodged on Arles’ Place Lamartine.

But this was also the period when Van Gogh’s mental health would dramatically relapse. Following an absinthe binge and an argument with his artist friend Gauguin, he mutilated his own ear. Despite his distress, and voluntary commitment to the Saint Paul-de-Mausole asylum in nearby Saint-Rémy, his works from this period are suffused with Provence’s natural beauty – especially in the celestial swirl of his famous Starry Night (1889).

Experience it: Base yourself in Arles, best known for its well-preserved Roman arena and the Camargue wetlands to its south. A few paces west of the arena (which Van Gogh painted), down Rue des Arènes, is Le Cafe la Nuit. This is the spot featured in Van Gogh's Café Terrace at Night; sadly it's a tourist trap today. From Arles, the half-hour drive to Saint-Rémy takes you past cypress groves galore; in Saint-Rémy village you’ll find Saint-Paul-de-Mausole asylum, facing the wheat field he painted in 1889-90.

Final days in Auvers-sur-Oise, France

Pin this imageAt the end of his tormented life, Van Gogh moved to Auvers-sur-Oise, France, where he painted the local church. Image Michel Mory / iStock / Getty Images

Van Gogh's last days were intense and solitary. The artist followed his doctor Paul Gachet, a firm friend and muse, to Auvers-sur-Oise (27km northwest of Paris). Here, he painted the Church at Auvers (1890); its sweeping lines create a wild, almost ominous version of the tidy edifice that still stands here today.

Though new research leads some to believe Van Gogh was murdered, he is generally understood to have died by suicide. It has become commonplace to cite Van Gogh's Wheatfield with Crows (1890), in which birds soar haphazardly over a darkening meadow, as a final outpouring of melancholy. In reality there is scant evidence that this painting was Van Gogh's last. His final creative outpourings vary wonderfully in tone, from pensive portraits of his doctor and torrid thunderclouds to lush Daubigny’s garden.

Experience it: Visiting Auvers, you can admire remarkably unchanged sights from Van Gogh's paintings. North of the train station lies the Church at Auvers. Walking west along Rue de Général de Gaulle you can see the town hall he painted. The street parallel, Rue Gachet, is where Van Gogh's doctor resided. Facing the town hall is the Ravoux Inn, where Van Gogh breathed his last. This once-humble tavern is a Michelin-starred restaurant today (maisondevangogh.fr). And yes, you will find absinthe on the drinks menu.

Van Gogh 2015: 125th anniversary events around Europe

Pin this imageThe illuminated cycle path in Nuenen is inspired by Van Gogh's Starry Night. Image by Luis Davilla / Photolibrary / Getty Images

A clutch of special events commemorate 125 years since the death of Van Gogh; check vangogheurope.eu for the full programme. Highlights include:

• An illuminated cycle path inspired by Starry Night in Nuenen (until December 2015).
• Van Gogh-inspired menus and art-food fusion in Ede (until December 2015).
• Delving into Van Gogh's final days in Auvers-sur-Oise (until 20 September 2015).
• The unveiling of 20 new works by contemporary artists, all inspired by Van Gogh, in Amsterdam (until January 2016).

This  Vincent Van Gogh page provides visitors with Van Gogh's bio, over 80 of his works, exclusive articles, as well as up-to-date Van Gogh exhibition listings. The page also includes related artists and categories, allowing viewers to discover art beyond our Van Gogh page. We would love to be included as an additional resource for your visitors via a link on your page. 

Contributed by Anita Isalska 

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