A short flight to Marseille, an extremely long passport control queue then a taxi that went via the wrong hotel and we arrived! Our hotel, Domaine La Pierre Blanche was a lovely little spot in the French countryside, small and boutique with a restored farmhouse vibe.
We headed straight to the pool to catch the last of the days rays on one of the huge comfy sun beds and enjoyed a delicious burrata salad, pomme frites and some rosé, perfect. After a quick freshen up we headed to L’amber the hotels sunset bar for a cocktail, this is a gorgeous little spot looking over the Validation vineyard next door. Dinner was L’opale, the hotels main restaurant where Dan had monkfish and I went for steak, both very tasty.
The next day after breakfast we waited patiently for our friends to arrive and then spent the afternoon catching up over a few drinks by the pool. We were also treated to some live jazz music which was delightful! Late afternoon we borrowed electric Vespas from the hotel and headed to the nearby town of Eygalières, this place is so cute, full of quaint little buildings. We walked up the hill for a glorious view of the town and countryside before picking a spot at one of the cafes in the square to watch the world go by, sharing a bottle of champagne and few games of shithead. Dinner was Chez Paulette which is a local institution and the food was delicious, washed down with some more local wine of course, a lovely evening.
Monday morning was spent by the pool before we jumped on the Vespas again to explore some of the local vineyards. First stop was Domaine de la Vallongue where we tasted a few of the wines there and bought a bottle for later. Next was Château Romanin where we did a short tour including the impressive cave in which they keep their huge oak barrels and a beautiful view from the top of the property. Then another tasting including 5 wines, 2 olive oils and a brandy. After that we stopped at the Fromagerie in town for some cheese and headed back to the hotel for a pool side picnic and a dip.
That evening we were back to the sunset bar for some cocktails and tapas, several bottles of wine and lots of laughs. The hotel eventually stopped serving us and turned off all the lights so we had to call it a night. The next morning we were feeling a little delicate so had a suitably lazy couple of hours by the pool before it was time to head back to the airport.
Such a good trip, lovely to spend time with Hannah & Andrew, the area is super nice and exploring on the Vespas was great fun, lots of delicious food and wine and even made friends with a few dogs. Score for the weekend? 10/10
If you like Piña Coladas... 