The good life – home or away?
This isn’t the world’s biggest problem, but not completely irrelevant either. Winnie the Pooh has an elegant solution: ”Yes please, both”. And there is little doubt that the good life in Provence can be lived both at home and in Cotignac village, as well as anywhere around the neighbourhood!
An evening barbeque by the pool?
In the summer the sun comes up early and rises up high in the sky. Sometimes it comes as a real relief when the sun finally disappears at 6pm behind the cliff that has possibly given Cotignac its name (Celtic: rock, cliff). The heat lingers for hours in the garden walls and flag stones. Light the outside lamps or the pool lights, enjoy your grilled, garlic and rosemary marinated lamb chops (just a suggestion!), and watch the floodlit Saracen towers balancing on the cliff top. Time to get philosophical?
Tuesday afternoon: Provencal market in the main square.
Honey, olives, pottery, knives, clothes, cheap sunglasses, flowers, the best fruit and vegetables in the world, golden chicken roasting temptingly, delicious cheeses... and that’s just some of what this market has to offer. Cotignac’s main square, Cours Cambetta, is the best we have visited in any Provence village. Below enormous maple trees you’ll find a fantastic mix of people, both in the market itself and at the pavement cafés and restaurants. We suggest having lunch after the market has finished, in order to watch locals packing up their wares and dogs splashing contentedly in the fountains.
Use our guide books and maps
You’ll find them in the top drawer of the desk in the upper glass terrace, full of descriptions of, and directions to towns, restaurants, vineyards, walks, museums and galleries. It’s good to find your own way around too.
Taking it easy by the pool in the sunshine
This is a fantastic way to spend the day, not least for children! Maybe someone will have wandered the three or four minutes down to the grocery shop or the baker’s to get ham, cheese, some fruit and vegetables, as well as fresh baguettes and croissants? Get ready for lunch by the pool! Green fingered guests are very welcome to do the odd bit of weeding, and to water thirsty plants. We recommend stocking up on cold drinks in the downstairs fridge. You can drink the tap water, but we usually buy ours.
If you’re the active type
After 30 sit-ups and a morning dip you are ready to conquer the world. What can we suggest? Well, there are a couple of mountain bikes in the garage. You can take great walks in all directions. There are petanque balls on the shelf in the hallway and the playing field is only four minutes’ walk downtown. You’ll find a quick guide to the international petanque rules here: www.petanque.org It’s good to know the rules, because you may risk being invited to play by the local champions. They are usually aged 60+, wear caps and have impressive balls which aren’t anywhere near as shiny as ours… You can also throw yourself off a mountain in a hang glider, play golf, drive a go-cart, or whatever else you may fancy. Try these links to get started: www.beyond.fr/sports
Another day: Outing.
Trendy places like St. Tropez and Antibes are only an hour’s drive away. But once you arrive, you may suddenly find yourself in a long, slow queue, watching the lucky few who have found somewhere to park. So you may as well drive the 20 minutes to the old town in Brignoles, which has many good shops and relatively few tourists. Aix-en Provence is another good option, with hundreds of lovely, small shops and cosy restaurants. And lots of tourists... Half an hour north lies the big lake Lac de St. Croix, where you can take a drive up the mountain roads or rent a canoe or pedal boat and explore the river down in the Gorges du Verdon (link) canyon. Take a big packed lunch or opt for a restaurant in the stunning Moustiers de St. Marie village. We could go on forever...