We just spent a fantastic week at "Villa Penard" in Vaison-La-Romaine, as a family of 6: 2 grand-parents (who used the bedroom and bathroom on the main floor), 2 parents and 2 kids (who used the 3 bedrooms and bathroom on the upper floor). We had a great time. Here is what we loved the most about the house:
* The owners Pierre and Nadia are very friendly and helpful, and live next door. They truly did their best to help us have a great stay. For example, it was nice to wake up on the first day (after a late arrival the night before) to realize that there were some Nespresso coffee pods available, so that we could make some coffee prior to going grocery-shopping. One day Nadia brought us some fresh cherries they had just picked up in their yard. Another day we had some relatives come over for a "pool party", and Pierre came in the morning to check and inflate all the pool toys, and even brought us more so that the kids could have fun.
* The house is immaculate and made of high-quality materials.
* The neighborhood is very quiet: we slept with our windows open, and did not hear a thing except birds and crickets (and there were no mosquitoes to spoil the fun)
* The pool is large, very clean, beautiful, and our kids loved the inflatable toys.
* The covered patio is very nice - we ate all of our meals there in the shade, enjoying the fresh air.
* The house is well-equipped, with all needed appliances (washing machine, dishwasher, coffee makers, microwave, outdoor electric "plancha"/grill etc...), linens, towels, lounge chairs etc..
* The house stayed cool even on hot days.
* Vaison is only a couple of kilometers away (about 3 to 5 minutes by car) and has ample free parking - handy to pick up fresh bread and croissants at the bakery in the morning, or to go to the market on Tuesday and Satuday morning.
* Lots of activities nearby, such as visiting Roman ruins in Vaison and Orange (impressive theater), visiting Provence villages like Seguret and Gigondas, hiking (or biking) in the "Dentelles de Montmirail" above Gigondas, wine tasting etc... If you saw the movie "A good year", the actual square and restaurant were scenes of the movies were shot are in Villedieu, about 5km away from the house.
* Other activities, a little further away: doing a day trip to Avignon, visiting the amazing replica of the Chauvet cave (prehistoric cave paintings), canoeing down the Ardèche river etc...
We highly recommend Pierre and Nadia's house, and hope to come back soon
