Bastide Saint Georges

IF YOU’VE READ ALL THOSE ENTICING books about Brits putting down roots in sunny southern France, you couldn’t find a better base for checking out the provençal lifestyle than Bastide Saint Georges.

This appealing little place – just our kind of romantic getaway in France – is tucked away a mile or so outside Forcalquier. This is the kind of lived-in town that has plenty of local colour and a fabulous weekly food market, yet isn’t chock-full of tourists in summer.

Bastide St Georges fetchingly sums up the spirit of the area. Far from being a hotel in the strictest sense, it’s a sprawling hamlet of little cottage-style buildings grouped around a wide lawn sprinkled with olive trees. There’s a pool centre stage and views of the Luberon hills beyond.

Inside, everything drips with coolly elegant shades and a stripped-back feel. Rooms come in shades of neutral – everything from chalky white to biscuit, cappuccino and bittersweet chocolate – set off by whitewashed beams, bleached driftwood tables, hessian rugs, soft linens and cane armchairs.

Bamboo and ivory

Walls are subtly distressed or rough-textured, while immaculate bathrooms are tiled in natural stone and piled with delicious L’Occitane bathtime goodies. And each room has its own terrace where you can read in the shade or toast in the sun. Ours was done out in shades of bamboo and ivory with splashy cushions and a muslin-canopied bed.

Bastide Saint Georges has inviting communal areas, too. Like the wide terrace hung with flowers where we munched our croissants in the morning and polished off a bottle of local Luberon vino with a mound of dark olives at dusk. Or the flagstone-floored lounge, with its white timbered ceiling, ornate mirrors and high-backed raffia chairs.

Walk past the pool, ringed with sunloungers, and at the edge of this rave-worthy little estate there’s a restaurant serving commendable local fare. It’s smart and clean-cut inside, with relaxed terrace looking out towards the hills.

Nearby Forcalquier is just the sort of place to amble around during the day, with wiggly little backstreets, a couple of good patisseries and a crumbling castle at the top of the hill. Provence on a plate.

© Room for Romance