My husband and I, our children and our grandchildren live in England, Canada and New Zealand. Our family and friends love coming to our French retreat to enjoy the sunshine, the chance to relax and the many attractions of this special part of France.
We made the first of many visits to Provence from the UK in 2010 and fell in love with the beautiful medieval villages, vineyards, olive groves and lavender fields of this part of France. We loved Provence so much that we decided to buy an old, traditional, stone house in the small hamlet of La Lauze in the foothills of Mt Ventoux, which was in need of serious restoration. La Lauze has a fascinating history. Abandoned by its inhabitants around the time of WW1, it was brought back to life by the hard work and determination of one family, who bought plots of land and old, ruined, stone houses in the 1960s and gradually rebuilt and restored some of the buildings and the hamlet itself. Now La Lauze is considered to be one of the most charming and beautiful places in the commune of Blauvac.
We bought our house in 2015 and now, five years later, it has been lovingly and carefully restored and modernised, although we have been at pains to keep all its character and Provencal charm. We live in England most of the time but this is our second home and we visit it at least twice a year for several weeks at a time. It's a place for us to relax and refresh our spirits with the colours, sights and sounds of rural Provence.

Our house is comfortably furnished and equipped with modern conveniences yet still old fashioned and traditionally Provencal. Its setting is beautiful and unique: the stone houses of the hamlet are clustered together at the end of a no through road, which winds from the D942 through woods until it ends on the verges of the Gorges de la Nesque. There is very little traffic and the peace and calm is wonderful. Our garden is full of bees and butterflies, irises and lavender, lizards and the occasional red squirrel.

From La Lauze it is a relatively short journey to the Luberon national park and Avignon, Aix-en-Provence, St Remy, Orange and Arles are all within easy driving distance. The Mediterranean, Marseilles and the Camargue are a little further away but still easily accessible. The area is a magnet for keen cyclists, hikers and walkers and there are many routes and tracks for the fit and the not so fit. (Electric bikes are available for hire in Villes-sur-Auzon). From the summit of Mt Ventoux on a clear day there is an amazing view of the Alps and of the landscape of the Drome region, as well as a panorama of the Vaucluse.

Although our house is off the beaten track, Villes-sur-Auzon is about eight kilometres away, with a range of shops, a supermarket, a wine cooperative, bars and restaurants and a post office. The large town of Carpentras is about 15 kilometres away, where there is a large, weekly market, lots of shops and superstores. The pretty, hilltop village of Sault is about 15 kilometres in the other direction and has a lively weekly market. Sault, Malaucene and Bedoin are the access points to the three routes up Mt Ventoux. There are many beautiful, medieval 'perched' villages to be visited in the area, including Bonnieux, Gordes, Lacoste, Roussillon and Venasque.