• 5
• My new favorite place in the world

Our 3-night stay here was perhaps the most refreshing, revitalizing vacation my husband and I have ever taken. Let's talk about the food first: it's amazing. Gaia, the chef, made us a gourmet breakfast, picnic lunch, and dinner each day - and I swear, we haven't eaten this well in... well, certainly not since we went vegan, and maybe not ever. We're talking "my grandmother doesn't feed me this well" good: comforting, nourishing, and delicious. I have eaten in probably 40 or more different Happy Cow reviewed restaurants in the past few years, including two Michelin-starred vegetarian restaurants - but Gaia's cooking is by far my favorite anywhere. My husband and I already started daydreaming: If we ever win the lottery and can afford a private chef, we are either going to try to hire Gaia or fly our chef out to Provence to be trained by Gaia. My favorite recipes: a spicy Italian sausage with pasta, a flaky apple pastry hot out of the oven, the waffles in the morning, sesame seed pastry puffs as a welcome-to-the-B&B-snack, a crisp pasta salad with vegan coleslaw and peanut butter cookies in our picnic basket. I've never had so much energy on vacation as a vegan, because I've never been able to eat so well and so much at every meal. Okay, now let's talk setting. The B & B is set on a pretty large and gorgeous swatch of land, it feels tucked away and very private, and the air is clear and beautiful as you would expect in Provence. It has its own fruit trees and grapes - you can each right off the tree and vine, which we did. B & B rooms are very pretty, very cozy, and just as rustic as you would hope in such a setting without sacrificing any comfort. You can walk or bike to nearby villages, or run as we did, through the hilly terrain of the Provenical countryside. Finally, hospitality. Gaia and her family are amazing. Her husband, son and daughter all pitch in, and they even have a superfriendly dog that will race over to you to say hello. They gave us great advice for where to go, what to see, and were just super-lovely to sit on the porch with a chat awhile. They went out of their way to make us feel comfortable and well taken care of. I caught a cold on our last night, and Gaia and her husband actually served our 3-course meal, one course at a time, to our room so I could eat in bed. They even packed some biscotti for us on our way out so we could have some vegan snacks on the long trip back to San Francisco. Summary: a seven-star experience.