La Belle Histoire

Bédoin, a village in the Vaucluse region of Provence, is a cyclist mecca. It’s a gateway to the formidable Mont Ventoux that often features in the Tour de France cycling event. There are 3 different roads to reach the summit.

View across the top of Mont Ventoux

The ascent from Bédoin is the most famous and difficult with an average gradient of 7.7% for 21.4km, which starts at an elevation of 273 m reaching the summit at 1919 m. The top of the mountain is barren and feels like a lunar landscape. The views are spectacular. One moment you can see forever but if the clouds descend, you can barely see in front of you and then there is the wind, hence it’s name. Being at the summit, you really know that you are alive.

At the summit, cyclists pause to take in the view and enjoy their accomplishment before descending at a rapid rate on the steep and winding road.

We have visited the area on quite a few occasions. We have previously enjoyed accommodation in the foothills of the mountain, in the commune of Saint-Colombe and also in the nearby village of Malaucène, which is the start of another ascent to the summit of Mont Ventoux. Our next stay had to be in Bédoin itself.

Because it is such a popular base for cyclists it can be a challenge to find the right place to stay. We prefer self-contained accommodation, whenever possible, and travelling in summer we know that air-conditioning is a must.

La Belle Histoire looking across the garden to the main building with the parking area on the left

I was excited when my accommodation search for our 2020 trip found La Belle Histoire in Bédoin. In fact we decided to extend our initial 1 week booking to 2 weeks, in order to really absorb life in this part of France and enjoy plenty of cycling.

Summer garden with oleander. olive and plum trees

Of course the plan for 2020 was cancelled because of Covid. We are extremely thankful to Nathalie and Manu for their complete understanding of our situation and we received a full refund of our booking. However, that wasn’t the end of our correspondence. We formed a wonderful social media friendship, with lots of greetings and comments about each other’s lives. Our plan was that we would rebook in the future or at least we hoped to, if the world opened up again.

Nathalie and Manu the owners and amazing hosts of La Belle Histoire are cycling enthusiasts and happy to share their local knowledge

Another booking attempt in 2022, when we thought we could organise a trip for 2023 but a number of reasons held us back from proceeding. Finally, when we began planning for 2024, I naturally contacted Nathalie directly and voilà, we had a booking for a week in June.

view from La Belle Histoire with Mont Ventoux

La Belle Histoire consists of the owner’s home and 3 independent gites. A gite is a small apartment and 2 of these are part of the main building with private entrances. We chose Gite Montmiral – which is a separate building within the grounds.  See the photos below.

The cottage was very spacious and perfect for the two of us for the week. We had a bedroom with small ensuite. There was a separate toilet and an extra storage cupboard.

Our bedroom in Gite Montmiral

A cosy sitting room equipped with television, games and reading material

The living room, dining and kitchen areas are adjoined. The kitchen is fully equipped and has a large fridge and washing machine. The air-conditioning unit is situated on the wall in the kitchen.

Our gite had two terraces, one at the entrance to the bedroom and one at the rear from the kitchen/dining. Here there is a private vine covered pergola, with table, chairs and other seating. Just a few steps around the corner and you reach the pool area.

The poolside area has ample seating opportunities for all the guests, including comfy sun lounges and there is also a picnic style table and benches on the grassed area.

The property is childfree as the pool is not fenced. The property has some plum and olive trees plus there flowering plants like oleander and lavender. Nathalie and Manu have a separate garden from their living quarters, where their 2 dogs spend time.

The property also has a dedicated ‘bike cottage’. A secure lock up area for bikes complete with tools and Manu is on hand to assist if needed. Nathalie and Manu are enthusiastic cyclists who know the area well and enjoy accompanying guests for bike rides. Many of their guests are repeat customers who they have formed friendships with. Easy cycling is possible from the door even if you aren’t up to the challenge of Mont Ventoux. More about cycling in a future post.

The dedicated ‘bike cottage’ is through the glass doors at the bottom left of the house. It is a secure lock up for bicycles. Manu is more than happy to assist you with setting up your bike and providing information on local cycling routes for all levels of cycling.

Nathalie and Manu were very generous hosts. From the moment I pressed the intercom to the property, we were greeted as friends and made very welcome. It was made clear to us that we were to feel like we were home. Our welcome gift was a bottle of delicious local rosé and a bowl of cherries. We were able to use their BBQ for the entire week. We made good use of it too.

We loved the use of the BBQ and enjoyed eating outdoors almost every evening.

We purchased our food from the local supermarket. The weekly market is extensive, but we had already made plans for a long bike ride on the same day and weren’t able to take advantage of the many stalls of food. Although we did walk through the market it wasn’t possible to stop with the bikes because it was so lively and a bit of a squeeze but we did stop for a refreshing drink before riding home.

A view across the garden to our gite

Returning from our bike rides or after a day out in the car, we loved returning to the haven of La Belle Histoire to enjoy some time wandering around the garden or relaxing by the pool. There was plenty of time for a few refreshing dips in the pool. We chatted with our hosts and the other quests, enjoying the summer weather. I made good use of this area to read and paint when Chris ventured out for some more arduous rides.

Bédoin itself is a lively town with shops including several dedicated to bikes. There is a variety of places to eat including cafes, bars and restaurants serving anything from pizza to fine dining. There are even two boulangeries, an ice cream shop, the supermarket already mentioned where we could also purchase charcoal for the BBQ and a good range of wine.

There are plenty of wonderful places to visit in this area of Vaucluse, Provence and we are yet to exhaust the possibilites but our visits have lead us to Sault, Gigondas, Villes-sur-Auzon, Flassan, Marzan, Beaumes-des-Venise, Venasque and Vaison-la-Romaine. Further afield there is the city of Avignon and more about that in my next blogpost.

Our week passed by too quickly and we were sad to leave our lovely hosts and the new home we had discovered. I presented them with the painting that I had worked on during the week and they were very happy.

My watercolour painting of La Belle Histoire. I presented this to Nathalie and Manu as a gift.

Chris says that Bédoin feels like home and perhaps if money was abundant, it would be lovely to consider a second home in this part of France but for now we hope to return to La Belle Histoire sometime soon.

Feels like home

Un grand Merci Nathalie et Manu. You can read more about their beautiful property, including the very romantic story of their meeting here. Most importantly contact La Belle Histoire.or your special holiday booking. You certainly don’t need to be a cyclist to enjoy the area. Please check out their Instagram and Facebook accounts too.

Next time: We spend a special day in Avignon, please join me. À bientôt!