Where to Stay in Provence: Mas 9 Romanin

It was 2018 and Romain Avy was living in the UK, working as a mechanical engineer, when he got the call to come home to Provence. 

After farming the same land for four generations, his family had made the extremely difficult decision to give up on agriculture and convert the buildings on their vast St. Remy property for tourism.

This month, Romain (now 35), his brother Laurent and his dad Remi will put the finishing touches on the sixth (and probably final) cottage on this idyllic, historic domaine. Provence is filled with fantastic places to stay and year to year it’s impossible to keep up with all the new ones. But I recently visited the Avys' place for the first time and knew immediately I wanted to tell you about it!

Mas Neuf Romanin (aka Mas 9 Romanin) consists of six houses and apartments of various sizes, five of them with private pools, all built in and around the enormous old farmhouse and its outbuildings. Surrounding them are 50 hectares (120 acres) of farmland that once produced vast quantities of apples, pears and wine grapes. Back in the day, the Avys also made and sold their own wine.

But as the years passed, it became clear that, for a number of reasons, farming here was no longer sustainable, at least not for this family. Today virtually all their fields are laying fallow.

As far as family farms go, 100-plus years is a very-good run…but still. 

Although no one quite knows when the big mas (farmhouse) was originally built--there’s a Roman fountain on the property--Romain’s great grandfather Roger starting farming here around 1910 or 1920. Later, when Romain’s grandparents decided to move off the property and into the village, grand-père Robert was still at the farm every day. Romain grew up in a house across the street, where his mom now lives. He remembers playing hide and seek in the gite that’s now called Mamy, in honor of his grand-mère.

Romain earned his engineering degree in Toulon, then took himself off to the UK at age 22, primarily to improve his English. His three-month stay became five years and he was happily working in the auto industry when that call came beckoning him home. With help from a small crew of local artisans, he and his dad set to work and the first gite, called Papy, had just been finished when Covid hit France in early 2020. Tourism came to a screeching halt but construction did not; by the time people could travel again, a few more pretty gites had been finished…just about one every year. The sixth will be ready for renters next month.

Ranging in size from one to five bedrooms, they’re bright, warm and inviting…blending rustic charm with relaxed elegance while grounded in the farm’s rich history. Old materials were repurposed when possible. For example Romain fronted new kitchen drawers in one gite with wood from the old building itself, while wood beams from an old roof were transformed into a dining table. One set of bedside tables was crafted from a massive fallen plane tree branch; another was made from Romain’s grandmother’s travailleuse, which stored threads and needles for sewing.

Each gite is unique but common elements include art-glass lighting, splashes of color, pretty wallpaper accents and natural materials such as stone, rattan, terra cotta, leather and wood.

Sandrine Chabaud, a family friend, helped with interior design.

All the gites have modern kitchens, dishwashers, washing machines and convertible air conditioning/heating units which means they can be rented year round. The largest gite, which sleeps 12, has a grand fireplace.

With the exception of one on the second-floor of the mas, the cottages all have private outdoor terraces with dining tables and a barbecue or plancha. And all but one have a private pool.

While other family members are involved in the business in various ways, it’s Romain who runs the show. He’ll confirm your reservation, answer your questions and probably be there to greet you and get you settled. He’ll be happy to suggest restaurants and the best sites to visit, around St. Remy and across Provence. While the lodgings here are marketed as “self-catering,” Romain will do whatever he can to make sure you have a wonderful stay.

Guests are welcome to wander into “the museum”: an open barn filled with relics such as a pre-war Caterpillar D2 (hidden successfully from the Nazis by Romain’s grandfather) and a boat motor that the family says was used during the debarquement, in either Normandy or Provence. Romain also remembers hearing that the pétanque pitch was originally dug out by German POWs. A huge old scale that weighed fruit-filled tractors sits in the forecourt.

The artist Christian Manoury has his studio at one end of the property and is happy to show his work and talk art with interested visitors. (To reach him: +33 6 75 09 72 89, insideout13@wanadoo.fr, @christan.manoury).

Mas Neuf Romanin is located on one my favorite roads in St. Remy: gently curving, heavily wooded, very agricultural and very beautiful. When heading home from anywhere east of St. Remy, I often turn off the D99 and take this old road, the Ancienne Voie Aurelia, instead. Beautiful horses graze in pretty pastures to the north; farms and old homes, framed by old plane trees and towering cypress, line the road on the south…the Alpilles Mountains in the distance. The light, particularly just before sunset, is stunning.

This is a beautiful area for hiking and biking. The 12^th-century chapel Notre dame de Romanin is a stone’s throw away.  At the Aérodrome de Romanin, our tiny airport, the Aeroclub de St. Remy offers “baptismal” glider flights and a flight school for beginning and advanced glider pilots. On days when the wind and weather are just right, you'll see the planes circling gracefully over the mountains.

All around Mas 9 Romanin, other farms are still producing apples, pears, olives and wine grapes. In fact the Avy’s neighbors include two of the finest wine producers in the region: Domaine Hauvette (not open for visits, tasting or sales) and the historic Chateau Romanin (very much open for all three things and more). Not far away in either direction you’ll find the wineries Domaine Milan, Domaine d’Eole and others.

And even though his family is no longer farming, Romain still has his hand in, through a side business he launched last year. Called Mon Petit Market, it’s designed to promote the products of local farms and food producers, mostly within a 30 km radius. Paniers (baskets) with different themes can be delivered to guests on the property and elsewhere. He plans to give back a portion of proceeds to local producers.

What will happen to the Avy family’s fertile farmland in coming years remains to be seen. It sits in the Alpilles Natural Regional Park and, as a result, is highly protected, with strict rules about what it can and can’t be used for. Romain and his partner Amandine welcomed their first child, a baby boy named Eloi, in February, but Romain says it’s very unlikely that the fifth generation will ever end up farming here.

In the meantime, the agritourism business is thriving: bookings are strong and reviews are great. So if all of this sounds appealing to you, check the website and reserve soon! And please tell Romain I sent you! I’m so happy he shared his family’s touching story with me…and I wish him much happiness and success in the years to come! 

Mas Neuf de Romanin 
Mas9Romanin.fr/en

contact@mas9romanin.fr
+33 (0)6 17 61 40 62
13210 St Rémy de Provence, France

Photos: Old Farm, New Tricks! (1) The gite called Evasion. (2, 3) The old family mas from the garden, Romain in front. (4) Romain at the fountain, which dates to Roman times. (5) The gite called Papy. (6) Kitchen counter in Evasion. (7) The gite called Fontaine. (8) Living room in the gite Alfredo. (9) Bedroom in the gite Mamy. (10) Bathroom in Evasion. (11, 12, 13) All the gites except one have private terraces and all but one have private pools. (14, 15, 16) In "The Museum," relics from farming days gone by include a sign for the Avy family's wine business. (17) View of the farm from above.

Journées du Patrimoine is Sept 21 & 22

It's that time again: The 41^st annual Journées du Patrimoine (Heritage Days) takes place Saturday and Sunday, September 21 and 22, in cities and villages all over France. The program was launched by the French Ministry of Culture in 1984 and has since spread all over Europe; this year 50 countries will take part.

Officially it's called European Heritage Days or JEP, (for Journées Européennes du Patrimoine) but everyone just calls it Patrimoine.

Roughly 20,000 sites or so across France are expected to participate. This is one the biggest events in the country and one of my favorite weekends of the year.

The idea is that a wide range of monuments, religious sites, estates, gardens, museums, workshops, galleries, ateliers, factories and more are open for special visits, including many that are normally closed to the public. Most sites are offering free entry and will have a guide on hand; some host special tours and events (mostly in French). Some of these events may require you to sign up in advance, for others you just show up. Some villages will have events on Friday Sept 20 as well. 

Every year, Patrimoine has a loose theme but this year there are two that overlap. The first is  "Heritage, Routes and Connections" which pertains to planes, trains, cars and boats...but also roads, paths and other routes used for spiritual or commercial purposes. The second is Maritime Heritage, including seaside architecture, shipbuilding, aquaculture and more.

Ok, allons-y! What to see and do?

The main Journées du Patrimoine website is here and the department-by-department listings are here. But keep checking back because details continue to roll in as Patrimoine weekend draws closer. Local tourist offices will have Patrimoine info on their own websites and over the years I've found that their info tends to be more comprehensive and up-to-date than the nationwide Patrimoine website.

Every year, my village (St. Remy) publishes its own terrific map/guide to all its Patrimoine sites and activities. You can see the 2024 version in PDF form here. Or, grab a hard copy at the St. Remy Tourist Office.

And here are the programs for Avignon, Aix en Provence, Arles, Marseille, Nimes and Nice. The large Luberon region is here. But don't forget about our hundreds of smaller villages which sometimes offer fantastic tours and visits as well.  

Then there are listings for the six departments of PACA (Provence Alpes Cote d'Azur): Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, Alpes-Maritimes, Bouches du Rhone, the Hautes-Alpes and the Var. For the Vaucluse, try here and here. And here's the Gard (which is not technically in Provence but never mind…we love the Gard anyway!). 

Up in Paris, there are more than 1,500 sites participating this year. See a great listing of events and some highlights here.

Throughout the weekend, some activities will happen at specific times, on one day of the weekend on both. (You can expect tours to be in French but a translator is sometimes provided or the guide may speak some English or someone in the group might offer to translate.) For example:

*In St. Remy, enjoy a 1.5 hour guided tour of the old village at 9:30 am on Saturday (to reserve: +33 4 90 92 05 22, meet at the Tourist Office). Or, join a guided “discovery” of the Canal des Alpines on Sunday starting at 2:30. The canal hike is an easy, flat 6 km and includes a visit to the Domaine de Lagoy (rendezvous in the parking of the College Glanum).

Also in St. Remy, the architectural site of Glanum is offering free entry all weekend with guided tours (no registration needed) on both days at 10 am, 11 am, 2 pm, 3 pm and 4 pm. See all the Patrimoine activities at Glanum here.

The Jewish Cemetery in St. Remy, created in the 15^th century and normally closed to the public, will be open Saturday from 10 to noon and Sunday from 10:30 to noon and from 3 to 4 pm, with guided visits available both days.

*In Nimes, go behind the scenes of the Arènes (the Roman amphitheater), and visit the areas usually not open to the general public (including where the bulls are kept before bullfights and bull games), the chapel where the matadors pray before entering the ring, and more. Or climb the scaffolding on the façade of St Castor cathedral for a once-in-a-lifetime close-up glimpse of  the medieval frieze depicting the Old Testament, which is currently being painstakingly restored by stonemasons and restorers. Also in Nimes, there's a free organ concert on Saturday from 2:30 to 3 pm, at the United Protestant Church, built between 1714 and 1736…on an organ built in Avignon in 1814.

*In Marseille on Friday night at 7 pm, take a special nighttime double-decker bus tour of the city (10€) and see the famous Notre-Dame de la Garde basilica, which will be exceptionally open this evening. (For info and to book, click here.)  

Or, take the "Marseille Liberated" Tour on Saturday at 3 pm and retrace the journey of the fighters who liberated the Garde Hill and the sanctuary on August 25, 1944...10 days after the Allied forces landed in Provence (book here).

Or, sign on for free guided tour of Marseille's Vieux Port on Saturday or Sunday, from 10 am to noon or 2 pm to 4 pm. Reservations are required; call +33 8 26 50 05 00 or marseilleexperience.com. 

Or take a tour and sketching workshop at the port L'Estaque quarter of Marseille (info here).

*In Aix, there's a free guided tour of the 14th-century Hotel de Ville (Town Hall), on Saturday or Sunday at 10 am, 10:45, 11:30, 2 pm, 2:45 or 3:30. Or, if more modern architecture is your thing, take a backstage tour of the music hall called 6MIC on Friday (5 pm to 6:30) or Saturday (10 am to 11:30). To sign up: billetterie@6mic-aix.fr

*In Arles, the LUMA Foundation is offering special events by reservation on both Saturday and Sunday…see them here. Also in Arles, there's a guided tour of the show “Antoine Raspal, from Réattu to St Trophime” on Sunday from 2:30 to 4 pm, celebrating the reinstallation of two monumental paintings by Antoine Raspal in the Saint-Trophime church. The tour is free but register before Friday Sept 20 at 4 pm please: +33 4 90 49 37 58, reattu.reservation@ville-arles.fr

And really, that's just a fraction of the fun stuff you can do during Patrimoine. There's a beach clean up on Corbieres Beach in Marseille, a kayak trip on the canals of Martigue, a treasure hunt for families in Roquebrun-sur-Argens, a horse show in Pertuis, 8 or 17 km runs and a gourmet walk in and around Oppede, a 32-km tandem bike ride around the Mont Ventoux...and much more.

As the Patrimoine weekend gets closer, the organizers will continue to update the clickable nationwide map, which you can see here. It's all a bit clunky but you're smart and you'll figure it out!

And for additional updates, follow the Journées Européennes du Patrimoine on Instagram and on Facebook. 

Vive le Patrimoine de France! 

Photos: Get out there and explore! A few of the thousands of sites hosting Patrimoine events include: (1) The ancient village of Glanum in St. Remy. (2) The Basilica of Notre Dame de la Garde in Marseille. (3) Fondation Vincent Van Gogh in Arles. (4). LUMA Foundation in Arles. (5) The Saint-Trophime Church in Arles, to learn about the career of eminent Arlesian painter Antoine Raspal. (6) Carpentras and other villages of the Vaucluse; join a tandem bike ride here.(7) The Roman Amphitheater in Arles. (8) Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild on the Cap Ferrat (info here). (9) The Jardins du Roy René and the Musée du Calisson in Aix. (10) Villa Roche in Nimes. (11) Norman Foster's Ombriere at the Vieux Port in Marseille, on a guided walk from the Ombriere to the MUCEM Museum. (12) The port of L'Estaque in Marseille. (13) The Théâtre Antique in Orange. (14) The Jewish Cemetery in St. Remy. (15) The 6MIC Music Hall in Aix (16) The Chateau d'Aulan in Aulan, 8 km from Montbrun-les-Bains, in the Drome Provencal. (17) The Maison Carrée in Nimes. (18) This year's Patrimoine poster.  

Provence Paradise is for Sale

After creating it and running it for 18 years, my friend William Moore has decided to put his beloved Provence Paradise on the market.

This is a historic hamlet of vacation villas on the outskirts of St. Remy, one of the prettiest, most-popular villages in the region.

Comprised of seven separate homes across five buildings—with 17 bedrooms total--Provence Paradise is being sold fully furnished, complete with an eclectic collection of antiques, art, books objets and tchotchkes, collected across France and beyond.   

All the buildings have new roofs, new electrical and plumbing, and reversible gas heating/AC. The roofs and insulation were redone in 2008 and 2021.
 
“There’s even a large, open-air terrace,” William says, “that’s just right for further development. Maybe a small bar and restaurant? The possibilities are numerous!”

This is a wonderful opportunity for anyone interested in taking over a thriving, turn-key vacation village…where guests enjoy the amenities and privacy of private homes but the community feel of a resort. Provence Paradise has a 5.0 “Excellent” rating and great reviews on TripAdvisor…and a large loyal following with many guests returning year after year. William is happy to include his commercial assets (the Provence Paradise name, the website and a client list of roughly 2000 names) in the sale agreement, if wanted.

Or, the property could be divided and sold as private homes, individually or in clusters, or be converted to long term rentals. 

Originally from Chicago, Willy had lived in Europe for many years before buying the property in 2004 and setting out to bring its crumbling buildings back to life. For 350 years, the Tourtet family made traditional roof tiles and bricks here…but the business collapsed when the men went off to fight in WWI...and either died or came home disabled. The oldest home on the property is La Tuilerie, which was added to piece by piece over 150 years, beginning in 1621. 

“We’d finish one house at a time and then start renting it,” Willy remembers, “which helped finance the work on the next house.  People would say ‘oh what a beautiful house!’ and I’d say ‘want to see what it looked like before? Look over there!’

“It was a total labor of love,” William adds. “You wouldn’t have done it otherwise.”

My clients who’ve stayed at Provence Paradise over the years love the welcoming spirit that William created—through Tuesday cocktail parties by the pool, for example—and unexpected, gracious touches such as the homemade first-night dinner awaiting all tired travelers and the fresh bakery delivered to every house each morning. 

But they also loved having all the modern comforts (washer/dryers, dishwashers, air conditioning, WiFi, etc.) in homes that hadn’t lost their traditional, Provencal feel…with thick stone walls, ceramic tile roofs, vaulted ceilings, beams, fireplaces, painted furniture and Provencal linens. The property itself boasts Roman relics, an ancient aqueduct and a large wine cellar. 

The seven units have fully equipped kitchens, living and dining rooms, and terraces surrounded by plantings that ensure privacy for all. They range in size from one to four bedrooms each and are modular, meaning certain spaces can be expanded for special occasions. The total “built surface” of almost 1000m² includes 780m² of indoor living space. 

All together there’s roughly 2800m² of land, fully landscaped with mature trees, vines, flowers and an automatic watering system. 

In the middle of the property there’s a large swimming pool (6m x 14m, with salt filtration), plus a hot tub, summer kitchen, loungers and deck chairs. The pool and hot tub are heated by hidden solar panels. 

Provence Paradise has three entrances and parking for seven cars but William says that could be expanded to ten or even 12 spaces.

The neighborhood is residential and quiet…but just a 10-minute walk to the heart of the village. 

St. Remy is a vibrant, historic town of 10,000 year-round residents, in the Bouches-du-Rhone department of the PACA (Provence Alpes Cote d’Azur) region. Spread out across the foothills of the Alpilles Mountains, it’s roughly three hours south of Lyon and one hour north of Marseille. Hugely popular with travelers and second-home owners, St. Remy is known for historic sites (including the excavated Greek/Roman village called Glanum), its appeal to artists of all types (Van Gogh painted 150 canvasses in the year he spent here), its festive summer events calendar and traditional local festivals, the quality of its produce and the natural beauty of the landscape. Paris is roughly three hours away via the high-speed TGV train from Avignon, 20 km north of St. Remy. 

Many of Provence’s best-known places—including Les Baux, Arles, Aix, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, the Pont du Gard, the Luberon and Nimes—can be reached in an hour or less. 

Intensely passionate about historic preservation, William says that giving this old property a new life, and sharing it with guests from all over the world, has been more rewarding than he could ever have imagined.  But considering he'd already spent 36 years in international manufacturing before he began building Provence Paradise--and that he had never really planned on a demanding second career as a full-time, hands-on innkeeper in the first place-- he’s definitely ready to turn the page, to focus on family (his four kids and 11 grandkids all live in Europe now) and on travel. 

He's also thinking he may do up a few more more old buildings, like the ones he recently transformed in the nearby village of Noves. "There's magic in old stones," he says, "and they definitely get under your skin!

"This slice of paradise—Provence Paradise--has survived since the reign of Louis XIII!,” Willy continues, “and it’s definitely time to pass the torch. My hope is of course to pass it on to someone who’ll cherish it as much as I have."

For more info: williaminprovence@gmail.com, +33 (0)6 07 82 66 63.

Just Out: Jamie Beck's Provence Book

In 2016, Texas-born photographer Jamie Beck was living in New York—running her own studio, doing commercial work for brands such as Chanel, Donna Karan and Nike and editorial work for Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar and others--when she decided to take a one-year sabbatical in the South of France.

Her husband, Kevin Burg, was understanding. “I think we were both ready for a little break, some fresh air and a little perspective,” she remembers.

Six years later Jamie is still in France, thriving personally and professionally, and this week is huge for her because yesterday, her first book officially came out in the U.S.  Called An American in Provence (Simon Element, $40), it’s now widely available online and from your favorite bookseller. 

When Jamie sent me an advance copy of An American in Provence last week, I knew I wanted to share her book news with you. But I was leaving on a little trip, had other deadlines and needed to hold off writing about it for just a few days. Still, I thought I’d dip in and read just a bit, then enjoy the rest later when I had time. But at 2 am I was still savoring it and I finished it the next day. I literally couldn’t put it down…it’s exquisite!

Organized around the four seasons, the book is essentially a memoir, illustrated with 204 of Jamie’s lush, evocative photos. But it’s also a cookbook (with seasonal recipes created by Jamie, her friends and local chefs), all of them based upon Provencal ingredients. And it’s a travelogue too, with Jamie taking you by the hand, through text and photos, introducing you to some of her favorite people and places. And it’s a photo tutorial, with solid tips for improving your own images. There are sections on shooting indoors and out; shooting kids, self-portraits and nudes; learning to pose; and yes, even tips on pinning bugs for still-life photography. Anyone who knows Jamie’s work knows how she loves bugs!

All of these things combine to create a passionate love letter to Provence--to the beauty of the landscape, climate, lifestyle and people--and a testament to what can happen when one decides to listen to that inner voice, drastically change their life and take a terrifying leap into the unknown.

So what exactly was wrong in New York? What was it that made Jamie leap?

“I had it all,” she explains, “A ‘dream life’ with a cool job, amazing clients, luxury trips, designer clothes, a cute little vintage Mercedes convertible, a house in the Hamptons, a French-looking apartment by Riverside Park and I could eat at any restaurant I wanted, any night of the week in New York. Full disclosure: I hate writing this out. It sounds privileged and grotesquely shallow. But that is what I was taught to work toward. That is what I was surrounded by, what our culture rewards…That is what I was paid to capture professionally with my lens, the ‘perfect aspirational lifestyle,’ in photoshoots that were all façades. As my mom in her Southern accent likes to say, “All meringue, no substance.”

She continues: “I dreamed of having time to focus on my craft, to explore a richer meaning in my work, but most of my time was spent working for clients, as if I were an unlimited resource, a photographic, copywriting, photoshoot-producing, post-production-editing machine. Until I wasn’t anymore. Until I fried my creative engines.”

An American in Provence is just the latest in a long, long line of creative projects that Jamie has pursued during her time in Provence. For someone who came here to slow down, her output has been beyond prodigious! First and foremost there’ve been numerous fine-art photo projects such as a series of Provencal self portraits and the 60 gorgeous one-a-day “Isolation Creation” still lifes she created and photographed during Covid lockdown. (She sold the images in her online shop and donated funds to the Foundation for Contemporary Arts' Covid-19 Emergency Grants Fund.) More recently, there was a similar project called Rose Month. Then there have been collaborations with a wide range of Provence people, businesses, and brands, including the winery Domaine Milan, Luxe Provence, Le Mas de Poiriers and many others.  And periodically Jamie still hops on a plane to shoot for fashion clients, magazine clients and luxury brands in various far-flung locations…and sells her work online as prints and posters…and markets products based on life in Provence, some of which she creates or co-creates.

She shares most everything on her Instagram (372K followers), through photos, stories, highlights, reels, captions and comments. In Jamie’s hands, Instagram is truly another art form.

One of the things I love about Jamie’s Instagram is how she involves the audience in the process. For example, she’ll write about the experience of finding the right printer or frame-maker and then take you there, through video, to actually meet them and watch them work. Or she’ll share a video of how she creates one of her still-life photos, which is fascinating to see and adds so much to the appreciation of the finished image.

“You’re fun in Provence,” Jamie’s husband Kevin announced, the first time he came from New York to visit her in France. The couple had vaguely talked about the future, where they might live separately or together, but that early trip cemented what was the right next step (and the next and the next) for both of them. Their daughter Eloïse was born in 2019 and Jamie writes beautifully about the experience of pregnancy, birth and motherhood in France. Today Kevin does all product and digital design for Jamie's company...and produces remarkable “cinemagraphs” and digital art of his own, which you can see on his Instagram here.

I remember talking with Jamie when she was working on the book. She was unsure about her voice, nervous about her approaching deadlines, juggling emotions that ranged from excited beyond words to total imposter syndrome. And now that she's deep into a cross-country whirlwind of parties, readings, signings and more, you can see how delighted she is with the end result. 

"This was the hardest thing I have ever done," Jamie tells me, "and yet (aside from my daughter) the thing I am most proud of in my entire life. It feels surreal. I just keep describing it to people as feeling like a Cinderella moment!"

So what's next for the American in Provence...will she and her family stay? Jamie says the time passed long ago when she and Kevin went from saying “one more month,” to “one more year” to “we live here now.”

“I had traveled for years to the far corners of the earth without knowing this particular kind of comfort,” she writes. “I am not lost when I am here. The second I leave, I can’t wait to get back…I am alive within myself, breathing every fiber of my being.”

“At the end of that very first year,” she continues, “I felt like I was still just beginning a journey of discovery both within myself and of French culture...I didn’t want to leave. And guess what? I still don’t. Like all the layers of human history around me I’m still uncovering, Provence continues to show me things, teach me things, while allowing me to live and breathe with her in harmony and balance.”

For More Info

To catch up with Jamie at a book signing, see her schedule here.

All of the photos in the book are now available as prints; you can buy them here.