Provence Restaurants

You'll eat late in the south, rarely before 1 for lunch, usually after 9 for dinner. In summer, shops and museums may shut down, after their am hours, from noon until 3 or 4 pm, as much to accommodate lazy lunches as for the crowds taking sun on the beach. But a late lunch works nicely with a late breakfast—and that's another southern luxury. As morning here is the coolest part of the day and the light is at its sweetest, hotels and cafés of every class take pains to make breakfast memorable and whenever possible serve it outdoors. Complete with tables in the garden with sunny-print cloths and a nosegay of flowers, accompanied by birdsong, and warmed by the cool morning sun, it's one of the three loveliest meals of the day.