Provence best farmstays!!??
 

Hey everyone, me and my family are going on a 10 day trip to the Provence-France and I am trying to find the perfect places to stay, I already have some places and villages in mind for visiting but I don't know where is best to stay. What I am really looking for is the true "Heidi experience". I mean I would love to stay in a simple farmhouse with a nice breakfast. I am not into luxurious hotels but more into simple real life in the middle of overwhelming views. So anyone with tips on that will absolutely make my day. We are going from May16 to May31 so I guess it will be too soon for the lavender blooming :( right?

Also we will be staying in Paris for another 10 days so any suggestion on a nice home stay would be lovely.

Thank you!

Heidi didn't live in Provence. She was Swiss, living in an entirely different country in an entirely different environment. You need to dispel your fantasies. A nice breakfast in France is a croissant, maybe a tartine, a coffee, and maybe orange juice. Again, this isn't the stuff of fantasies, just normal life.

You will miss the lavender by at least a few weeks. Get familiar with Gîtes de France, find a farmhouse, and rent one. It's already really late to be planning for May of this year, so get on it.

Thank you for your reply StCirq, by Heidi I just meant to feel in a farmhouse that's it, not that I don't know that she is Swiss, anyway thank you

What about something like this:

http://www.masperreal.com

I don't think there are hardly any places like that (including the Mas Perreal, which describes its rooms as "luxurious"). The problem is simple farmhouses don't board up tourists for the most part. Especially in Provence, the places that let rooms to tourists try to be upscale (with pools, spas, etc) and most are not on farms. You know Heidi wasn't a tourist, she was living with relatives.

It is going to be very hard to find what you want, tourist rooms in the farmhouse on a working farm that are simple, in Provence.

There are few websites with a few listings but they are not impressive to me (eg, www.agrivacances.fr)
http://www.bienvenue-a-la-ferme.com/...-ferme-auberge

Here is one that I could find that is closest to what you say you want
http://www.domaine-de-saint-ferreol.fr/

this one is sort of close, not exactly
http://www.domainedelafouquette.com/en/

If you just want to stay in B&B, that would be a lot easier. Farmstays are just not a big thing in France. Nor simple and rustic accommodations for tourists, places try to be more luxurious and provide comforts to get tourists. It's the farmstay that is the killer.

Well. I have been to real farmhouses. Sleeping in the real room of the son who had just left for school. Never again - I can tell you that Heidi is dead long ago. Anyway she had no running water and no electricity. We have a house in Provence and don't even have Wifi.

As DtCirq said look in gîtes de france and book something nice.

Look fir gîtes and table d'hôtes : means owner will cook for you. Usually great.

Ps : why did you use that analogy with Heidi if you knew she is Swiss ? Belle et sebastien were French fir example. But in the alps. Or Savoie ?

>>We are going from May16 to May31<<

Do you mean <i>this</i> year -- like in 3 weeks?

If so, you have left things VERY late. As for Paris -- just book a hotel and do it now . . .

+1 for mas perreal.

It has vineyards around it. It if farmhouse like and the hosts are terrific folks.

FYI - I once met a local woman named Heidi on a visit to Switzerland and then met an American from Atlanta named Heidi on the flight back to the U.S. I count that as a Heidi experience.

Forget the Heidi fantasies and book a hotel or gîte if you can, and do it quickly. And don't expect a Heidi fantasy vacation. Read guidebook or two. Get over the fantasies.

My in-laws had a dog named Heidi - does it count ?

Some of the chambres d'hotes on the gites de France website might be just what you have in mind. They can be somewhat rustic....

Thank you for your all your suggestions, I never thought it would be such a big deal to say I wanted the Heidi experience, here it is a normal expression to say "I felt like Heidi" when you feel in the country side in the middle of nowhere enjoying nature, that is just an expression and I live in Brazil, no one would tell me "hey! you can't say that, Heidi is Swiss", because... come on people, it is just an expression. Anyway, found what I needed already so thank you all.

Cris, I think that might just be a local expression. I am Canadian and Live in Europe and have never heard of that expression. Heidi is a Swiss reference for most of us!

Anyway, don't worry about the expression and I hope you have a great trip and find what you are looking for! Book quickly!

I didn't object to the term at all, although I was sort of surprised as not many people are that familiar with those books any more, after all, it was published over 100 years ago. I don't even know if kids read that any more. So I didn't care about the expression, just didn't think you were going to find that.

I just didn't think you were going to easily find that, a simple farmhouse stay. The Mas Perreal is not a working farm, for example, and you aren't staying in a farmhouse and it's not simple. They do call themselves "luxurious." So if you just want a B&B in the countryside, there are plenty of those, in addition to that one.

Chris.
All will be forgiven with a Caïpirhina...
Have fun !

Best Caipirihas here in Brazil! all invited :)