Provence Shopping Assistance Requested: Bed Linens
 

Lucky, lucky, me! First, I am always grateful to be an ex-pat living in Europe, that goes without saying. The "lucky, lucky, me" part? Well, this past weekend a heavy thunderstorm caused flash flooding in the vineyard areas of Vienna (where many ex-pats live), and with our son's bedroom being at ground level, his bed caught the brunt of the water that gushed in.

As he is leaving for university in the fall, it really makes little sense to replace his bed. Instead, we are moving our American-sized bed into his room, and are treating ourselves to a new bedroom, linens included. We just happen to be taking a family holiday to Provence next month after school breaks, as well, so I thought I would go all out with quality linens.

Specifically we are taking day trips to Avignon, Arles, and Marseille, and St. Remy is about 10 minutes from the house where we are staying. If any shoppers out there can suggest bed linen stores to help me out, I would be ever so appreciative. :)

Thank you.

IKEA in Avignon?

Yves Delorme
Carre Blanc
Olivier Desforges
Descamps

You might be able to buy some of these linens in Printemps in Marseille or some might have their own boutiques eg Yves Delorme. Ligne Roset and Roche Bobois also sell bed linens.

I missed the "quality" part but truthfully, I find iKEA's linens to be long wearing, super comfy and reasonably priced.

The most gorgeous French linnen is from D. Porthault, but on their site I see more locations in the US than in France. Cannes has one.

But much as I love to visit these kinds of stores, I always buy linnen from the White Company; great quality, in all price ranges, and very easy to order online. And you don't have to carry it home.

You could try the larger markets in Provence for linnen. L'isle sur la Sorgue perhaps.

Thank you, everyone for the excellent suggestions!

DebitNM, we have IKEA linens in the guest bedroom and I, too, find some of them to be of great quality (I love their pillow covers--so soft!). We've housed student athletes for the last two years in the guest room, and everything from duvet covers to pillow cases and towels have worn extremely well.

Odin, thank you. Exactly what I was looking for!

Tulips, thank you for the recommendations. We will not be in Cannes on this trip, but we will have the Thule atop the wagon, and shipping across Europe isn't terribly expensive if we need to do so.

Check out Alinea in Le Pontet, at the Avignon Nord exit. This is a big box store, French, more stylish than IKEA. I have spent hours there and bought several things for our apartment in the Luberon (It's in the same general area as an IKEA.)

And if you'd like quilted, more traditional bedding, there are several good shops in L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue...

Kathy

I'm not able to find linens that would fit a continental/European size bed from the White Company, is that correct?

There is at least one shop in St-Remy that carries good-quality linens of Provençal design. It's near the central parking lot.

Kathy and Underhill, thank you both. I do not really want linen shopping to be a focus of this holiday, so to have specific destinations at the ready is appreciated.

Am sure you know to be careful about sizing.

We ordered a sheet set from the UK that was, if I remember, about 1.5 centimeters off the US queen-size mattress. The fitted sheet has never been right.

Apart from that, have fun shopping in Provence!

Cath, thanks! The lesson has been learned on that one. Early in our tenure here our then-10 year old daughter and I found a bedding set with hedgehogs that she loved. Not thinking clearly we bought the set only to discover it was for a crib! She uses the pillowcase, and the crib blanket cover sits on the chair in her room. :)

The White Company have UK sizes. Their single bed size, for example, is 90x190 centimetres, while we have 100x200cm.
You will not find 190cm beds in Holland, it's way too short.
I buy their duvet covers, pillow cases and flat sheets, not the fitted ones.