I am 70 and single with the possibility of remembering some college French. I think I would like to live in a Luberon village for 6 mon. I adore staying in one place and immersing. Where? Should I ?
JulieJohn

1. Find lodging near Gigondas
   1. Super excellent restaurant = L'Oustalet
   2. Good restaurant = du Verre l'assiette
   3. Excellent wine shop in town
   4. Chocolatiere on the outskirts of town
2. North 10 miles to Vaison la Romaine (20 miles further to Nyons....seek to buy the Nyon olives)
   1. Roman ruins in Vaison
   2. Good tourist office
   3. Stop in the little villages on the way: Suzette, Sablet, Seguret (which has a nice restaurant on town's east side,overlooking vallet: might be Mesclun, might be Cote Terrrasse; whichever one had Nyon olives as an appetizer: excellent
3. South 30 minutes to Carpentras
4. Bored with it all? Cote du Rhone to the west

You should possibly ask the moderators to start you off in a new thread (click on the triangle to get their attention). This old one you have resurrected is from 2005, most of the contributors are long gone. You deserve your own answers!

Lavandula

If you haven't already, you should read Laurence Wylie's Village in the Vaucluse. A sociological study that will make you cry.

Removed from a 2005 topic and created a new thread

Julie, I'm on the other side of the world - Australia - wishing you a wonderful trip. Please let us know your visa situation. If you get excited about a village or particular apartment, then find out you can't legally go, that would be so disappointing.

I am not used to travelling solo at all and was apprehensive about a tour I did in 2023 but enjoyed it so much. That was a week in the Cotswolds and the co-owner of European Experiences, Kathy Wood, runs small group tours in the Luberon and owns a flat in Bonnieux. She lived there with her family for a year and I thought reading info on the website might give you some good ideas.

I'm sure many others on the forum want to hear your planning as you go along and also how different, or similar, life is in France compared to your home country.

Does France allow your nationality/passport six months stay??

. . . I just noticed that several years ago you posted a question about how to stay in Italy for more that 90 days so I assume you will have the same issues in France. (that tread received more than 30 posts with information and advice but you didn't respond so we don't know how you managed it in 2017)

Staying in French village is a dream a lot of us have. We manage to do it when we travel to France but only for short periods, that is one or two week stays for ten weeks. We are also 70 year old Australians, and I have basic high school French, my husband none,. However we manage and as Provence is a popular destination for English speaking tourists, you will probably find English spoken more than in other parts of France.

Now some thoughts. Are you considering hiring a car? If not, then you will have to ensure that wherever you choose has adequate public transport options that will allow you to get to the things you need such as supermarkets as well as some day trips to other places. You will be needing a place that has some services such as boulangerie, boucherie, pharmacy, supermarket or small epicerie at the very least, hopefully a weekly market, and a restaurant or two. Now we are getting out of a village and more into a small town.

We spent two weeks in 2014 in Pernes les Fontaines which was a pleasant large village/small town with boulangeries, a couple of restaurants, an Intermarche supermarket. This is the sort of place that would suit - not too big but with adequate services. However, we had a car so I have no idea of public transport. Not a lot, I suspect, which is fairly common in country France. Sometimes there is a bit more in the summer months. This is my report on our stay in Pernes to give you an idea of what we did. It was our first base.

On the road again - another country roads tour of France.

If you are thinking about a car long term, you could look at the leasing programme . We lease and book through Autoeurope. You choose the car you want ( Peugeot, Renault, Citroen ) and you get the model you request. It comes registered in your name and fully insured.

I am not sure how you go about renting a place for six months. We book all our holiday rentals through Gites de France and have always been happy with them.
https://www.gites-de-france.com/fr

One option you could consider would be to stay in a few places, perhaps one month in six different villages/towns which would still give the feeling of settling in for a longer stay but add variety and allow you to see more of France, not necessarily just Provence.

Good luck with your search.

I would start with: what am I going to do for 6 months ? Especially in a village where, by essence, there is not much to do.
Even French people settling in a different place for retirement sometimes find it difficult. Different culture, climate. Plus, if you want to immerse, there is the issue of language.
In Provence, it would be probably easier to look for a bigger place like Aix where there is a lot to do for all tastes.
I dont know to what extent you know French culture. If you dont, I would recommend reading "60 m French cant be wrong". Being French, I can say it is very sharp.

[QUOTE=rouelan;17598074} ... I dont know to what extent you know French culture. If you dont, I would recommend reading "60 m French cant be wrong". Being French, I can say it is very sharp.[/QUOTE]

A very good suggestion. Although published about 20 years ago, a great deal still applies, especially the explanation of social interactions and la politesse.

Yes, Anselm, that’s a great book. The same authors have more recently come up with “The Bonjour Effect,” whose insights Fodorites will also greet with sighs of recognition. You can just hear that bus driver snarling “Mal élevé!” at the kid who walked on into the bus without greeting him.

I second tomboy’s suggestion of Gigondas, or somewhere near there. In June 2018 we spent 2 weeks at Sarrians, about 20kms away and have always wanted to go back, hopefully in the next few years.

I also agree it would be preferable to move locations every month, that way you will get a taste of different areas and can explore more.

Remember that many of these smaller villages don’t offer much in the way of restaurants, shops, etc. My niece and her friends wanted to have dinner out at Sarrians on a Friday evening, but found the restaurants closed! We later learned the locals went out to lunch, not dinner, so the restaurants didn’t open!

FTOttawa, thanks for that pointer to The Bonjour Effect. We are planning a trip to Verdun and Alsace next April, and I will read that before we go.

Since your plan is to stay 6 months in a place for immersion, I think the accommodation will be more important than the actual village.
Lease in France are for a minimum of 1 year (to protect tenants from eviction) with very few exceptions, the main one being students lease, which is also widely misused by owners wanting to make more money during peak summer months.
Maybe it would be a good idea to find a real estate agent in the area that would tell what is possible or not and show you places.

janisj makes a good point about whether you need a visa or not for 6 months in France, or anywhere in Schengen. You need to investigate that before making any firm plans.

Gordes is a magnificently lovely place but too touristy. Nearby Cavaillon would be good, active but authentic. Another smaller town that might appeal to you is Bédoin at the foot of Mont Ventoux. I know it has a great market on certain days, because I have been forced to drive around it more than once because they close off the center on market days.

When DH and I based in Aix (which I'd suggest as having so much more to do), we took a van tour and were very attracted to Roussillon and Lourmarin. The former was beautiful but possibly too touristy; the second had a lovely vibe.

Happy hunting!

Yes you will need to research a visa (if non EEA/EU -- many qualify for a 6 month visa, but proof of insurance with repatriation and income/funds will be required). The six month lease is another problem. And as noted, leases are a problem for over 3 months, as you technically don't qualify for a mobility lease (unless you are also studying, for example in a language school, and qualify for a student lease). Some do two three months stays in different locations.

In the Luberon specifically, you may wish to stick with a well serviced, larger village. Bonnieux, Menerbes or Lourmarin come to mind. Then there are larger towns with a little less char, but with historic centers like Isle sur ls Sorgue or regional centers like Apt and Cavaillon. They also have better connectivity if you don't have a car. Even by bus, the little regional buses don't give very expansive coverage. Even full-time expats can find the winter months challenge, due to seasonal closures and the wind. You could consider larger towns outside of the Luberon, like St. Remy or Arles.

I know we do not know you, OP, but for what I know about the French is that they tend to be pretty reserved. I am as well, pretty introverted, so my biggest worry for a 6 months to immerse into a language is having enough to see, do, and just "be" around people to truly immerse oneself. So, the biggest obstacle is finding a town that is large enough that has activities you like to do at home.

So, I'd look for some place that you can build a community around yourself so you can actually communicate and immerse, perhaps with hobbies you already do at home. If you tend be extroverted, this may not be a big deal for you. But if you are more like me, I would think that this might be a bit of a hurdle. Of course, every person is different - I am sure the French locals who have responded to this thread will confirm - but it is something for you to consider as you look further into this.

I do hope the OP chimes in soon to let us know some of the questions and ideas that have been posed so far.