Looking for a place that perfectly captures everything about Provence? Let me introduce the Gorge du Verdon. It is, in my opinion, perfectly-captured Provence. It’s great for active people and families who love the outdoors, but also those who want to relax, eat, and meander through small towns. And lakes for relaxing? There’s those, too.

We rolled into Le Lavandou sometime after dark, but still in time for dinner. It was the Wednesday before American Thanksgiving, and we’d come to the coast for sun and something a little different while we had time off work. The town after dark looked like a ghost town. But, it was November, so that was to be expected.

The next morning, we happily realized we were not the only people venturing to or remaining on the coast in November. There were others staying in our hotel, enough folks were out at one of the boulangeries with us to show us that it was, in fact, NOT a ghost town, and a walk down the coastal boardwalk showed restaurants open for coffee and soon to be open for lunch. It was sunny, cool, and lovely.