Apt, France

Apt, France

In spring of 2015, we packed our tiny car with bikes, a dog, a kid and a sense of adventure and headed to Apt, France for a long weekend of biking, exploring and enjoying some nice French wine. Our amazing AirBnB idea of staying in a multi-colored gypsy wagon was unfortunately not available, however, the owner of said mysterious gypsey wagon encouraged us to come anyway because she had a “structure” waiting for us. Because I book almost everything last minute, I absentmindedly told her this was fine with us (and was reasurred to know there was an Ibis Budget Motel with availability close by, if worse came to worse). Being the incredible Haus Frau that I am, my husband didn’t even ask me where exactly we were staying until we crossed the French boarder. When I replied with simply, “Ummm, a structure,” he wasn’t exactly amused, but rolled with it. (Another reason why I love my husband- he’s much more adventurous than I will ever be and always has an ‘It-will-all-work-out-somehow’ attitude, which I need reminded of often.)

As we rolled through quaint downtown Apt and past multiple vineyards, thinking we were lost, we turned onto a perfect dirt road and past an iron gate that lead directly to a breathtakingly  glorious light pink, three story idillyic French Chateau, decorated with pale blue shutters and pink roses. Surprisingly, our “Structure,” remarkably tuned out to be a cozy, newly-renovated room in the old stables of a Chateau which was build hundreds of years ago. The owners kept the old wooden beams and rock walls, but added a modern kitchen and bathroom for a clean and upbeat feel. The French Doors of our lovely room lead directly to a terrace with a sparkling blue outdoor swimming pool, overlooking multiple vineyards, where we spent copious amounts of time either catching sun or drinking the Chateau’s delicious Rose until the wee hours of the night.

Each morning we would wake up to fresh bread and flowers outside our door, then one of us would go for a mountain bike ride on the trails behind the Chateau, while the other would play with our daughter on the property’s playground or head into town to shop and eat amongst the locals until it was time to switch. Evenings revolved around enjoying delicious, inexpensive French cuisine in town or cooking in our beautiful kitchen and eat on the Terrace.

Our stay was not nearly long enough, however, it was a much needed adventure I will always hold dear to my heart and hope to return soon.