Crisp air, cold winds, warm sunshine. Orange and gold trees, empty streets.

Forget the summer lines and crowded restaurants. We enjoyed walkable markets, and empty hilltop towns. Winter squash, warm paella and great conversations about what it must be like to live in a place like this.

Using Isle Sur La Sorgue as our home base, towns like Lacoste, Gordes, Bonnieux, Apt and Oped were easy to access and explore.

We’d start at the bottom of each town and wander the streets. Enjoying the small homes, tiny streets, ancient textures and dead ends. Higher and higher, our destination was the highest point we could reach.

Walking on uneven cobblestone and soaking in the medieval charm, wondering what life was like when each town was at its peak.

A church would cap our climb and we could see other hilltop towns, with their churches, in the distance. Quintessential Provencal countryside in between.

At the top our conversation went something like this…

Where are we headed next?

That one over there looks interesting.

Off we’d go.

No reservations, no timetable, no itinerary.

Only the setting sun as our clock.