I was about to send our France retreaters this list of titles to fuel their summer daydreams, when I looked out the train window over fields of sun-drenched lavender and thought: “everybody needs to see this.”

Whether or not you’re joining us on retreat this fall, you can add a little Provençal inspiration to your summer…

reading

l’ incontournable // the unavoidable, classic-for-a-reason, tried-and-true… you get it
Toujours Provence by Peter Mayle
Most lists you find of books set in France (and every list of books set in Provence) will start with Mayle’s 1989 memoir A Year In Provence, but I like this follow-up better, especially for the descriptions of French food! The book is whimsical, charming, and perfectly sets the scene of Provençal life.

pour la plage // the beach read
The Promise of Provence (also called Love in Provence) by Patricia Sands
”The Holiday” meets “Eat Pray Love” meets the French countryside. Like I said, it’s a beach read.

pour flâner // walking with the eyes of a poet
Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude by Ross Gay
Ok maybe it’s not set in France, but Ross Gay’s poems are very much in line with the French (and Tantric!) way of seeing beauty in the everyday, and we are here for it.

film

To Catch a Thief, 1955
Talk about incontournable. Does it get any more classic? Alfred Hitchcock directs Cary Grant and Grace Kelly in this thriller set in the French Riviera. They speed along the coast through one sweeping vista after another, and there’s a jewel heist in there somewhere.

A Good Year, 2006
Say what you will about Russel Crowe, or Ridley Scott, or film adaptations of much-loved novels. But Provence (and Marion Cotillard) cannot be beat. For a stunning preview of the landscape you’re about to explore, start here.

Two for the Road, 1967
A couple embarks on a road trip through the south of France in this rom-com from another era. Scenic countryside and mediterranean coastline, iconic 60s fashion, and Audrey Hepburn. Oui, s’il vous plaît.

The Hundred Foot Journey, 2014
An Indian family moves to the south of France and opens a restaurant in a small village, across the street (and one hundred feet) from a Michelin-starred french bistro headed by Helen Mirren. The rather predictable plot is buoyed by incredible scenery and mouth-watering cuisine.

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p.s. We’re about connecting to a place’s deep roots, not only its beautiful landscapes. For some background on the recent protests against police violence in France, 1995’s La Haine introduces a lot of the issues involved. The film takes place after a night of riots surrounding the treatment of a young French-Arab man in police custody, in a French suburb with an oppressive police presence typical of the suburbs around Paris.