Notre Dame des Anges, a former monastery set in two hectares of parkland, offers several superb apartments for your holiday in this beautiful region of Provence.

Montagne de Lure, Provence

Notre Dame des Anges was once a Roman camp on the Via Domitia, then a monastery on one of the network of routes taken by pilgrims on their way to Santiago de Compostela.

Today, Notre Dame des Anges has been cleverly and sympathetically converted into attractive apartments that are available for rent by the week, the fortnight or the month.

The building stands in magnificent wooded grounds of two hectares where the plane trees, many of which were planted early in the nineteenth century, reach some 40 metres towards the blue Provençal sky. The park is completely enclosed so children can play amongst the trees, while for keen birdwatchers, the trees offer shelter to several different types of woodland bird as well as three different types of woodpecker. Occasionally one might be lucky enough to see a golden eagle soaring overhead. There is a large swimming pool (14m by 6m) in the park.

For the more active, there is horse riding ten minutes walk down the road from Notre Dame des Anges, a golf course within half an hour’s drive, excellent and well marked walking in the Alps one hour away to the north and the Mediterranean is the same distance to the south.

The Apartments

The main house has been brought back to its earlier state, with 17th century doors, tiled floors and french windows onto the terrace. The other apartments are made out of the old barns, each with its own character. One with a 5 metre high beamed roof, another with a new Provencal round beamed roof. All have stone floors and under floor heating, beautiful modern plumbing and magnificent views out onto the park with its terraces for everyone to use.

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Notre Dame des Anges is within easy distance of a motorway and only a ten minute drive from the lovely old market town of Forcalquier. However, a sojourn in a garden chair with a good book and a glass of one of the excellent regional wines is only disturbed by the hum of cicadas, the gentle whisper of the breeze through the plane trees and the song of the birds.

The apartments form part of the main building and the great barns attached to it. The high ceilings, exposed beams and original doors combined with modern insulation, plumbing and wiring ensure maximum comfort without compromising the atmosphere of antiquity of this beautiful building steeped in history. The 60 centimetre thick walls ensure the apartments are cool in summer yet warm in winter.