Old World Interiors & South of France Fantasy Gardens

In the mood for gentle beauty from the French countryside and maybe a few Old World interiors? These fantasy-level gardens while magical don’t make our wee patches of dirt less special. It’s all perspective. I mentioned practicing delight HERE, and it’s easy for me to find delight in the garden. Maybe you’ll discover a bit in the encouraging quotes below. This Provence vacation rental from Haven In delivers fragrant inspiration on a virtual breeze from South of France.

South of France Fantasy Gardens & Interiors

The grand 18th-century Provence manor, Château Mireille is a breathtaking and luxurious vacation rental available through Haven In.

Does travel to the South of France or a luxurious villa seem the stuff of silly dreams?

It feels like a more realistic idea now that my husband and I are slowing our careers down.

However, with inflation and the expense of travel is a great luxury indeed.

Where is This Stunning Property?

Located 10 minutes from St-Rémy-de-Provence, a stay at this historical French home would certainly be the thrill of a lifetime for admirers of South of France timeless tranquility!

The traditional style French country interiors include seven bedrooms on three floors, but who could stay inside very long? I think my preference would be to visit shops and sites beyond the chateau and then relax in the gardens all afternoon.

Relax? I continue to try to try to live the truth of the quote from Jeff Foster. The truth is, like a lot of folks who become obsessed with productivity, it is not easy to feel safe at rest.

I have never been able to nap, and I just heard that the science reveals folks who nap have larger brains.

Wise quotes about rest and self-kindness show up on this blog since I need reminders.

Beautiful French Country Bastide: St-Rémy-de-Provence

Château Mireille boasts all the Old World Provençal French countryside charm one dreams of.

Haven In’s beautiful Provençal vacation home at the foot of the Massif des Alpilles, is ideally situated within easy access to St-Rémy-de-Provence in the heart of Provence.

What to expect from the village? Fall in love, be charmed by friendly locals and also daily markets. Enjoy festivals and celebrations too.

Even if you are far from Provence, I hope you are discovering sources of beauty this summer. It’s so important to keep nurturing yourself with it. If you have chronic illness as I do, it becomes perhaps even more important as medicine.

What to do near this beautiful vacation rental?

A blogging pal who resides in Southern France and authors the beautifully written Taste of France told us:

“Saint-Rémy-de-Provence is such a sweet town. If you go, be sure to check out the table d’hôte (so not quite a restaurant–there’s no menu to choose from; you take what’s served) at a house built into a cave in a former Roman quarry. Just past the asylum where Van Gogh stayed.”  Read about it RIGHT HERE.

“Just past the asylum?” So interesting! When I read that word I am aware of its multiple meanings:

1.
the protection granted by a nation to someone who has left their native country as a political refugee.
“she applied for asylum and was granted refugee status”
2.
an institution offering shelter and support to people who are mentally ill.
“he’d been committed to an asylum”

And there’s something poignant in both of those definitions in our present times. Which is why we all need more unplugged time and more rest.

Rest?

Lovely Timeless French Château Photos: Loveliness Near Château Mireille

Since the area is home to so many charming cafés, restaurants, and historic sites, you’ll be treated to a setting of cobblestone streets and also authentic architecture.

You can also sense the coolness and quietness of this bath with all the stone.

Can you practically feel the warm sunshine on your skin as you smell the rich earth? A stay at Château Mireille would likely include exploration of the lush landscape and mountains, now classified as the Parc Naturel Régional des Alpilles (Alpilles Region Natural Park).

Is sipping a sublime French wine more your style than hiking?

The chateau’s location is perfectly located near wonderful French wine producers.

Is it just me or is it an awesome feeling to be exhausted from weeding, pruning, and tidying garden beds? What a noble fatigue that is! To be greeted by a newborn fawn in the yard as it happens occasionally here? What delight to gaze at each other. To allow your heart to still and fill with beauty for the seconds before alarm. This is surely a taste of the Divine. What a blessing this prairie ground can become Eden, alive and fresh with innocence on an ordinary day when the world elsewhere is on fire.

Lovely Timeless French Château Photos: Breathtaking Gardens

While I don’t have formal or sculpted gardens as we see here in Provence:

Does the shape or size of our Edens matter? A container of fresh herbs fragrantly thriving in a kitchen window can connect us in meaningful ways with Mother Earth.

Because technology shapes our lives in significant and undetectable ways, it’s more important than ever to seek unplugged connection to each other and the earth.

Rather than focus on ideas for “escape” (from culture, chaos, noise, electronic devices), I am shifting my gaze to ENTRANCE into safer realms, healthier levels of consciousness, and more nurturant pathways to beauty.

We still have choices afterall. And some of us don’t have as much time. Yet there is still time to freely live the lives that feel lovely rather than the ones that look lovely to others.

Lovely Timeless French Château Photos: Ancient Statuary & Fountain

What does a parade of photos of bucolic French gardens have to do with soul talk?

Body and mind are a miraculous duo. Without physically being in the South of France, my senses can still be calmed; my heart can open to mystery in a spirit of unknowing.

Answers to the Big questions? Maybe they are hiding in plain sight.

Each new day we can make more space for enlightenment not by THINKING ABOUT enlightenment but by living it with our embodied YES to the ordinary of our life.

There is a current on this flow I sense flowing from a hidden source of delight and freedom. What obstacles inhibit the flow? What bitterness and resentment remains?

Lovely Timeless French Château Photos: Pool Paradise!

Who do we become when we open to the heartbreak and depth of love that may desire fuller expression in our lives?

Thoughts on Healing & Wounds

I have wrestled with thoughts of healing and woundedness over the last fifteen years. Yet I am only now sensing how healing is already present, not scarce, and not eager to depart.

As long as I each day I bring my YES, start and end each day with an open, broken, aching heart aligned with LOVE, I can align with healing. Will this alignment break throughout the day? Yes. Can I can keep returning, returning, returning to Love like a prodigal? Like a blind beggar? Like a rose opening to the sun?

Living with visible wounds is but a doorway. An entrance for humility. An opportunity to be in relationship with all good things on the planet.

My wounds may become permeable, hollowed out, fruitful spaces where flow can flow through and through, where love may grow. What a consolation that rest can replace striving when a surrendered sieve of a soul becomes a dark sky pierced by stars, a place where thoughts and dreams are re-made.

Lovely Timeless French Château Photos: Tranquil French Country Setting

Just beyond these charming gates? French countryside bliss with lavender fields, wineries, rolling hills, and also charming villages.

Château Mireille’s unforgettable setting boasts professionally landscaped grounds, formal gardens with topiary, beautiful pool with terrace, tennis court, and charming outdoor seating too.

Who could resist such lovely Provençal weather?

Lovely Timeless French Château Photos: Authentically French Country Dining Room

Interiors within Château Mireille are truly one of a kind with their Old World style, art, architecture, and antiques.

Terracotta tiles, wood beams and floors, crown molding, lofty ceilings, and hand painted murals add distinctive French style.

Isn’t the vibrancy of the chandelier a delightful surprise?

Lovely Timeless French Château Photos: Enchanting Murals

When I see the most character-rich, undecorated, lovely interiors I share often on this blog, I think about how dull my own rooms may seem!

But some of us live with rich interior landscapes that long for quiet on the outside.

Is this true for you?

So much mystery in how we all have different responses to beauty and color.

Lovely Timeless French Château Photos: Walls With Plaster

Is anyone else fond of interior windows?

Lovely Timeless French Château Photos: French Country Kitchen

While you might expect a lavish, luxuriously elegant kitchen…

Instead, you’ll find earthy understated warmth from a working kitchen that refuses to show off.

Well maybe there’s a little showing off. If you peer closer, the beauty of authenticity, age and materials to stand the test of time are the real stars.

Old World Terracotta Tiles

I don’t see this green and terracotta combo in many American kitchens, and I bet you won’t find it in any article related to “Do THIS to your kitchen if you want your house to sell!”

Ya know?

Lovely Timeless French Château Photos: Rustic Elegance

I would love to see this kitchen at night with candlelight and a fire, yes?

Château Mireille: French Bedrooms

A cozy nook for a bed is something else we also don’t see a lot of in American homes.

Even simple fabric treatments around the bed can be magical if Old World style is your jam.

Did you see the canopy beds and bed curtains in THIS?

French Bedroom Design Inspiration

But it is a cheerful hue to awaken to…especially on dreary grey outside mornings.

Waking up to sunny-hued walls is also a wonderful prospect when the warm limestone-like sunny wall color has been thoughtfully considered.

Because in my experience…

yellow can go dreadfully wrong.

I guess that’s why some experts say it’s best for guest rooms when you don’t want guests to overstay. 🙂

Classic & Traditional French Country Design Inspiration

Ever wonder about stripes and the French and why they are symbolic of a certain chic?

Me too.

I found this:

“Recorded by decree in March 1858 as the official undergarment of the French Navy, the original wool-knit naval jersey ended at the thigh with a snug, seamless, tube-like construction and slightly indented round neckline. Its signature feature was a block pattern of 21 white stripes and 20–21 blue stripes with 15 white stripes and 14–15 blue stripes on the sleeves.” – BBC

Lovely Timeless French Château Photos: Original Art

Even though it’s quite popular in mainstream decorating just now, wallpaper is still often controversial.

The same pattern I feel I could view forever may bore you within a week!

Lovely Timeless French Château Photos: French Country Bathrooms

Isn’t it refreshing to see interiors that feel under-baked and not staged for the masses?

I think that’s why I’m drawn to so many European country interiors.

Homes that have stayed in the family for years and evolved.

While they may take long to build, they are built to last lifetimes, without thoughts of resale or current trends.

You can see once again in this bath (above) how green and terracotta are best friends in this chateau.

How do you feel about the French grey-blues playing off of the rich terracotta?

Rustic Old World French Bathroom Magic

Before I leave you, I want to say MERCI to all who made it this far in the post.

Green on the Timeless French Château Shutters!

Thank you for reading and all of the grace extended here.

There are so many sites to visit online. That you landed here feels like a gift.

Beautiful Green Shutters in France

If you have seen Vivi et Margot owner Charlotte’s French farmhouse tour of a French farmhouse near Bordeaux, you may recall she painted her rustic shutters a popular green, known in the region as:

TOLLENS Vert Olivier (satin) purchased at Castorama. See ideas for French greens HERE.

Shutters at Chateau Mireille seem to be in this green family, don’t you think?

I could stare at those shutters all day!

In the mood for more fantasy inspiration from Haven In? Check out a restored 19th century mansion in Avignon with unusual, exotic interior design and restoration…magic awaits!

Take good care of yourselves, friends. These times are full of complexity.

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Peace to you right where you are.

-michele

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