After a very hilarious Uber trip from Marseille airport – one which concerned getting misplaced down a mud street within the woods throughout a storm (with a driver who didn’t converse English) – it was a aid to lastly attain the gorgeous entrance of Villa La Coste. And an excellent greater aid to be handed a chilly glass of Chateau la Coste rosé.
The lodge sits on the prime of a hill overlooking its very personal winery, and even within the downpour that was taking place as we arrived, the valley views are really spectacular. After a brief wait within the foyer – simply lengthy sufficient to take a look at the Louise Bourgeois sketches casually hung subsequent to us – we had been proven to our room (nicely, villa).
I’m not exaggerating after I say that my total central London condo might match into this villa. The truth is, it might most likely match into the lavatory alone. When you undergo your personal olive-tree-lined courtyard and thru the glass doorways, you end up standing in what’s mainly an Architectural Digest unfold.
The open-plan room is straight away welcoming – up to date with out being chilly or impersonal. Previous the massive front room, behind the panoramic home windows, is an equally massive balcony with the identical unbelievable view because the foyer, besides the torrential rain had been changed with what was presumably one of the best sundown I’ve ever seen.
After some temporary unpacking within the massive walk-in wardrobe, Mr Smith and I made a decision probably the most wise factor to do was to order room service. Seeing as we had a eating desk that might seat about six folks we thought we’d as nicely use it.
It must be talked about that there’s not a lot round Villa la Coste that’s simple to get to, which didn’t trouble us one bit – when you’re there the concept of leaving is definitely fairly upsetting.
Very like every part else, the room service menu was easy, nicely curated and, most significantly, got here with loads of French butter. After dinner, a considerable period of time was spent within the huge marble bathtub listening to Django Reinhardt and consuming extra rosé. All in all it was an ideal method to spend our first evening in France.
Waking up in a linen-draped four-poster mattress wasn’t something to complain about both, nor was with the ability to see the Provencal countryside with out even having to get out of it. The solar was again, and after breakfast in our villa we had been firmly dedicated to spending the remainder of the day by the pool.
The minute you step outdoors right here you’re instantly confronted with all of the unbelievable smells the French countryside has to supply, which was solely made higher by the earlier evening’s rain-washing. The pool is hidden behind rows of cypress timber that forged stripy shadows throughout the garden because the solar strikes over you, and when you’ve claimed your white pool cabana you’re all set for the day.
It was round this time that one thing stunning occurred: We noticed different folks. We realised it had been near 24 hours earlier than we’d seen anybody aside from the pleasant, rosé-bearing lodge workers. Between the sprawling grounds and the privateness of your personal villa, you may simply neglect that you simply’re really in a public place.
Later, we needed to pry ourselves away from our a lot liked cabana as a result of we had a urgent engagement on the spa – it’s a tricky life down in Provence. After wanting by way of the spectacular record of assorted massages and physique scrubs we settled on mud therapies which primarily concerned a beautiful little French girl overlaying us in an array of various colored mud and wrapping us in muslin. Not usually how I spend my Sunday afternoons, however totally stress-free and pleasant all the identical.
That evening we had dinner at Louison, one of many two eating places on the property and the one which was advocate by the concierge. If, gun to my head, I needed to choose one factor about our keep that wasn’t utterly good I’d say it was this. The restaurant is ready in a glass dice surrounded by water, and whereas it’s architecturally unbelievable, it’s not probably the most snug place to have dinner (although I think it’s extra welcoming in the course of the day).
The meals was scrumptious and as inventive as every part else on the lodge, however not like the room service menu it was undoubtedly not easy – we had a number of programs of lovely issues served in crab shells and on sunflowers. However the lack of music or ambiance within the vibrant, echoey room made it really feel as if we needed to converse in hushed tones. There was one different buyer, an American girl eating alone, who stated ‘Please make some noise as a result of it’s so rattling quiet in right here!’ by means of introduction.
It’s not typically, although, that you’ve the privilege of staying in a lodge hooked up to an artwork gallery, so on our final day the one factor left to do was go to Chateau la Coste. After a stroll by way of the winery you end up on a form of artwork safari the place you come nose to nose with works by Richard Serra, Alexander Calder and Ai Weiwei to call simply three superstars – to not point out the massive Louise Bourgeois spider crouching over the water in your manner in. It’s undoubtedly value parting with the pool cabana for.
And so, with one last glass of that homegrown rosé at sundown, that was the tip of our magical keep at Villa la Coste. A murals all by itself.
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Zoë Zimmer is an artist and designer whose work spans style and portrait images, graphic artwork initiatives – together with album art work for main labels – and most lately, textile design for her womenswear model the 87.
