“The French air cleans up the brain and does good – a world of good.” – Vincent Van Gogh
Welcome to the second instalment of ‘The Best of Bergerac’ series! Please visit my previous post if you would like to see some of the incredible French food and restaurants we visited on this trip (including the best restaurant we have ever been to, yes it was that good!)
This time round we’re focusing on the dreamy scenery that Southern France has to offer and also the incredible villa that we called home for two weeks.
But let’s start with the wonder that was the sunflower fields because they were such a brilliant photo spot…
“The road to freedom is bordered with sunflowers” – Martin Firrell
Most of these beautiful sunflowers were almost as tall as me and I am quite a tall gal!
“Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadow. It’s what sunflowers do” – Helen keller
It was lovely to be in a field filled with tones of sunshine and burnt orange, sunflowers are one of my favourite flowers and being in a place surrounded by fields and endless rows of them was perfect. This specific field was on the outskirts of a town called Eymet which was about a half hour drive away from where we were staying, but the the whole area around Bergerac was covered in sunflower fields too.
The BEST villa–
Le Bonheur, Taillecavat, Aquitaine, Southern France
The name of the house which translates to ‘happiness’ just sums up how stunning this villa was, a beautiful 18th century restored farmhouse in the rural village of Taillecavat. There was very few houses in the village, most houses in the area looked like they were attached too the farms as the main business in the area is sunflowers and the vineyards used for wine. The villa was about a 40 minute drive from Bergerac airport, we hired a car from the airport with the company Avis, so the journey was so easy and enjoyable on the route through the sunflowers and vineyards.
The striking contrast between the sapphire of the shutters and outside details against the scarlet flowers made the villa look so vibrant, it really was the perfect summer escape. There were various colours and sizes of salamanders that would climb up the stone exterior and explore on the veranda which is not something we ever see in the UK!
This was the garden of the villa, which looked out on to the vineyards. Also the building which you can vaguely see in the distance was a boulangerie, we went here every morning at 8am to collect our fresh croissants, pain au chocolat (these were my faves) and a baguette of course. Monsieur and Madam Raymond who owned the boulangerie did not speak English which made each morning collection even more authentically French, we actually liked that they let us try out our speaking skills (which were sadly lacking on my part, luckily my Grandpa had us covered).
Just look at the pool… what I would do to be back here! We got up every morning and did 50 lengths before breakfast, every day I did 150 or 200 lengths which for me is pretty impressive! The weather for most of our two weeks was as high as 37 degrees Celsius so we spent a lot of time in here cooling off and reading our books by the poolside.
This picture is of the vineyards that were just outside of the villa, we did try some of the grapes but they were extremely sour and obviously are better off for wine than eating on their own!
The mist across the fields in the morning at about 6am was mesmerising, the sunsets and sunrises were also stunning, the open space creates plains of shadows where colours would change so rapidly. We also witnessed a pretty cool thunder storm on our last night, watch the lightning forks strike across the fields was also a very exciting experience.
More sunset exploring just outside of the villa…
This picture also shows one of the coolest experiences with nature I have ever had! These murmurations of starlings would pass over the villa and the fields each night at about 9pm, the noise was intensely loud, you could hear each of their wings beating, it was breath taking to watch.
These gorgeous fellas were in a field made out of what used to be a moat surrounding a large house, just a couple of minutes drive from the villa. They were incredibly friendly and seemed to really enjoy the carrots that we brought them, I never realised donkeys were this cute!!
Some of the photos in this post were taken by my Uncle who is a fab photographer so credit to him! His Instagram is @spresly if you want to see any of his amazing photography!
Have you seen part one and part three of this series?!
Part One: The Ultimate French Holiday Food Guide
Part Three: The French Market Towns You Will Fall in Love With
Thank you so much for reading, hope you enjoyed this post and are having a fab day wherever you are,
Mol x
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Whoa, your day was amazing! Sunflowers are so pretty and they are my second favorite flower, next to orchids. Eeeek! I love the villa, the contrast is one of my favorites. With a sunset like that how will you manage to leave? Thank you for sharing your day and the beautiful places.
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It was indeed! Ooh orchids are beautiful too! You are very welcome, thank you for your comment 🙂
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I’m loving the sunflowers. Such beautiful vibes.
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Aren’t they gorgeous! Aw thanks 🙂 x
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Your villa looks absolutely gorgeous: I’m glad you had a great holiday. Can we just talk about those sunflowers for a second!❤️😻
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It was, thank you so much! I know, I’m still in awe 🌻😭 x
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Photos and everything on them is absolutely stunning! Great post!
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Aw thank you so much!! 🙂
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Yes sunflowers are HUGE! I only discovered this the other week haha. Such beautiful pics, makes me want to spend my summer in France 😍
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It’s mad! Aw thank you so much, I know, I wanna be back already! X
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Wow these photos are amazing! Looks like you were having an amazing time. Makes me in the mood for a holiday!! x
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Thank you very much! 🙂 I know, writing it made me want to plan my next trip too! X
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Reblogged this on Sam Space and commented:
I love this post and the beautiful pictures!
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Thank you so much, glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
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Looks like you had an amazing time! I can’t belive how tall those sunflowers are!😂
Brooke x
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Yeah we did thank you! I know, it was pretty incredible!! Thank you for commenting, I am subscribed to you! 🙂 x
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Wow it sounds like you had an amazing time in the villa! I’m going to southern France on Monday so this has gotten me so excited!
And that sunflower field looks incredible!! x
Great post!
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That’s fab. I hope you have the best time!! Thank you so much 🙂 x
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Your photography is breathtaking! The two with the birds in the sky and ones of the vineyard are gorgeous! Rural France is on the top of my list to visit and this is just persuading me to book a trip ahhh!
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They were taken by my Uncle and yes his photography is amazing! I hope you get to visit one day!
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Wow it looks incredible here. Love the colours, sunflowers, vineyards and countryside. I work in Paris and kind of hate it.. after I leave I was thinking I’ll never go to France again haha! But after seeing these pictures you’ve changed my mind! Thanks for sharing!
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Oh wow, I’ve never been to Paris! We’ve always stayed in rural parts of France which are incredible, glad you say that! You’re welcome 🙂
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Love your pictures! They bring the place to life. Sounds like the life to get fresh croissants and pain-au-chocolate every morning!
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Thank you so much. It really was, I miss it a lot!
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I can’t get over how stunning these photos are! It looks like such a lovely place x
– Charlotte / myownblogofthoughts.blogspot.com
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Wow these photos are incredible!! The villa looks stunning and you can’t beat a field of sunflowers, they’re one of my favourite 🌻 Love the Van Gogh quote too!x
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Aw thank you! It really was, glad you liked it ☺️
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Wow those photos are fantastic! I especially like the one of the birds and you posing with the never ending field of flowers. I hope I can visit this area someday 🙂
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Thank you for your comment ☺️ We’re going back this summer which I am really looking forward to!
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