Inside a restored 17th-century Bastide in Inland Provence

You reach Bastide du Canal after passing through Rians and Jouques, two villages where life seems to follow a more indulgent pace than ours. Bread still warm from the oven, a market bursting with colour, a café where you can linger over a coffee. All around, the hills roll gently as if they gave up on drama long ago, and the road winds its way with that heady charm unique to inland Provence.

The house then appears, standing there as it always has, with elegant discretion. The 17^th-century country house was recently restored by Jean-Luc Massot, the architect who whispers in the ears of old stones, as if it had simply been awakened after a very long nap. Nothing is excessive or ostentatious: the -spaces have retained their calm, and the materials have resumed the conversation where history left off. You immediately feel at home, as if the house recognises you even before you make the effort to please it.

The property sits on three hectares of land, giving the impression of a world all to yourself.

Inside, everything is organised with a flexible logic. The vaulted living room keeps coolness as a secret. The kitchen, which opens onto the garden, makes you want to cook something simple, just for pleasure. The dining room lets in light that changes just enough to be noticed. And in the centre, the patio, a refuge from the wind, becomes a spontaneous meeting place: a coffee, a glass of water, a conversation that stretches on. Upstairs, the master bedroom looks out over the hills with the calmness of landscapes that do not seek to convince. The other bedrooms, each with their own bathroom, give the impression that you could welcome friends for as long as you like.

A little further on, the old sheepfold, now converted into a billiard room and office, welcomes those who claim to have work to do, when in fact they mainly come here to enjoy an hour of peace and quiet.

The small guest house, meanwhile, stands ready like an extra bedroom to be opened up in summer, lent out for a weekend, or kept for oneself on an evening when one wants to be somewhere else without actually leaving. Outside, the heated swimming pool is perfect for long days, the tennis court is ideal for lively mornings, and the pétanque court fills up without warning when the light dims. The terraces are perfect for meals, books and quiet moments. La Sainte-Victoire, visible in the distance, is like a secret shared each morning. The surrounding area is easy to explore: quick shopping trips to Rians, quality produce at the weekend market in Jouques, an evening out in Aix-en-Provence. The neighbouring estates (Vignelaure, La Réaltière, La Coste) offer pleasant detours towards Sainte-Victoire that make you want to write postcards you’ll never send. You leave La Bastide with the feeling of having rediscovered something, perhaps simply time. The calm of the place infuses you, almost like a pact