What is Venterol like?:
Venterol is a protected hillside Cotes-du-Rhone wine village with its own cafe, post office, restaurant and small grocery with a baker creating morning-fresh croissants/baguettes. It has arcaded narrow streets, traditional laundry 'lavoirs' and a lovely church with one of the best wrought iron campanilis you'll ever see.
A vast lavender harvest occurs in mid-July with countless tiny distilleries perfuming the air. There are sunflower fields and olive, apricot and cherry orchards. Elderly ladies still watch flocks near the mountain slope hamlets behind Venterol.
Village summer festivities feature fireworks, music, dining and dancing. One of Provence's liveliest Market Days occurs every Thursday in Nyons right next door. And, every Saturday in summer, a local Farmers Market holds forth right in Venterol's center square. There one can purchase olive oil, honey, cheese, veggies from adjacent fields, homespun embroidery and Sarah's unusual home kitchen- crafted jams/jellies.
What cultural and recreational activities exist?:
Nyons (1.7K) has a cinema, many cafes and restaurants, an outdoor theater, tennis, supermarkets, banking & services... plus one of Provence's best Market Days. Wine tasting is everywhere! Bike amidst seas of Cotes-du-Rhone valley vineyards. Hike or horseback ride, following high altitude paths of the WW2 French Resistance.
There are music, opera & dance spectaculars in Vaison-la-Romaine, Orange, Arles and (a day trip) Nimes. Avignon's Festival, only an hour away, is home to a huge number of theatrical productions. There's a gigantic outdoor Municipal Swim Center with cafe ...a great place for cool family fun. Another memorable public pool is found beneath the Marquise-de-Sevigny's huge Renaissance castle at Grignan. Or you can swim and hunt fossils in mountain streams right behind our village.
Where is Venterol situated?:
Venterol is located near the Rhone, on the southern edge of the Drome Provencal and Vaucluse, in the Region of Rhone-Alpes. We are on an interesting climatic divide: To our south, a warm and dry 'Midi' climate extends past Mt. Ventoux, through the Plateau of Vaucluse and the Luberon, to the sea. To our north, reaching up to the very high mountains of Vercors, the climate is cooler and vegetation greener. Flocks graze the slopes. Corn grows. Sunflower and poppie fields appear alongside blazing yellow scotch broom.
Venterol is close to the Rhone River and the Gorges of Ardeche (kayaking and limestone cave exploring) to the west. Right next door (8 minutes away) are Valreas and the Knights Templer town of Richerenches, both in the ancient Enclave des Papes. Suze-la-Russe Castle, home of the renowned Internatiional University of Wine, is often visited by our rental guests.
Other Activities:
wine tasting, Provence market days, antique hunting at Isles-sur-la-Sorgue
