Booked online for a week's stay in the gite at Auberge du Vin as we wanted somewhere romantic for Valentine's Day! The directions were easy to follow and even though we arrived late, Linda and Chris were so welcoming and even left us an 'apero' and some nibbles! Gite Tourelle is smartly furnished in traditional Provencal colours and every mod con is provided. Parking is not a problem and is very secure as the main gates to the courtyard are locked at night. The gardens are beautifully maintained and the pool area looks very inviting, I bet in summertime it is wonderful! The gite itself has two good sized bedrooms (one double and one twin), each with its own bathroom, there is a lounge/dining room and kitchen area. The weather was quite chilly but the central heating was very effective and there is also a log fire (with plentiful supplies of old vines to burn).
Chris and Linda were very helpful in recommending markets, shops, restaurants etc, especially which vineyards to visit. Linda is a qualified wine tutor for WSET and is on hand to offer professional tips - I would thoroughly recommend one of her courses, I never realised how much I didn't know about wine until I did the course!
The small town of Mazan is a five minute drive (bars, restaurants, supermarket), but Carpentras is only ten minutes away if you want to do a big supermarket shop (the market on Fridays is well worth a visit, particularly in the winter as they have a special truffle market)...
Perne les Fontaines is worth a visit as is Isle sur la Sorgue on a Sunday for its antiques market (both a short drive south, then on to Avignon for some culture); going north Orange is worth a look with its Roman amphitheatre, also Chateauneuf du Pape, Gigondas and Vacqueyras for some serious wine tasting...
With the new station opening soon in Carpentras with direct links to Avignon and Marseille, this makes travelling a lot easier; Marseille and Montpellier airports are 1h 20 and 1h 30 respectively and Avignon airport (summertime only) is 30 minutes away.
All in all, we had a wonderful time - can't wait to come back again!