Review of Le Clair de la Plume - Les Collectionneurs 4*

What a cute, charming little place. It's right at the base of the hill dominated by the Château de Grignan, which is an 11th century fortress restored in the Renaissance era to an ornate residential palace. We stayed at Room Chanoine, at the top of 2 flights of stairs. Yes, getting our luggage up was quite a task, but we knew that would be the case! The room was full of old decor, from the dressers and table, right down to the old rotary dial phone. A small patio allowed for a quiet sip of wine before bed time, or just enjoying the view of the garden below. It had an air of authenticity, giving us the feeling of being transported back in time. Updating these rooms to modernity would be a shame. I'm glad they haven't. The service staff were very helpful. Even though there was a language barrier we managed. Frankly, at a place like this, I don't want to hear the King's English! The whole place is embedded into the little town, which winds around the Château in narrow streets with cute little shops and restaurants. After touring Nice, this was quite different, and a welcome break from the masses of tourists. And the surrounding landscape is amazing with all the vineyards and wineries to visit (unfortunately we missed the lavender season by a few weeks). We took a day just driving around the countryside, visiting another historic hold town and doing a couple winery tours. We ate dinner one evening at the Bistro, which was quite nice. The food was good, although a little pricey for us. In my opinion the hotel is the attraction here, over the restaurants. But I could see someone feeling differently. In all, Le Clair de la Plume is a great detour if you are visiting this part of France. See if you can carve out a couple nights as you hit the more well-known cities and landmarks.