The Most Beautiful Villages of France

France has many pretty villages scattered throughout its regions. There are some however which have extra something however and deserve the appellation ‘beautiful’. For this reason in 1981 Charles Ceyrac, the then mayor of Collonges-la-Rouge, in the Dordogne, came up with an idea to promote this concept. 66 of his mayoral colleagues throughout France formed an association which eventually included 155 villages. Known as ‘Les Plus Beaux Villages de France, the aim was not to create ‘theme parks’ but to attract tourists to ‘living’ villages thereby helping to conserve them.

As you expect, Provence has several Plus Beaux Villages several of which have entries in the app. These include Ansouis, Bargême, Gassin, Gordes, Les Baux-de-Provence, Lourmarin, Ménerbes, Montbrun-les-Bains, Seillans, Séguret, Roussillon and Venasque.