Les Alpilles


FOR SALE €3.7m


Eygalières Only a few houses in the area can boast such a view of Les Alpilles, but this mas, which has been in the hands of its Belgian owners for 15 years,


is one. It has six bedrooms and stands in 17 acres. Emile Garcin (00 33 4 90 92 01 58; www.emilegarcin.com)


One can still be stopped in one' s tracks waiting for the local berger to manoeuvre his flock down a lane, flashy modern secu- rity gates are left in the Riviera and, apart from the occasional maison de maître, any house that one does spot on the horizon is rarely anything grander than a well-kept mas (farmhouse).


` We think it' s the quality of life that people


find here in Les Alpilles which is the biggest draw,' explains Philippe Boulet of agents Emile Garcin, who have just launched an attractive, south-facing mas with fabulous views of the mountains. ` It' s certainly far better than on the Côte d' Azur and, because the area stays active even out of season, it' s better than neighbouring Luberon. It never gets too busy as there' s no mass tourismÐ you don' t get stuck in traffic jams, even at the height of the summer, and yet the coast is only 45 minutes away.' The other considerable attraction is the


access: both Marseilles and Nîmes airports are within an hour and Avignon' s TGV station, from which Paris is just two hours 40 min- utes, is an easy drive from any of villages


66 Country Life International, Spring 2011


in Les Alpilles (and, in the summer, Eurostar operates a direct service from London). Such is the popularity of the area among


international buyers that Claude Segalin of Michael Zingraf, Knight Frank' s new representative in the area, says 85% of his clients are foreign and 70% of them are British. ` For them, it' s the clout of owning a house in St Rémy-de-Provence. It' s not about joining the jet-set on the coast and nor is it about rubbing shoulders with the romantic artistic crowd in the LuberonÐ here, there's a mix of everyone.' Time and again, locals cite the fact that there is year- round activity as a reason why the area pitches prices about 10% to 20% higher than those of the Luberon. ` There' s no feeling of tumbleweed growing,'


says


Trisha Harris, a British agent who works for Agence des Alpilles in the much-coveted village of Maussane. And this was certainly a key factor in the


decision made by Tony and Pam Shearer, who scoured southern France for a suitable second-home location until finally landing on St Rémy. The couple, who are based in


www.countrylife.co.uk/international


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