A love letter to southern France, written one village at a time.
We are travel editors, sommeliers and former village-postmasters mapping the lavender, vineyards and stone hamlets of Provence with the care of a regional almanac and the soul of a love letter.
Majestic Provence began with a wrong turn off the D17, a thunderstorm over the Luberon, and a small bottle of Bandol rosé shared on the tailgate of a friend's 2CV.
It was July 2016. Our founders — Camille, an ex-sommelier from Aix, and Théo, a magazine travel editor from Lyon — had been commissioned to write a single weekend guide to the Luberon. The article ran to 1,800 words and, in the end, never quite captured the mistral drifting through the perched village of Lourmarin, the chalk-dust perfume of a Séguret cellar, or the way light pools on the Sault plateau at 7 p.m. on a Sunday.
So they bought the domain name, leased a small flat above a boulangerie in Manosque, and started again. Two years of slow travel followed — interviewing forty-six winemakers, walking 2,300 kilometres of sentiers, and knocking on the doors of family-run auberges in Moustiers-Sainte-Marie, Les Baux-de-Provence and Fontaine-de-Vaucluse. The first edition of the Majestic Provence almanac sold out in eleven days. We have been returning to those same villages ever since.
"We don't review Provence. We try to listen to it — to the bells, the bees, the cellar masters and the grandmothers who still know which Tuesday the market is on."
Today, Majestic Provence is a small editorial collective of seven, working out of a converted cave in Marseille's Panier district. We publish four seasonal guides a year, an annual rosé report, and a quiet newsletter for travellers who would rather walk a calade in silence than queue for an Instagram terrace.
Valensole plateau, 7:12 p.m., late July
Editorial mission
Three principles, written on the wall above our desks.
Every guide, list and recommendation we publish is filtered through the same three questions. If a story cannot answer them, we do not run it.
Slow by season
We travel when Provence is at its quietest — January truffle hunts, March almond blossom, the September vendange. No "best of" lists published in July. No contract guides.
We do not accept paid placements, complimentary stays, or sponsored itineraries. Our 47 paying members fund the work; our reputation funds itself. Editorial firewall is total.
Provence is not a one-trip destination. We design our guides for the traveller already planning their second, third and tenth visit — the one who has read the obvious, and wants the rest.
The figures we keep on the office wall in Marseille — kept honest because our members keep us honest.
2,300km
Walked across the seven Provençal departments since 2017
146
Independent winemakers, distillers and food artisans profiled
7
Editors, writers and a resident cartographer on the masthead
0
Sponsored placements, advertorial features or paid inclusions — ever
The masthead
Seven people, four villages, one cellar.
A small collective by design. We are ex-sommeliers, regional historians, a former postmistress from Gordes, and one cartographer who refuses to use AI to draw a single calade.
Camille Marchetti
Co-founder & Wine editor
Former sommelier at a two-star Aix maison. Drinks Bandol, writes in pencil, and refuses to recommend a rosé she has not opened at a kitchen table.
Bandol 12 yrs
Théo Beauchêne
Co-founder & Editorial director
Ex-magazine travel editor from Lyon. Has slept in 84 different chambres d'hôtes and can tell you which ones have the better breakfast in winter.
Luberon 15 yrs
Margaux Lévi
Cartographer & regional history
Hand-draws every map we publish, in graphite and watercolour, then traces them digitally. Reads Provençal Occitan for fun, and translates the village signs for our guides.
Marseille 9 yrs
Jean-René Olivetti
Lavender, markets & village life
Retired postmaster from Gordes, the friend on whose 2CV tailgate the whole project began. Knows which Tuesday the Sault market is on, and which stall sells the best cade honey.
Gordes 42 yrs
For journalists & collaborators
Press, partnerships and a quiet inbox.
We answer our own email, usually within forty-eight hours. Press requests, image licensing and regional collaboration enquiries are warmly received; SEO link trades are not.
Press kit & recent coverage
Our masthead, hi-res photography, regional fact sheets and the full archive of editor letters. Free to use with attribution for editorial features on southern France.
Latest feature — "The quiet return to the Luberon," Condé Nast Traveller, March 2025
Rosé report 2024 cited in Decanter, Le Monde and AFAR
Radio interview — Camille on France Culture's Soft Power, on the politics of overtourism
Available spokespersons on lavender agriculture, Provençal winemaking and slow travel