The property benefits from a double garage where guests can park their cars. In the full heat of the Provencal summer this is a real plus. The very inviting, brand new swimming pool is described as 8 x 4 metres in diameter, although it is formed to enhance the shape of the garden. It is 1.5 metres deep throughout.

Another attraction at Saint Rémy de Provence is the archaeological site at Glanum, next to the town and very close to the asylum. Indeed, Saint Rémy de Provence is one of the oldest towns in France, founded by the Celts more than 2,500 years ago and developed by both the Greeks and the Romans. The extensive Roman ruins at Glanum have been excavated and now provide a fascinating insight into life for the Romans 2000 years ago.

Glanum in fact predates the Romans by several centuries, but most of what we see comes from the Roman period. Among the highlights are the Arc de Triomphe and a very well preserved cenotaph featuring elaborate carvings (seen above).

The Hotel de Sade in the centre of Saint Rémy has been turned into an archaeological museum and contains finds from the ruins of Glanum.

Situated in the Bouches-du-Rhone in the west of Provence, Saint Rémy de Provence is regarded as the capital of the Alpilles, a range of hills extending from the much larger Luberon hills. The dramatic Alpilles hills dominate the local countryside, standing out disproportionately as they apparently rise sheer from the Rhone valley. The range is about 25 km long by about 8 to 10 km wide, running in an east-west direction between the Rhône and Durance rivers.

The lower slopes of the Alpilles are planted with olive and almond trees. Kermes oaks and pines also grow there. Much of the range is bare rock or stony ground covered with scrub and maquis. The highest parts of the range are a nature reserve inhabited by a number of rare species, including Bonelli's eagle, the Egyptian vulture and eagle owl. Some of these species were introduced in the Alpilles in the 1980s

Saint Rémy de Provence boasts a strong association with Van Gogh, who spent part of the last year of his life at the asylum in the town, where among others he painted the famous 'self portrait with bandaged ear'. He had been living in Arles during 1888-89, but in May 1889 he was voluntarily confined in the Asylum of Saint-Paul-de-Mausole which is beside Saint Rémy de Provence.


Saint Rémy de Provence inspired Van Gogh, and here he was allowed the freedom to express himself through his painting, which he did prolifically during the relatively short time he spent at the Asylum. He painted more than 150 paintings including many of those for which he is most famous. There is a reconstruction of Van Gogh’s bedroom (as depicted in his famous painting) at the Asylum which you can visit, but it is worth noting that Van Gogh’s painting was of his bedroom where he had been living in Arles. He was released from the hospital in May 1890 and left for Auvers-sur-Oise, near Paris. He shot himself on 27 July 1890 and died two days later.

There is now a guided walk around the town where you can see the locations of 21 of Van Gogh's paintings, each point marked by a reproduction of the original painting.