Leave it to Anna: Everything I Brought Home from Provence (Carry-On Edition)

Longtime readers may remember that this time last year I returned from France with a car trunk’s worth of treasures: my Princess Diana-approved Souleiado tote, a mushroom butter dish, and plenty of Marseille soap to last the whole year (read the original shopping recap post here).

This year, however, we did not have a car trunk to fill up as we only traveled with our carry-ons due to militant Ryanair restrictions. Therefore, I had to get creative with my packing in order to leave some room for souvenirs to bring home. Or more accurately, my husband had generously left some room in his suitcase for my French finds as I packed way too many outfits to even have an inch of space to spare.

As we are now freshly back from a week in Menerbes, the summer holiday hangover is in full swing around here. However, by procuring local wares wherever you go, you are able to extend your vacation and enjoy it way past its unfortunate end. I find pleasure in small things that I brought home from France by incorporating them into my daily routine back in London. Pour yourself a glass of rosé and let’s debrief on what came home with me this time.

Let’s start with pottery. Last year I visited an amazing, family-owned pottery shop in Lourmarin, Atelier Buisson-Kessler. The owner enthusiastically told us how his mother started the business in a workshop in their family home, where all of the pottery they sell is still made. I loved the bright bursts of color, the different pieces they sold, and the palpable pride expressed by the owner for his family’s legacy.

When we were visiting the Friday market in Lourmarin this year, I had to pop back in, of course! I loved seeing the owner again, who was just as friendly this year as he was before, and ended up picking up six two-toned colorful bowls and a small pitcher in Provençal blue. He bubble wrapped everything very nicely and my husband ended up delivering the loot safely back home in his suitcase.

The best souvenir of the trip might be the one we almost drove past on the way back from Lourmarin. Distillerie de Beaudon is located right on the D36 road, just south of Bonnieux. It is a modest shop (or maybe a shack), where Michel sells essential oils that he distills himself. He showed us around his shop and told us how his potions worked. Lavender oil, he told me, is the best thing for keeping mosquitoes at bay. He also recommended his cedar oil, taken with a spoonful of honey daily, to ward off Alzheimer’s, but instructed me to come back for that one after I turn 50. This is the real deal and beats a fancy boutique any day. Bring cash and do not search for his website online (he doesn’t have one).

This year we also stopped by Domaine du Moulin Saint Augustin, which we stumbled upon last year on a morning drive back to Menerbes. The domaine is a working olive oil mill between Coustellet and Les Beaumettes that grows its own olives, presses its oil on site, and sells it (along with a well-curated selection of Provençal pantry goods) in the boutique housed in the old flour mill. It is a one-stop shop for all of your Luberon souvenirs (and treats for yourself, of course).

The oldest part of the stone building dates to the 7th century, and it belonged to the monks of Sénanque Abbey until the 13th century. The residents of the quarter, known as the "Hermitants," produced flour, wine, honey, and olive oil here for the abbey's builders and monks. In 1210, the monks sold the property to the Count of Châteauneuf, and it later passed to the family of the Marquis de Sade, which held it until the French Revolution.

This time I came home with olive oil soap in lavender and mint scents, made with the mill's own oil. Heavenly. I also got to chatting with Eleftheria, who was working the counter and turned out to be a photographer specializing in Polaroids. The Polaroid of lavender she gave me now hangs on my bulletin board at work.

A new town we checked out this year was L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, where I found Les Colorades, a great little shop that specializes in Provençal printed cotton tablecloths, quilted placemats, napkins, accessories, and clothes. Everything is made in France out of top-quality cotton. Provençal prints date back to the 1600s, when Indian cotton prints, or “indiennes,” arrived in the south of France. Now they are visual shorthand for Provence itself, all sunflowers and olives on bright yellow and cobalt blue.

I tried on so many things under the owner’s expert eye and walked away with two pairs of capris that seemed both classic and of the moment, a printed short-sleeved shirt, and a bandana scarf, a parting gift from the shop! I especially like the all-white pair (on the left below) that has a funky three-button flap on top, which evokes a certain matador vibe.

A word on the famous L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue market, which takes over the town every Sunday morning. I am going to commit Provence blasphemy and tell you to skip it, at least at the height of tourist season. The market is billed as one of the best in France, and perhaps it is, if you can actually find a parking spot and fight your way to the stalls. We found ourselves wedged between tour groups, countless strollers, and hikers with giant backpacks. I am told the town is much nicer to visit midweek, when the market is not on: the shops and restaurants are all open, and there are fewer tourists.

Once we abandoned the market, we discovered excellent coffee at La Maison Rouge, a cafe and antique shop next door to Les Colorades. I found an amazing one-of-a-kind ring there, made of natural stones.

My favorite thing to buy when I travel is jewelry. Small, packable, and a reminder of your trip every time you wear it. I found the fish pendant necklace at a small shop in the hill village of Menerbes.

The Odyssey-evoking bracelet, necklace, and earrings were sourced from a seller at the Apt market on Saturday (that is one market not to skip). He doesn’t have an online presence, he told me, so you just have to look for him again same time, same place next year.

Also in Apt, I visited two boutiques that are now firmly on my “go back next time” list. The first was Le 104 RDM, where I found this amazing cotton dress (polka dots were going strong in Provence this summer). The owner told me that we had similar taste as I kept picking up things at the shop that she personally sourced and liked (like the crochet cap that I clocked immediately as something I needed to push me out of my fashion comfort zone).

The second shop was Lugnina, which had lovely linen pieces of all colors of the rainbow (I saw their stand at the Menerbes market last year). Here I picked up a handmade “straw-kin” (a Birkin made out of straw), which is now my “fancy” summer bag.

No trip to France is complete without a pilgrimage to the pharmacy, and this time I was not looking for glamour. Armed with Google Translate, I marched up to the counter and asked the pharmacist for vitamins that help with "brain fog due to perimenopause" and "for hair to grow faster." The pharmacist did not blink and led me over to the vitamin aisle to solve both of these problems.

For the perimenopause symptoms, she recommended Menogyne, a pollen-and-plant formula that promises to tame hot flashes, fatigue, and irritability, backed up by Omegabiane Oméga 3-6-9 oil blend. She also recommended Ergymental+ for “morale,” which is a saffron, lemon balm, and rhodiola blend targeting "baisse de moral," or a dip in spirits. And for hair growth, she said to try Ergycapil, a mixture of amino acids, vitamins, and minerals. Whether any of these vitamins actually help remains to be seen, but I walked out with a plan and a paper bag full of French options to try.

We had a late flight back to London (which also got delayed by 3 hours), so we decided to spend the day hanging out in Marseille. I have a lot to share about Marseille in a future post, so I’ll just mention a few things that I found at Maison Empereur. Mind you, at this point all of our bags were filled to the brim but I just couldn’t leave these silver coupes behind.1

Founded in 1827 and run by the same family ever since, Maison Empereur is the oldest hardware store in France. Spread across several floors a short walk away from the old port, the shop stocks everything from copper pans, doorknobs, and feather dusters to Marseille soap and cotton bedding in traditional Provençal prints. I could have spent a day in there, but had to stay on task with a plane to catch. In addition to the silver coupes for ice cream, I found a cotton wrap skirt and two more bandanas. If you only have time for one shop in Marseille, this is definitely the one.

That's a wrap! I'll be back with a full Marseille debrief soon (that delayed flight bought me plenty of content), so stay tuned. Until then, tell me in the comments: what's the best thing you've ever squeezed into a carry-on?

Thank you for reading and see you here next week!