Luxury villa for rent in Pays d'Avignon countryside rental with pool for 11 people

There is something rather heavenly about this charming country house, with its simple yet elegant interiors and enormous private swimming pool. Set back from the road leading to Roaix, the original 19th-century buildings have been carefully converted to provide a spacious holiday home, an independent one-bedroom guest annexe and a handy pool house, complete with a covered dining terrace and a summer kitchen. Here you can brew your morning café au lait to enjoy by the 14m heated pool: whether you then decide to power through 50 laps or splash around with the children is up to you, but in a pool this size there is easily room for both.

The grounds are attractively landscaped, and offer plenty of room for the grown-ups to spread out and the children to run around, all with the beautiful backdrop of the Dentelles de Montmirail. This ridge of jagged limestone peaks dominates the landscape for miles around and offers some challenging walking routes. For a gentler way to explore the area, you can tour the many historic villages within a 10-20 minute drive of Hameau des Anges; Séguret sits at the foot of the Dentelles in the heart of the Côtes du Rhône vineyards and is one of the ‘plus beaux villages de France', while Vaison-la-Romaine is an historic town with extensive Roman ruins, good restaurants, markets and of course, wineries. The world-renowned Roman ruins at Orange are just 23km away, so you can get there nice and early and steal a march on the summer crowds.

Sleeping up to nine in the main house, this property makes a relaxing base for two families, with the added benefit of the annexe room ideal for an accompanying nanny or teenage children.