Fred & Martine,
your hosts in the heart of Provence

Our story

We are Martine and Frédéric Herbin — Fred for friends, Martine for everyone — and we have been welcoming guests at Au Petit Bonheur since 2012. What started as a family home in L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue slowly became something else: a place where people come to slow down, breathe in the Provençal air, and rediscover what a holiday should feel like.

The property was a family legacy. Three generations have walked under its plane trees, picked figs from the same tree, and listened to the cicadas from the same shaded terrace. When the time came to decide what to do with it, we made a simple choice: rather than letting it sit empty, we would open its doors to travellers looking for something more personal than a hotel and more soulful than a faceless holiday rental.

We spent two years renovating the two apartments — the Balcony Apartment on the first floor with its view over the garden, and the Ground Floor Apartment opening straight onto the terrace. We picked every tile, every cushion, every painting ourselves. Nothing comes from a catalogue. The wood-fired pizza oven was built by a local mason, the linen sheets come from a workshop in the Drôme, and the breakfast jam is made by Martine when figs are in season.

Our values are simple and we haven't changed them since day one: calm, authenticity, and personal hospitality. No keypad on the door, no QR code to check in. When you arrive, one of us is there with a glass of cold rosé, a map of the village, and the time to answer your questions.

Why "Petit Bonheur"?

People often ask us where the name comes from. The honest answer: we didn't choose it — our guests did.

In our very first season, a couple from Lyon left a note on the kitchen table the morning they checked out. It said, in French: "Merci, on a trouvé notre petit bonheur ici." — "Thank you, we found our little happiness here." We kept the note. A few weeks later, an English family wrote almost the same thing. Then a Belgian guest. Then a couple from Marseille. By the end of the summer, the phrase had appeared in our guestbook more times than we could count.

So when it came time to give the place a proper name, the choice was already made. Au Petit Bonheur — the little happiness. It is what our guests find here, and it is also what we wish for everyone who walks through our gate.

"We came for three nights and stayed for a week. Fred and Martine treat you like old friends, not customers. The garden, the pool, the village — but mostly, the people. We will be back." — Sarah & Tom, UK, summer 2024

Our local commitment

L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue is not just our address — it is our home, and we care about keeping it the way we love it. Concretely, that means a few things you might notice during your stay.

• Local produce on every breakfast tray. The bread comes from the bakery on Place de la Liberté, the goat cheese from a farm in Velleron, the honey from a beekeeper in Saumane, and the fruit from the Sunday market on the square. When we say "local," we mean we know the people who grow it.
• Côtes du Ventoux and Luberon vintners. The welcome bottle in your kitchen is from a small estate we have visited a dozen times. We are happy to draw you a map of our favourite cellars within thirty minutes of the gate.
• Artisans of the Luberon. The pottery in the apartments comes from Cliousclat. The olive oil from a mill in Maussane. If you fall in love with a piece, we will tell you exactly where to find more.
• Eco-tourism, quietly. Solar panels on the roof cover most of our summer electricity. Rainwater feeds the garden. Sheets and towels are washed at low temperature with phosphate-free detergent. The pool uses a low-chlorine system. None of this is marketing — it is just how we run our home.
• Water saving. Vaucluse summers are hot and dry. We ask guests to be reasonable with the shower and the garden hose, and in exchange we promise the swimming pool will always be full and clean.

Why book direct

We are listed on Booking.com — we won't pretend otherwise, and the reviews there speak for themselves (9.9/10, "Exceptional 2024"). But if you book through them, roughly 18% of what you pay goes straight to Booking's commission. That is money that doesn't help us repaint the shutters, fix the pool pump, or keep our prices reasonable.

When you book direct through this website, by phone, by WhatsApp or by email, you get four real advantages:

• 5% off the Booking price, guaranteed. Same apartment, same dates, same service — just cheaper.
• A real human on the other end. No call centre, no chatbot. You write to Martine, Martine writes back. Usually within a few hours.
• Personalised advice before you even pack. Tell us what you like — markets, hiking, wine, antiques, painting — and we will send you a tailored short list before you arrive.
• Flexible dates. Booking platforms apply rigid rules; we can. If you want to arrive a day early or leave a few hours late, just ask. We almost always say yes.

Two minutes from the market

We chose to keep the property as a small two-apartment gîte rather than turning it into a hotel, because we believe the experience of L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue is something you live, not something you visit. From our gate, you are a five-minute walk from the famous Sunday antiques market, two minutes from the canals, and a stone's throw from the cafés on Place de la Liberté.

We keep two free bicycles in the courtyard for our guests. The flat road along the Sorgue makes it easy to cycle to Fontaine-de-Vaucluse or Le Thor. We can recommend the best swimming spots in the river, the most peaceful kayak launch, and the bakery where you should arrive before 9am if you want a fresh fougasse.

Above all, we are here. Not constantly — we know our guests come for privacy, and we respect that — but enough to make your life easier. A restaurant booked at the last minute, a chemist on Sunday, a late-evening taxi to Avignon: just knock on our door.