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Hi,

We are Mary & Tony Byrne, an almost retired couple who fell in love with Provence and Sablet when really close friends of ours bought a house in the village in 2004. Our friends alerted us La Grande Maison in late 2006, mind you at that time is was not so grand.

Over the next 18 months there was lots of work from our builders, Patrice and Jean Claude and many hours from Mary & I, family and friends, who probably did not know what they were getting themselves in for when invited to join us in Provence.

Now we have 3 lovely bedrooms in the main house and a separate self contained apartment. We live in Perth in Australia but try and spend 3 months or so in Sablet each year, usually in the apartment.

We love the village and the friends we have made there. We hope to meet you there

We did not really intend to buy. We fell in love with the place after spending some time with our friends and when the opportunity presented itself we jumped at it.

Not normally so impetuous but delighted with the decision.

This is the house when we bought in 2007 and now today we hope you enjoy the difference, we certainly do













History

Sablet is situated at the foot of the Dentelles de Montmirail in the Côtes du Rhône wine producing region. It is located to the west of Mont Ventoux, in a transition zone between the Prealps and the Mediterranean.

Sablet is very close to the larger towns of Vaison-la-Romaine to Avignon 30 minutes away.

The oldest part of the village "inside the walls" (les remparts), is made up of narrow streets or ruelles, built in a circular fashion around the beehive shaped hill, which afforthe north, Carpentras to the south and Orange to the west, with the much larger regional center of ded inhabitants protection against numerous invaders over many centuries. Streets are named to reflect the activities of the village inhabitants over the centuries, for example climbing the "Escaliers de l'Eglise" to the twelfth century church of St. Nazaire or visiting the shoemaker on the "Rue du Cordonnier."

Today, the village has expanded beyond the "Remparts" and has an active group of "commercants" who provide for the day to day needs of its residents and the surrounding farms. It has two boulangeries (bakeries), one butcher, two grocery stores, a florist, a drug store, a small Medical Center with resident Doctors and Dentists, a tabac/gift store, a bank, a "press". There is a cafe, two restaurants and Pizza "to go" in the main square, while a short walk along the "Route de Vaison" takes you to Restaurant Les Abeilles. In the village square, the "Bureau du Tourisme" has information about the village, and the surrounding communities. They offer wine tasting samples from all the wineries in Sablet. The "Maison de la Retraite" or Retirement Home for Sablet's senior citizens is in the village square.

Sablet has experienced many invasions and waves of migration over the centuries. Its history really begins however, in the 9th century when to guard against the invasion of the Saracens, the villagers built its first fortifications - les remparts. The remparts were again rebuilt during the 15th century, and more recently refurbished by the Companions of the Barrys - (les Compagnons du Barrys) - an active group of Sabletains dedicated to the preservation of the history of the Village.

During the Middle Ages, Sablet was owned by the Holy See, and unlike many other villages in the area, it was never under the control of feudal lords - thus also unlike many other villages in the area, there is no castle (chateau). Its citizens have always earned their living working the rich land in this part of the Rhone Valley. At this time the church was the law making and the administrative entity in the area. In 1577 the village was taken by Calvinists and the Pope appointed a governor to oversee the village until the end of the religious war. The home of the Papal Vice Legate in the center of the village has undergone many changes of ownership, more recently being owned by the then village doctor who established it as a Hospice for during the 1950s until its more recent conversion back to a private home.

In 1721 the Plague ravaged the area but Sablet remained untouched. The grateful villagers built the Chapel of St. Roch to the Saint whom they credited with having saved the village. It was placed under the parish of St. Nazaire with its twelfth-century church, which stands at the highest point of the village - the illuminated bell tower marking the position of Sablet in the surrounding countryside. Today, the Chapel of St. Roch is also a functioning church. The 15th-century Chapel of St. Nazaire (as distinct from the Church of St Nazaire) is the home of many art exhibitions each year.

When, in 1867, the vineyards of France were devastated by phylloxera, it was a Sabletain, Francois Leydier, who invented the grafting machine which helped enormously in saving the wine industry in this region and throughout France. Acknowledging this significant contribution to the village, Rue Francois Leydier was named in his honor.