My Favorite Airbnb: A Design Lover’s Dream Home in the South of France

When I arrive in the blazing sunshine, the house is sleeping, its windows peacefully shuttered against the unrelenting July weather. They’re painted a delicate shade of butter yellow, and in their modesty are a perfect foil to the fun hiding behind them: a delightful ode to considering the consistency of design rules as optional.

Downstairs, behind the shutters, there are two identical bedrooms, but for their colors. One is pink and the other is ochre, with everything from sheets and sinks to towels and tiles obediently adhering to their respective palettes. Soft muslin linen and squashy feather bedding cover comfortable mattresses and each has its own shower tucked into an arched alcove. They’re the perfect argument for the eradication of the primary suite—a holiday is no time to be feeling aggrieved by the square footage of your companion’s quarters. There’s something that feels extremely luxurious about stepping out of the heat of the day into these cool, dark spaces and being able to rest under full, fluffed duvets despite the temperature outside—we sleep like babies.

On this holiday, we’re a gaggle of girls all looking for the three S’s: sun, sea, and the aforementioned sleep, and the apartment couldn’t be more perfect. We’re in the middle of the tiny village of Les Goudes on the outskirts of Marseille, a sort of utopia for those with jobs that hover somewhere on the creative spectrum (or for those with ambitions of such a title).

As with all gentrified periphery towns, it’s a place that’s inspired a clutch of bijou openings over the course of its rise to stardom. Where previously—I assume—you’d be hard-pressed to find an iced coffee, you can now source one from multiple shops with hand-painted signage and eclectic, vintage furniture outside. It’s most famous, perhaps, for being home to Tuba Club, an irresistibly ostentatious (and wildly expensive) restaurant on the rocks which moonlights as a laidback seaside spot. There are, of course, more traditional restaurants too that have profited from their proximity to the sea for years, offering Marseillais cuisine and sunset views across the boats bobbing merrily in the harbor, with the reflection of the crystal waters dancing across their bows. There is one place though which has the most unrelenting queues, and that’s right beside our front door: the gelateria.