Inside a Women's Retreat in Provence with Cynthia Moos

What Five Days Actually Looks Like

There is a moment that happens almost every time, usually within the first hour.

A woman arrives at the estate, checks into her room, and when she comes back out, I watch her shoulders drop. Not metaphorically. Actually drop, a few centimeters (yes, let’s say an inch), like she's been carrying something the whole flight over and finally let it go.

One guest last June put it even better. She sat by the pool, looked around at the garden, the light, the quiet, and said: "I feel like my heartbeat is going slower now."

She'd been in Provence for just a couple of hours.

I don't think that happens just because Provence is beautiful. I think it happens because of who she was the day before she landed. The mom who remembers the doctors appointments, the wife who planned the anniversary dinner and realized  the fact that they ran out of dish soap (sounds familiar?). The one whose to-do list has a to-do list. 

She's good at it, but that’s not the point. Somehow along the way, the version of her that exists outside of managing everyone else's needs and wants got put last. Almost forgotten.

That's who walks through the gate on day one. And it's a very special privilege for me watching what happens over the five days that follow.

Why choosing a host that grew up in Provence makes it extra special

Some of the magic that happens on my retreats are because I have Provence in my bones (and because French is my mother tongue). As one of my guests, Holly, once said, “you gave us a backstage pass to Provence and its culture.”

One time, we had lunch at a local's home, sitting around a table with fascinating people that my guests may have never met on their own. Another time, I had made reservations at a locally-acclaimed restaurant where none of the servers spoke English, so I translated the menu, the inspiration behind each dish, the chef’s story… My guests didn't need to think about any of it. They just got to be there and enjoy. 

That's the difference between visiting Provence and actually being let into it.

What to Expect on my Slow Living Retreat in Provence

The rest of the week carries on around moments like that.

Mornings that start slowly with a nourishing breakfast or vinyasa yoga. Markets where you learn to pick a melon by smell. Long lunches where no one checks their phone, not because it's a rule, but because nobody wants to look away from the conversation. Evenings under the plane trees with a glass of wine and our chef Nadège's cooking, the kind of simple, thoughtful food that makes you understand why the French take eating so seriously!

Some nights end with a game of pétanque, or a walk in the olive groves around the estate, or a simple bonne nuit when we return to our comfy rooms for a restful night.

What my guests have said about their BFF retreat

Here is what have been said after our last day together:

"Truly the experience of a lifetime. Such a beautiful journey through Provence."

“It was the most recentering trip."

"Honestly, you have helped me become more mindful in my day."

"The best part was to not have anything to plan."

That last one gets said almost every single time, in some form. And I understand why. For five days, nobody needs anything from you. There is nothing to manage. There is only you, and whoever you are becoming.

I've watched a guest who seemed reserved on day one, spend day two slowly unfolding… By day three, she was sharing things with the group I don't think she expected to say out loud to anyone, let alone five women she'd met three days earlier. That's not something I plan. It's just what happens when you give women a truly safe space and enough slow time in it.

If reading this stirred something, I see you and I would like to invite you to join me on my next retreat in Provence.

BFF Provence Retreats for 2027

I'm opening three retreats for 2027, each one designed around a different way of experiencing the slow life of Provence:

Nourish Your Senses — June 14–19, 2027, built around the full abundance of early summer in Provence.

Lavender Lover — June 26–July 1, 2027, timed to the lavender fields in full bloom.

Slow Down — September 12–17, 2027, the golden, gentler light of harvest season.

Each one holds six women. Each one gives you five days where the only thing on your list is yourself.

Will I see you in Provence? Apply here.

credit photo: Elsa Cadic