Planning the trip
Having settled on a duration for the trip of 18 days, first we had booked the flight from Toronto to Paris and back. It so happened that for us, Airtransat had a promotion for a flight (maybe a charter) on the third Monday in August that suited us the best especially that the flight back was not too inconvenient with an extra stop at Montreal.
Booking for hotels in Paris for three nights in August takes time but must be done in advance. 10 month in advance as we did it should give one more selection for good deals. Considering distances from points of interest, price range and reviews, we spent a few hours going through 10 to 20 matches on Expedia.ca for downtown Paris eventually settling from one that seemed to have availability for three families, as our party composition was expected to start with. Airbnb listings for the same criteria did not yield better result. At least not for the number of rooms, beds, amenities, and nearby stores such as coffee shops and boulangeries (for breakfast).
We were to be joined by other people for our visit to Provence. For booking for accommodation of a larger group opened opportunities for selection at our price range that would not have been possible for a smaller party. Renting the cottage in the Le Gîte d'Espeyran next to the Vineyard domain just South of Saint-Gille would have been just too expensive from the two of us.