And no, Saorge is not the French people's favorite village in 2025 (but we love it)

There were 14 villages competing. 14, like the number of French regions, considering overseas territories as a single entity.

While the southern region has never been honored with the title of "Favorite Village of the French," Saorge was hoping to win the prize for this 14th edition. And thus make the entire Roya Valley proud by succeeding Collioure.

Public voting has been closed since March 7, but we had to wait until Wednesday evening to find out the name of the lucky winner.

The village of Roya was in conflict with Saint-Antoine-l'Abbaye (Isère), Semur-en-Auxois (Côte-d'Or), Malestroit (Morbihan), Ferrières-en-Gâtinais (Loiret), Calcatoggio (South Corsica), Sierck-les-Bains (Moselle), Longpont (Aisne), Rochefort-en-Yvelines (Yvelines), Grand'Rivière (Martinique), Clécy (Calvados), Beaulieu-sur-Dordogne (Corrèze), Lupiac (Gers), and Fontevraud-l'Abbaye (Maine-et-Loire).

In the rankings listed by Stéphane Bern throughout the show, Saorge comes in 13th place, just ahead of Rochefort-en-Yvelines and behind Calcatoggio.

The village will therefore not, unfortunately, benefit from a stamp bearing its image issued by La Poste.

But in the report dedicated to her—rich in beautiful drone footage—we joyfully met a resident, Véronique, as well as Francesco Scarrone, Lilou Fracassi, and the town's choir. We wandered the narrow streets, saw the Saint-Sauveur church and the Saorge Monastery. All in all, with world-wide coverage. Or almost.

And even though Saorge wasn't crowned, we can't recommend enough reading these few lines of introduction published on the show's website. To convince those who don't yet know the village to go and explore it anyway. And those who already know it to wander around again and again.

"As if suspended between sky and mountain, in the heart of the Mercantour National Park, the colorful houses of Saorge stand out under the blue sky of the Roya Valley. At an altitude of 800 meters, with their roofs covered in purple stone, they give the village a panorama of almost unreal aesthetics. Walking through the village, one discovers a maze of winding streets and houses connected by bridges to pass from one to the other and designed to support each other in the event of an earthquake. On the outskirts of Saorge stands proudly the Monastery of Saorge, an incredible building. Founded in the 17th century by Franciscan monks and lost in nature, it is bathed in a gentle atmosphere of tranquility, enjoyed by many resident artists who come to seek inspiration. Around it, hanging gardens offer the best of Provençal fruits and vegetables, to concoct one of the traditional recipes of the village like the famous and sunny Saorgian pie, celebrated every year in July."

What if we celebrated Saorge's participation in this event anyway? To remind everyone that it's one of the favorite villages of the... Maralpins.