A Month stay in Southern France

Old Jan 14th, 2017, 01:31 PM
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ksm
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A Month stay in Southern France

We are planning a month stay in Southern France. We like to rent a house in one location as a base for a month and then make day trips from that location. We like to explore at a slower pace and have some down days just to relax and stay put. We would like to explore the Southern France area on this trip. We have never been to Southern France so really just starting my planning. So first I need to decide my base location. I would like a location that I could potentially get a house that has a view; either mountain or water. We do like the option to walk to restaurants from the rental house but for this rental it would not be my top priority. We LOVE food and eating out but I figure we can take care of that on our day trips. But walkable to restaurants would definitely be a plus. We would like the day trips to be around 2 hours or less. We will probably rent a car for the day trips versus trains. From reading through some of the forum post I see places like Avignon, Nice, Marseille, Provence, Côte d'Azu etc.

So where are your suggestions? Thank you in advance
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Old Jan 14th, 2017, 01:44 PM
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I think the first thing to really decide is how big a city or town you might like. We personally love the area close to the Pont du Gard, and if it isn't too small you might check out Uzes. It is a lovely town and if you stay in town, you can easily walk to restaurants and shops and they have a nice weekly market as well. If it is too small, we also like Avignon. Again those areas are good bases to explore more of the Gard area. If you want to be closer to Nice and Cote d'Azur, Aix-en-Provence might be more central. If you want to be much nore over towards Nice, Vence is a nice city about 30 minutes away up in the hills.

Also, you don't say what time of year you are going. Traffic during the July August time period can be very difficult, so it might take you much longer than that same trip would during off season times.
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Old Jan 14th, 2017, 01:50 PM
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Just a thought - perhaps stay in 2 places rather than an entire month in 1 location. As great as it sounds, sometime a month is too long.

Also - what time of year as that makes a difference.

We have spent several months in St. Saturnin les Apts which is in The Luberon. We have friends that we house sit for and have been there in all Fall and Winter.

St. Sat is a small village with only a restaurant or 2 but it doesn't get hordes of tourists, which we like. With a car, there is abundant dining to be had in nearby villages.

Most people will say "no" to Marseille for even a weekend, but we like going there for day trips. I am not sure what a month would be like; Nice will be pricey if in season.

I think you need to look at a good map to see what makes up "Provence" and "Cote d'Azur" as they are not a cities like the other places you list.

This will give you an idea what kind of day trips are available for villages in The Luberon.

www.accommodationinprovence.com/what-to-do/

and

www.accommodationinprovence.com/region/

These come from our friends' website. They do have a house they rent, but it is likely booked for 2017; they may have a couple of open weeks, but doubt an entire month. {FWIW - I have no financial or other interest in the property}
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Old Jan 14th, 2017, 01:58 PM
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From reading through some of the forum post I see places like Avignon, Nice, Marseille, Provence, Côte d'Azu etc.>

Yes I would at least stay in two rather than one - like Arles/Avignon area where there is a surfeit of each day trips by car and the Cote d'Azur- doing a 3-4 day drive on back roads via the Grand Canyon de Verdun via Aix to the Nice area -you could do it in an easy day via boring super busy autoroutes along the coast.

Antibes is a great base for the Cote d'Azur with again so so many easy day trips by car -even bopping into Italy.
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Old Jan 14th, 2017, 02:25 PM
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Thanks for the quick responses. Sorry I thought I included time frame. It will probably be the month of September 2017 (maybe into the first week of October.) The main reason we pick a month is that we can usually get a discount on a house via airbnb, vrbo, etc. if we book a month. But I have not checked prices. Would consider two places if it does not change the cost by that much.
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Old Jan 14th, 2017, 03:12 PM
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As I told you in the reply e-mail I sent to you - you had better get busy securing a place in Provence or the Cote d'Azur. Last Sept, we secured ours for June this year in Provence. We've spent 20 weeks vacationing in Provence and have always secured the gite about 1 3/4 years in advance. We've also spent 20 weeks along the Cote d'Azur - and we'll spend 1 more week this June - and we secured the Apt last Sept also.

My wife & I retired early in 1999 so we could travel more. Mainly to France. In 1999, we rented gites in Provence for:
2 weeks in the Luberon near Gordes
2 weeks near St Remy
2 weeks near Vaison


A few years later we returned for:
2 weeks in the same gite near Gordes in the Luberon
2 weeks near Uzes

A few years later we returned and:
2 weeks in a gite in Bedoin at the foot of Mt Ventoux

A few years later:
4 weeks in the same gite in Bedoin

a few years later:
2 weeks in the same gite in Bedoin

a few years later:
2 weeks in a gite in the Luberon in Goult

The Gite in Bedoin is close to the Gite near Vaison.

If I put my "first-timer" hat on - I would recommend the Luberon. Goult is kinda close to the place Deb recommended.

After that, our obvious second choice is Bedoin. Then Uzes, and lastly St Remy.

We're returning to Bedoin for 2 weeks this year, and Goult in 2019.

I do not divulge info about specific gites we've stayed in (too much competition already). But here is something I wrote about renting gites from the French Gites-de-France organization.

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...gv-tickets.cfm

So far - we've rented 67 gites.

Stu Dudley
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Old Jan 14th, 2017, 03:12 PM
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Aix en Provence is a great possibility for renting a house. We visited my daughter several times when she lived in Aix en Provence, and we really enjoyed it. She rented an apartment in a house, and we were able to walk to Cours Mirabeau and the Old Town from her apartment. It's a small city known for its many fountains. There are several small art museums, old churches, and a lovely Old Town. Tons of restaurants and shops within walking distance. We walked to Cezanne's studio, just outside of the center. We visited the following places as easy day trips from Aix: Marseilles, Cassis, Gordes, Roussillon, Loumarin, Ile Sur la Sorgue, Menerbes, Arles, Avignon, Les Beaux,& St. Remy.

I think Avignon or Arles would also be nice places to stay.

Nice is about 1 1/2 hours from Aix. I've been there twice; while it was nice to visit, and the views of the Mediterranean are beautiful, I didn't like it enough to stay there for 2 weeks or a month. It's very crowded. Personally I think Aix is nicer, but everyone has their own opinion.

As other posters have stated, it depends on what you want to see. Nice would be too far to go to the Luberon for day trips, but would obviously be convenient if you want to spend time on the Cote d'Azur.
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Old Jan 14th, 2017, 03:12 PM
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You may be able to get the house my friends rent at that time of year not sure of your budget and the house may be too big but:

http://www.accommodationinprovence.c...tems/le-chene/
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Old Jan 14th, 2017, 03:18 PM
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>> have always secured the gite about 1 3/4 years in advance
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Old Jan 14th, 2017, 04:40 PM
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Oops - wrong link

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...e-web-site.cfm

Stu Dudley
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Old Jan 15th, 2017, 09:34 AM
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We rented a gîte (https://www.gites-de-france.com) in the rural outskirts of Carpentras east of Avignon and found that to be a good location for many day trips. Before that we stayed for a few nights in a hotel outside Aigues Mortes (we flew into Montpellier where we got our wheels), which allowed us to drive around the Camargue (wildlife galore, pink flamingoes, white wild horses!!).

While in the region, look for the Sunday family amusement called Courses Camarguaises - it is the bloodless and harmless "bullfights" where the bull always wins! A gaggle of young and athletic chaps compete for the bull's attention, the aim being to pick a rosetta from between the bull's horns where it is lightly affixed. The bull doesn't want to be made a fool of and chases the young men who jump over the walls when it gets too dicey - the bull gets all the applause and eventually struts back out, always the winner, even if somebody managed to snatch the rosetta off his head.
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Old Jan 15th, 2017, 01:30 PM
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I agree that you need to decide if you want to be in a city or at least its outskirts, or in a rural or smaller place. That is the first decision.

Marseille and Nice aren't central enough IMO. Avignon area would be, Aix would be okay, also, certainly plenty within 2 hrs. I hope you realize if you stay in that area, you won't be doing day trips to Nice area. Actually, I stayed in Marseille once for about 4 days and did take a day trip by train to Antibes, though. But not all the way to Nice (although I'd beeen there, anyway).

If I were going for a month, I would also probably split into two places in different areas. I think that's a good idea. Maybe one around Aix and then another farther north or NW, say Drome or Uzes area, something like that.
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Old Jan 15th, 2017, 07:32 PM
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It seems for most of the suggestions the cities are not on the water. As I said before I really like to have a place with a view. Do you get a lovely countryside/mountain view from most of these locations. For example Aix has been mentioned a number of times; could we find a rental that has a lovely view. I am usually partial to water views, but would be content with a lovely country side or mountain view.

From the posts it seems like I would have better options for day trip by not trying to be close to Nice (which was not necessarily my goal). I can now narrow down a bit more to look for available rentals.

May need to come back and ask about more specific locations in certain cities depending on rentals.

It is always so hard to pick if you do not know the area at all.

This has been a great start and I thank you for all of the help.
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Old Jan 15th, 2017, 08:45 PM
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Aix is our favorite large city in Provence - but it is not really centrally located to the sites most people want to visit in Provence. No views either - it's a city.

The Gite where we stay in Goult is perfect - fabulous views of Bonnieux, Lacoste, and the Luberon valley in the distance, private swimming pool, nice garden, surrounded by vineyards, not-too-touristy village, farmer's market in town, 4 restaurants in town - but it is fully booked up all but 1 week in August, all of September, and all but 1 week in Oct. If Deb's place is available - grab it. If you wait too long for "perfection" - you'll end up with the "dregs". Like I stated earlier - we secure our gites around 1 year in advance.

Stu Dudley
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Old Jan 15th, 2017, 09:18 PM
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I'm not clear on just what part of southern France you want to visit--the Côte d'Azur, western Provence, the Languedoc, the Rhône Valley, the Drôme--you have so many choices. I really think getting a good guidebook is the best place to start; try the Cadogan Guide to the South of France, then one or more of the Michelin Green Guides.
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Old Jan 15th, 2017, 11:38 PM
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On cite d azur you don't have trains along the coast. The tracks have been removed decades ago and some portions turned into bicycle tracks.
Therefore the mention of cities inland.

If you want a beach town you need a car.
Beach towns can be sainte Maxime or Antibes or Cannes

Cities are Marseille Toulon (ugly) or nice. For south east. Southwest us another matter.

Or villages : lots of them.
Get yourself a good paper guide and start reading. Your first post is full of imprecision.
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Old Jan 16th, 2017, 12:29 AM
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If you want spectacular water views, go to Eze, though I don't think there are home rentals there. Mostly very expensive hotels.

Worth at least a day trip.

The Cote d'Azur has been attracting the jet set for decades and now billionaires with super yachts. Reason is it's a stunning setting. Visit the Villa Rothschild on a sunny day and you'll see why real estate is so expensive there.

But it's difficult to drive and park along those coastal cities, at least the big ones like Cannes and Nice. So there are trains you can take, though it can be time-consuming. You can go from Cannes to Monaco and beyond, into Italy.

Western Provence, you can see Roman ruins (aqueducts, amphitheaters, etc.) as well as medieval villages in the mountains.

Then in the mountains, you can go to the "Grand Canyon of France."

If you like art, there is artistic heritage as the region attracted figures like Van Gogh, Picasso, Matisse.
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Old Jan 16th, 2017, 05:41 AM
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" I really like to have a place with a view. Do you get a lovely countryside/mountain view"

Are you looking at the suggestions? Lots of the places mentioned, including mine, have lovely views of the countryside and or mountains.
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Old Jan 16th, 2017, 08:32 AM
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I appreciate your patience. I know my questions have been pretty vague, but I was looking for exactly the kind of information you have provided me to start narrowing down my options. Thank you.

I will do more research on my own now and come back when I can ask more specific questions

Thanks @DebitNM. Yes, I just wanted to check that the locations suggested had a lovely mountain view since most were not on the coast.
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Old Jan 22nd, 2017, 04:16 PM
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OK. I have looked quite a bit at a lot of different locations suggested through this post. I have found a house that I like quite a bit in Gordes and as I expected the rate for a month is substantially discounted (making it almost equal to if we just booked for two weeks at a regular rate). We are not the types that like to go, go, go every day, so we like some down days just to relax and stay at our rental house. With that said, will we still have enough day trips from Gordes to keep us busy for a month? We will have a rental car. I might even consider one or two overnights someplace else because we are getting the house at such a reasonable rate.

Thought I would get input here before I commit to Gordes for a month.
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