PaoloCast

My wife and I are planning a 2-3 week trip to Cote d’Azur, Provence, and Languedoc in early May. So far, the posts from our friends on this forum have been very helpful. (Stu Dudley’s suggested itinerary for the first two areas is terrific.) Our questions right now have to do with renting an apartment/gite for two people in St. Remy de Provence and suggestions for a base in Languedoc.

We plan to fly from to Nice and spend four nights in Nice with a day trip by train to Antibes and perhaps a round-trip bus trip along one of the corniches.

From Nice we plan to stop in one or two towns on the way to Aix. Two nights in Aix.
Is it easier to pick up a rental car in Nice central or take public transportation to the airport and pick up the rental car there? (I’ve spent a couple of long mornings finding my way out of central Rome, Milan, Paris etc.)

Right now, we don’t use a GPS but plan to get one shortly and try it out around home and in California. I’m looking at a Garmin nuvi 59 5”. Any experience with this device in France?

From Aix we plan to go to St. Remy de Provence for seven nights, using St. Remy as a base for exploring the area. We’ve looked at a number of apartments/gites on Home Away, Trip Advisor, and a couple of other sites. Some (mentioning shared pool and security gate) appear to be part of resort developments. This isn’t necessarily a negative, but does anyone have any experience with these types of apartments. In addition, does anyone have any recommendations, suggestions and experiences on accommodations for two?

From St. Remy de Provence, we originally planned to head to Toulouse, with one night somewhere around Carcassonne or Albi. The more we read, the more it seemed that at least one or two more days were warranted. Any suggestions on a base before heading into Toulouse?

Hotel and restaurant recommendations for Nice, Aix, the area around St.Remy, Toulouse and Languedoc will also be greatly appreciated.

That’s it for now. Thank you all again.

HappyTrvlr

Book your rental car pick up in Nice at the airport, take the airport bus(4E) to the airport, a very short ride along the Promenade de Anglais. Once there, pickup is easy. There is easy access to the Autoroute from the airport.
Some restaurants we enjoyed in Nice, various types, prices: Flaveur(Michelin Star) Chat Noir Chat Blanc(Old Town) Chez Freddy(seafood)in Cours Saleya, Bistro le Viviers(seafood), La Cantine de Lulu (traditional Nicoise, inexpensive.)

StuDudley

You can pick up a car at the Nice train station - but there is sometimes some rush hour traffic that you'll have to compete with. At the Nice airport we've experienced some huge lines - but they were on Saturdays around the Cannes festival.

I also have a 35 page Languedoc itinerary. If you would like a copy, e-mail me at [email protected]. Staying in Albi would be a good choice. See my itinerary for things to do & see in that area (Cordes, Gorges de l'Aveyron, Bruniquel, St Antonin). Another good place to base would be Ste Enimie in the Gorges du Tarn & explore the gorge and the fantastic caves in that region. (info about that in my itinerary also).

Stu Dudley

TPAYT

I couldn't tell if you wanted to stay IN Toulouse or the area around Toulouse but here's my recent trip report. You'll only be interested in the first few paraghraphs about Toulouse, the rest is not it the areas you are going to.

Toulouse was a city we were basically using to get over jet lag before picking up a car, but it turned out to be a favorite and we wished we had stayed another day.

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-and-paris.cfm

When we flew into Nice we picked up a car right at the airport and drove to our base in Antibes. I remember it as an easy drive even with jet lag. I feel your pain about driving out from a ciy center. MDH and I have had some interesting "conversations" during those drives.

Your planned trip sounds wonderful and makes me want to return to the area again. I'll be watching for your TR.

Odin

I travel to Nice quite frequently, I almost always experience lines at the car rental desk no matter what time of year, despite this I would recommend the airport because it is so easy to get to the autoroute. There is no driving through a city centre. It may cost more however to pick up the car at the airport, with on airport fees etc.

Michael

RR station and airport pick-up adds about 35€ to the cost of a rental. Picking up a car at a downtown agency avoids that surcharge, which is what we did. Nice is smaller than the cities mentioned by the OP and will not present the same problems getting out of town.

DebitNM

We rented a car in downtown Nice using EuropCar ( via kemwel). Simple and lowest cost. If you don't have your heart set on St. Remy, we spent 2 weeks in October in a beautiful gite in St. Saturnin les Apt. Perfect location to head out for day trips in every direction.

http://www.accommodationinprovence.com/

(I have slowly started a TR on the trip, click on my name.)

PaoloCast

Thanks all. Great recommendations and links to excellent resources. As for driving out of Nice, I'm sure the French have the equivalent to the Italian, "Sempre diretto!" -- which might involve many twists and turns. We've yet to come upon skeletons in a rental car, but we've been close. And thanks to TPAYT and Stu Dudley we keep adding days to the itinerary.

Underhill

If you'll be spending some time in Nice, book your car for pick-up at one of the downtown offices and you'll save money. We use the Europcar, Sixt, or Kemwell rental agencies located on the bottom level or just behind the Hôtel Le Meridien. From there you just head onto the Promenade des Anglais and go west until you can pick up the autoroute. (If you miss the turn, you'll just have a slow but scenic drive along the coast for a while.)

PaoloCast

Thanks. The tilt seems to be heading toward picking up the car in the city. It will give us a chance to use our GPS. We're planning on getting a Garmin nuvi 50. Any experience with GPS in Cote d'Azur, Provence and Languedoc?

DebitNM

We had the GPS with the France map micro card. Did not work all that well. It stopped working altogether about 3 days into (couldnt even get a North American map to show) and then the car got broken into in Bonnieux and the only thing in the car was the GPS (in glove box). Oh well. Maps were way better. Wecdrove from Nice to the gite and then 18 days in The Luberon.

DebitNM

I have Green Guide, and brand new maps. (Forgot the ones at home, so had to buy new ones in Nice.) Email me at same name at gmail if interested.

ParisAmsterdam

Underhill is spot on regarding picking up your rental car. All the big players are right there at the Meridien and Avis is across the park. You'll save 40 euros over picking up at the station or airport plus any transportation costs ... not to mention hassle.

If you leave outside of rush hour you'll be fine. Driving out of Nice is a doddle compared to a truly big city like Rome or Paris. You'll be almost on the Promenade des Anglais when you pull out of the garage... head west and watch for autoroute signs to get out of the city.

Check for prices at http://www.autoeurope.com

Regarding GPS use... I am a TomTom fan and mine worked perfectly in 2,000 KM in France our last driving trip.