grinchlette

I am looking for some quick advice or a suggested itiniery for a four day stint in Provence/and or Italy. I fly into Marseille on a Friday afternoon, then pick up a convertible. Then have Friday afternoon/evening, all the way through Tuesday evening to play. While I love fine dining, food is not necessarily the theme I would like this trip to take on. After my four days on my own, I will be attending an aromatherapy conference for seven days, just outside of Apt and staying at the Hotel Castel Luberon--close to the lavender/peppermint/tarragon fields. The experiences that I know I do want to catch include when I'm on my own for the 4.5 days include: Matisse's museum in Nice, some time in Grasse, in the name of perfume (one of the parfum museums possibly?), and I am really due for some serious relaxation somewhere in the sun on a beach. I am still entertaining driving into Italy, but am not sure if that is too aggressive/busy for the 4.5 days(?). Any suggestions? I am open to anyt "favorites" suggestions or itineraries. I am from
Colorado and more love the scenic drives and sights than all the restaurant stops. I Love the wine, cheese and fine dining, but am more interested in seeing the beauty of Provence's landscape and culture too. I am definitely more of a country mouse, than city. And LOVE to people watch in the non-touristy areas. Any suggestions on what to take in in these 4.5 days? Also, I will also have two full days at the end of the trip to do as I wish. Am wondering if Avignon might be a good place to land for my last few nights before returning home via the Marseille airport.
Thanks in advance for any advice!
Cheers~
grinchlette
Thanks!

MyriamC

I wouldn't drive as far as Italy. Especially since the more beautiful part of the coastline starts only at San Remo, which is quite a drive from Marseille. Plus the fact that, between Marseille and Saint-Tropez the beaches are sandy and the coastline is really beautiful. We stayed in Le Lavandou (Cavalière more particularly, this is halfway between Toulon and Saint Tropez) two weeks ago which is absolutely not overrun by tourists, it has some nice sandy beaches, a rough coastline bordered with 'parasol firs'. The mimosa was still in full bloom, as well as the bougainvillea, oleander, etc. For our dinners we usually drove to the villages in the hills: Bormes-les-Mimosas, Ramatuelle, Grimaud, Gassin, etc.
Cassis is also a place I could easily spend a few days. It's a lovely small harbour town and a visit by boat to the Calanques is really worthwhile. Same goes for the Route des Crètes, spectacular views.
You should realize though, that as from now it's top season at the Med and non-touristy areas aren't easy to find.

RonZ

Click on your name to see your other post.

grinchlette

I've read mixed reports on driving from, say, Marseille to Monaco--especially considering my trip dates are just bordering the height of the tourist season. Do you think this stretch would be too congested and log-jammed? I know that parts of the route are more scenic than others, which is fine for me. Basically, I'm wondering if this route would be worthwhile in a convertible, or if I might as well just hang out in St. Remy for a couple-three, than head up to Apt to check out some small, character-full villages and then skip directly over to Nice/Monaco area? Just wondering how best to use my time in four-five days without getting hung up in icky tourist traps and road congestion.
Cheers~
dms

cobbie

I'm just back from 2 weeks in that area. We stayed for a full week in the Luberon. There are wonderful villages to check out there. We went to: Roussillon, Menerbes, Lacoste, Bonnieux, Gordes, Goult, and Fontaine-de-Vaucluse. Near St. Remy is Les Baux-de-Provence & we also went to Chateauneuf-du-Pape along with Avignon & Arles. All are worth visiting.

In Nice we visited the Chagall & Matisse museums and were not impressed. We did enjoy the open topped tour bus around Nice - the view from the hilltop is spectacular.
Enjoy!

grinchlette

Cobbie-Mattise's museum in NIce was on my top ten list...what was so underwelming by it?
Thanks~
dms

cobbie

I felt there wasn't enough of his art there. It was in a lovely old villa but I wanted to see more of his art. If you go and also go to the Chagall museum be sure to get the free bus ticket to take you between. It's a long hike uphill from Chagall to Matisse.
Karen