Dreams64

Hi there, I am just beginning to plan my long awaited trip to France I have dreamed of for 30 years! So I would love to get my France journey as near perfect as my dreams

After visiting Paris for a week I would like to stay in a cottage or cottages in Provence - around the Avignon, Arles, St Remy, Aix, regions to see and live in these beautiful towns for hopefully 2 weeks if I can.

I will be travelling with a girlfriend and we wont be driving (from Australia, just too stressful for me) so I plan to visit by train and try to get around on buses.

I would love suggestions on which is the easiest town to get to from Paris and if anyone has some tips on where to stay, I am looking for a French cottage. Also are the towns above easy to travel to without a car?

And my most important question is what month is the best to visit and see the beautiful lavender in bloom? My travelling period will be from late May, all of June and 1 or 2 weeks in early July - I am also travelling to Italy and Switzerland but want to make sure I am in Provence at the right time of the year. Thanks so much for suggestions and advice to help me plan my perfect French stay.

jamikins

Your best bet for lavender is end of June/early July. But of course it depends on the weather that year and the area you will be in.

We spent a week there last July and loved it!

We rented a car so I can't comment on using public transport.

Here are our pictures: https://flickr.com/photos/[email protected]

Dreams64

Jamikins, your photos are amazing!!! I think then I should plan for end of June/early July as you say. How was the driving with renting a car, are the roads busy and where did you rent from? My main concern is being Australian we drive on the opposite side so very uneasy on how I would go. Thanks again for sharing, so beautiful, I do want to see the abbey and lavender fields just like that.

StCirq

Early July will be better than end of June if lavender is important to you. Yes, the roads will be busy. It will be high season and lavender is a huge draw for tourists. Before I moved here I always rented from AutoEurope, a broker. Not sure how easy that is from Australia.

jamikins

We stayed in Bonnieux in the Luberon and the only time the roads were any where near being busy was around Senanque Abbey (you will want to visit but get there EARLY to avoid the traffic) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%A9nanque_Abbey

This was also the only place where the roads were tiny and hard to drive around.

We are from Canada so it is not a problem for us. In saying that, the road infrastructure in the Luberon was great and it was easy driving.

I really think to get out into the countryside to see the lovely villages and lavender a car is needed.

jamikins

And thank you for the lovely compliments on the photos. We absolutely loved our trip to Provence!

TDudette

Add my repeated bravas re your photos, jamikins.

There are trains to the larger towns but local busses, tours and/or driving would be needed for the smallest towns.

Dreams64, it was our experience that local busses accommodated the school and commuter schedules so careful pre-planning was important. The tours we took were great and got us to more places we might have managed on our own. However, puttering around in a pretty place was not possible with tours.

My TR regarding our trips from a base in Aix-en-Provence is in the middle of a Paris visit:

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

Lois2

We were in the area first week of July this year and recommend tharpt as a good time but can vary....TGV train Paris to Avignon and for that true cottage experience you will want a car. As previously mentioned the roads were not busy at all..easy driving and some congestion in and around Gordes. Biggest issue is parking. Do go further than the abbey for beautiful lavender fields..Sault area...st Saturn les apts....vale sole..so many to visit.

StuDudley

>>.vale sole..so many to visit.<<

Valensole plateau. Perhaps the best lavender fields. This is Lavendin - so it blooms earlier than normal lavender.

Stu Dudley

Christina

Wherever you go, you should start with taking the high speed train from Paris to Avignon, and then you can rent a car there, if you wish. But the trip from Paris will be easy by train.

Main autoroutes can be busy, and it can be busy/crowded in some towns that are popular for markets, that's for sure. LIke Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, it's a mess on Sundays. And it definitely can be busy around major cities at times, also (like Avignon).

bvlenci

We are from Italy, but have driven in Ireland and Scotland on vacations without problems. It helps to have a good navigator/second dr, who will remind you if necessary to look both ways when turning left, to do the roundabout counterclockwise, and so forth.

I also found it helpful, before leaving home, to "drive" parts of my route on Google Street View, so I could get the spirit of driving on the wrong side.

fuzzbucket

I think this is a nice dream, but a small reality check is in order.

Unless you are lucky enough to find a cottage in a small village with stores for food and other supplies to equip your cottage, you will need a car - or be prepared to haul everything on a bus which might only run a couple of times a day.
The alternative would be to stock up on whatever you need in a hypermarche on the autoroute.

Remember that in small villages, cafes, shops etc will typically close on Sunday and Monday, and also during mid-day.

If you find a "gite" farther out in the countryside, you will definitely need a car.

isabel

I agree that you want early July for lavender. I have been to Provence twice (different years) the first week in July and the lavender was peak. The photos in this gallery were all taken at that time. www.pbase.com/annforcier/france_-_provence

The towns you mention are all fairly large. I've stayed in St Remy, Avignon and Aix and they all make good bases. I liked St Remy the best and from there it was easy to get to Arles, Avignon as well as many smaller towns. You could get between the larger towns by public transportation but it would take a bit longer than if you had a car. To see the lavender fields you could take an organized day trip although I think you'd be able to see more on your own. But I do think it is "doable" without renting a car as long as you accept the limitations and time constraints. I thought the roads in the area were very good and not terribly crowded (except Avignon at some times of day)but I didn't have the 'other side of the road' issue. Perhaps you could do a combination of public transportation and car rental. Maybe just rent the car for a couple of days to get to the smaller towns/rural areas that are hard to get to by bus.

Here's my trip report from my most recent trip to the area
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...swiss-alps.cfm

StCirq

Just so you know, renting a car for 1 or 2 days will cost you the same as renting a car for 3 days. May not be a big deal for you, but just telling you.

Lavendin, btw, is not the same as lavender, in case that matters to you. It's considered an inferior plant. I don't care much about lavender fields, as I can grow as much as I want of it in my garden (and you can pretty much anywhere in the USA also), but it's not as pretty and not as scented. The lavendin farmers plant it for the similar effect to real lavender and the tourist trade because it's cheaper for them and most tourists don't know the difference. It's good visually, but nothing compared to fields of real 'lavender. When you sign up for something as touristy as visiting the "lavender fields of Provence," you have to realize that you may be being "taken" to some extent. Which is fine as long as you're aware, which most tourists are not.

Photos of lavendin fields will pretty much look like photos of real lavender fields so don't worry about that.

Dreams64

Thank you so much everyone, love the responses, tips, ideas and helpful advice. I will read the reports, thanks for sharing, loved the google map driving idea - I will definately give that a go, and am thinking on the back of so many who say the roads are not busy maybe hire a car for 3 days, at most I will get to see places I never would otherwise and really if I am travelling that far to see the beautiful towns etc then thats what I should do, if I find I am too nervous maybe I get up early on those days to avoid crowds etc.

Interesting StCirq re the lavendin fields, I would never have known, however its the beauty in the colour which fascinates me and the rows of fields I wish to take spectacular photos so I can frame them in my home so for this it wont really matter if I see lavender or lavendin

Thanks to all esp Stududly and

I am thinking of St Remy as a stay. There is an Australian company called French Cottages with cottages all over France one in particular I am looking at which is in Uzes and another in Chinon, has anyone stayed there and what did they think. The company website is http://www.frenchcottages.com/?gclid...FVcRvQodUvwCjg and they have cottages all throughout where you stay on a Friday to stock up all your food from the markets the next day and then you stay in the towns for a week, so this appeals to me very much.

Thanks also for the tips on where to find my beautiful fields.

StCirq

Well, I certainly wouldn't rent the one in Chinon, as you'd be a 7-hour drive from the lavender fields!

I checked the Dordogne "cottages" in addition to the Provence ones, because I live here and know about rental prices, and they are very nice, but to me, the prices are astronomical.

And I simply don't get the concept of staying on a Friday to stock up on food from the markets the next day. Makes no sense unless all of their properties are located in towns where the market is on Saturday (they're not). Every town's weekly market is on the same day(s) every week, and it could be Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. Chinon is Wednesday, for example. Monpazier is Thursday. Uzès has two - Wednesday and Saturday. Sounds like fishy marketing to me.

StCirq

Well, I certainly wouldn't rent the one in Chinon, as you'd be a 7-hour drive from the lavender fields!

I checked the Dordogne "cottages" in addition to the Provence ones, because I live here and know about rental prices, and they are very nice, but to me, the prices are astronomical.

And I simply don't get the concept of staying on a Friday to stock up on food from the markets the next day. Makes no sense unless all of their properties are located in towns where the market is on Saturday (they're not). Every town's weekly market is on the same day(s) every week, and it could be Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. Chinon is Wednesday, for example. Monpazier is Thursday. Uzès has two - Wednesday and Saturday. Sounds like fishy marketing to me.

taconictraveler

(Side NoteJamikins: : Your photos are spectacular!!

Dreams64: I loved Uzes! We've been there a couple of time, staying nearby but not in the town each time. It's a long time since I've been to Provence, but you have at least three very knowledgeable Fodorites answering your questions, in Jamikins, St. Cirq, and StuDudley.

Their advice is worth a lot!!

Hope you have a fabulous trip!!

jamikins

Awww thanks taconictraveler!

Christina

I think most or all of that company's properties in Provence ARE in Uzes, which does have a Sat morning market. It is Wednesdays, also, though.

A lot of companies do have weekly rentals in Provence, it seems like many are Mon-Sunday or something, which makes more sense to me logistically as I find it more convenioent to fly home on weekends, traffic is better, flights are sometimes cheaper on one of those days, etc. But a lot of people may not care which day they start, Friday is as good as any, I suppose, but it could have been Tuesday for that logic in Uzes.

The market days in St Remy are also Wed and Saturday, actually, if they also have some there.