grandmere

Two friends and I are spending a week in Uzes in May, and whereas we are pretty familiar with the towns, villages east of Avignon, we're planning on focusing on west of Avignon, up to, say, 1.5 hrs. from Uzes. Of course, we will visit Pont du Gard and Nimes but looking for some additional ideas for interesting villages, sights, etc. We will have a car, but we would not feel comfortable driving on mountainous switch-back roads.

I know many of you have traveled in this area, and I hope to hear from you. Thanks in advance!

DebitNM

{Bookmark for our trip in September}

MaineGG

We enjoyed driving along the Gorges de l'Ardèche on the D290. The scenery is spectacular, and although the road is high and curvy, it is quite wide and not at all scary (especially if you drive from east to west). The Chauvet cave (featured in the Werner Herzog film, Cave of Forgotten Dreams) is near the Pont d'Arc at the western end of the gorge. In the town of Vallon Pont d'Arc there's an exhibit about this cave and its art. This is something new since we were there so I don't have any personal knowledge of this exhibit.

http://www.experienceardeche.com/pag...hauvet-cave/56

You're also well positioned for visiting the Camargue, especially the walled town of Aigues-Mortes as well as the town of Saintes-Marie-de-la-Mer. I found the Camargue to be a very interesting and unique region.

StCirq

I was going to suggest the Camargue, too, as it's so radically different from anyplace else in France. There are paddies of red rice, flamingos, cowboys, sand wine vineyards, and some wonderful restaurants. Also, Aigues-Mortes has to be one of the prettiest towns in France.

cigalechanta

I( also vote for the Camargue, The only place I can find to eat Tellines, fingernail sized clams cooked in oil and garlic.
There's a wonderful bird sactuary and several places that are special to eat in.There are platforms along the roads, you climb to see the wild white horses, black bulls and the pink flamingoes
Grandmere, Uzes has one of my favorite markets on Saturdays that overflows the Place des Herbs.
Andre Gide's father wrote,
"O little town of Uzes, were you in Umbria, Parisians
would flock to visit you."

dfourh

To the northeast, Orange is worth a visit if you haven't been.


To the west, St. Martin de Londres has a remarkable Romanesque church high on the hill:

http://www.francethisway.com/places/...de-londres.php

It makes a nice drive to then continue west to St. Guilhem le Desert, which is a boutiquey-attractive town with streets that rise up high to the Abbey above; it is not a breath-robbing drive, though it is a bit undulating through the forests; it's still easy enough, and plenty pretty.

http://www.francethisway.com/places/stguilhem.php

kevin_widrow

Here's a great little day trip for you:

Check out the Cèze river valley. You could start out at La-Roque-sur-Cèze which is a absolutely delightful little village with an amazing set of waterfalls and pools in the river down below. Then drive up the valley from there to Barjac, which I visited for the first time just recently and found it really interesting architecturally and not overly touristy and well worth the visit.

This is a drive a bit off the beaten tourist track. If I remember correctly, it's not too bad as far as twists and turns go, and easily done as a day trip from Uzès.

- Kevin

macanimals

Not sure you would need to spend a whole day there but not far from Uzes is the artisan village of St Quentin la Poterie. There are numerous ceramic artisans there and the village is quite taken with the craft hosting exhibitions and invited artists at various times of the year. The resident artists can produce some rather unique pieces and it is all very pleasant.

Paul

grandmere

These are wonderful ideas and just what I was hoping for. None of us has been to any of these places. I've always wanted to visit the Camargue and didn't know about the Ceze valley. St. Quentin la Poterie sounds very seductive; I am such a pushover when it comes to French faience so will have to remind myself of the difficulties of hauling it home!

Thanks, everyone; once again you are a wealth of information. Cigale, love that quote from Gide!

JeffTWA

Be sure and go to Uzes' market and buy fresh goods for a cook-in meal. The food there is wonderful. Consider going to LeBaux and St. Remy. We drove from Uzes to Arles and saw Cezanne's house, Van Gogh's house in Arles, and to Cassis' nice waterfront. All are easy day trips. Also consider just having a libation in Uzes and just watching the people and world pass by. It is a fun, relaxing, lovely town, which we enjoyed very much. Enjoy.

grandmere

Since we're renting a house, we'll definitely go to the market and probably cook in at least once or twice during the week.
Have been to Les Baux, St. Remy, Arles, Avignon,Cassis, Vaison, Seguret, Isle SLS, the Luberon perched villages, etc., so primarily will be spending time to the west of those places.

I think we already have a week's worth of trips in addition to just hanging out in Uzes, which sounds lovely.

Thank again, All!

Christina

I think these are all good ideas and you probably have more than enough to do, but Orange isn't very far from Uzes and I really enjoyed my visit there one day (I think I may hvae been staying in Uzes, actually). Of course I'd only do that if you've seen the others that are more in that area and worth seeing.

That translated quote isn't from Gide's father, Andre Gide wrote that himself in his memoirs of his childhood and adolescence which talked about the Uzes area as his father was from there. He spent a lot of time there as a child, and returned regularly (I think his grandmother lived longer than his father who died when he was only bout 20, and he went to visit her). Sort of a vacation spot in later life, he loved the garrigues and how his senses were affected in that area (reminds me of Pagnol's works a lot). Gide was a strange character in various ways IMO but was a beautiful writer and if you can read French (I think you can), I highly recommend that book (Si le Grain Ne Meurt) as it would be an interesting background for your trip although it is mainly about him, his development as a writer and his sexual identity, not Uzes as he didn't really live there nor did his Father was had moved to Paris by the time he was born.

cigalechanta

everything I've read say's it's his father's quote who lived
in Uzes

"O little town of Uzès, were you in Umbria, Parisians would flock to visit you." - so said the father of André Gide, whose family were Uzètiens."

StCirq

http://books.google.com/books?id=mZG...C3%A8s&f=false

cigalechanta

Thanks St Cirq, shows you can't believe all quotes sites.
but like a painting, it's beautyt is there no matter who painted it.

AnselmAdorne

grandmere, if you are interested in pottery, you might consider this place in Lussan, about 20 kilometres north of Uzès. It is a very easy drive, and you will see signs for the pottery shop when you reach the village:

http://www.fantasticprovence.com/sec...-lussan_a135/1

This is their web site:

http://www.ceramique-de-lussan.com

We bought pintades (guinea fowl) there a few years ago and brought them home in our carry-on luggage. They are delightful, whimsical pieces; I still smile every time I look at them.

StCirq

Hey there, cigale. I actually had no idea whether it was Gide or his father, but I was curious, so I googled it (and many of the sites that came up said it was his father!).

grandmere

Oh, dear, I am in trouble already just looking at those beautiful big grey speckled pintades; I can remember the good old days when you could buy something like that and carry it home on plane with your feet straddling it!

The Gide book looks like a wonderful background for the trip; I read French, but slowly and with a dictionary in my hand. That will be a good purchase at a FNAC in Paris. Don't think I have time to get it and get it read before I leave.

The quote from Gide, whether pere ou fils, is lovely, and I can imagine having it printed and framed to hang in my house, somewhere near the pintade that will surely be making its home here.

These little tips and suggestions are really helping me to feel more connected to the area; it will be exciting to explore new places.

cigalechanta

You can buy them on line at several places.
Here's one.

http://store.yankeetradergifts.com/frguheandch.html

cigalechanta

http://store.yankeetradergifts.com/frguheandch.html
you can buy them here.