Villes Sur Auzon?
Sep 18th, 2008, 08:43 AM
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I don't know that village specifically but many of them in that area are similar. You are a little off the beaten track there as it will take you at least 30 minutes to drive almost anywhere. The area itself is a good base for a relaxing holiday with vists to other sites. You should be able to do Avignon/Ill Sur La Sorge/Fontain de Vaucluse and most of the Luberon within 1 - 1 and a half hours drive.
There is a beautiful lake at the nearby village of Mormoiron called Lac Des Salettes. It is great for swimming and has a manmade beach and a lakeside restaurant. You should be easily able to get to that inside 15 minutes.
Capentras itself is not really much to look at.Very city like but Isle Sur Las Sorge and Fontaine de Vaucluse are glorious places to vist. Read "A Year In Provence" by Peter Mayle and that will give you a flavour of some of the Luberon villages. Also the recent film "A Good year" with Russel Crow shows the Luberon countryside. Although you would be staying in the Vaucluse the Luberon is very nearby.
It really depends what you want. Within that area we have stayed in Caromb and Bedoin. Caromb was a very small village, Bedoin a little larger with a great market. This year we stayed higher up in the Vaucluse in a village called Sablet near Vaison la Romaine. We have enjoyed all the time we have spent in Provence and visited many places. I think wherever you stay you will love it. You are never far from beautiful scenary, great restaurants, good wine and a warm atmosphere.
There is a beautiful lake at the nearby village of Mormoiron called Lac Des Salettes. It is great for swimming and has a manmade beach and a lakeside restaurant. You should be easily able to get to that inside 15 minutes.
Capentras itself is not really much to look at.Very city like but Isle Sur Las Sorge and Fontaine de Vaucluse are glorious places to vist. Read "A Year In Provence" by Peter Mayle and that will give you a flavour of some of the Luberon villages. Also the recent film "A Good year" with Russel Crow shows the Luberon countryside. Although you would be staying in the Vaucluse the Luberon is very nearby.
It really depends what you want. Within that area we have stayed in Caromb and Bedoin. Caromb was a very small village, Bedoin a little larger with a great market. This year we stayed higher up in the Vaucluse in a village called Sablet near Vaison la Romaine. We have enjoyed all the time we have spent in Provence and visited many places. I think wherever you stay you will love it. You are never far from beautiful scenary, great restaurants, good wine and a warm atmosphere.
Sep 18th, 2008, 09:44 AM
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We've also spend considerable time in that area - near Bedoin. We've stayed there for 6 weeks, plus 4 weeks in the Luberon, 2 weeks near St Remy, 2 weeks near Uzes, and 2 weeks close to Vaison. We've pretty much settled on The Bedoin/Villes area as our favorite region in Provence, we're reurning for 2 more weeks in '10.
However, I agree with everything ferryann says. It's starting to get a little too remote - especially if this is one of your first trips to Provence and you want to visit all the top sites.
It's 45 mins to l'Isle sur la Sorgue, 1 hr to Gordes, 1 1/4 hrs or more to St Remy, and 1 1/2 or more to Arles. Driving to Uzes/Pont du Gard is slow because you travel on a lot of slow roads. If you'll be visiting in late June or July - you'll very close to the lavender fields around Sault.
This would be a great pace to stay if you want to savour non-toursity Provence, but if you want to visit the top 10 sites - you'll be doing a little more driving than you probably want to.
It's located in a very scenic area.
Stu Dudley
However, I agree with everything ferryann says. It's starting to get a little too remote - especially if this is one of your first trips to Provence and you want to visit all the top sites.
It's 45 mins to l'Isle sur la Sorgue, 1 hr to Gordes, 1 1/4 hrs or more to St Remy, and 1 1/2 or more to Arles. Driving to Uzes/Pont du Gard is slow because you travel on a lot of slow roads. If you'll be visiting in late June or July - you'll very close to the lavender fields around Sault.
This would be a great pace to stay if you want to savour non-toursity Provence, but if you want to visit the top 10 sites - you'll be doing a little more driving than you probably want to.
It's located in a very scenic area.
Stu Dudley
Sep 18th, 2008, 01:23 PM
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Thanks for the replies.
We will be staying one week in Nice, then a leisurely drive to Bedoin area for one week and then have rented a place in St. Remy for the last week. At the time this seemed like a good plan. We have been looking in Bedoin for a rental and happened upon two nice rentals in Villes sur Auzon, hence my question. The available rentals in Bedoin are not as nice as the two available in Villes sur Auzon for about the same price, hence our interest. Perhaps it would be better to forgo the nicer rental and stay in Bedoin after all. Are we better off in Bedoin or does it make much difference. By mappy Bedoin is about 16 minutes from Villes. hmmmm. Any thoughts?
We will be staying one week in Nice, then a leisurely drive to Bedoin area for one week and then have rented a place in St. Remy for the last week. At the time this seemed like a good plan. We have been looking in Bedoin for a rental and happened upon two nice rentals in Villes sur Auzon, hence my question. The available rentals in Bedoin are not as nice as the two available in Villes sur Auzon for about the same price, hence our interest. Perhaps it would be better to forgo the nicer rental and stay in Bedoin after all. Are we better off in Bedoin or does it make much difference. By mappy Bedoin is about 16 minutes from Villes. hmmmm. Any thoughts?
Sep 18th, 2008, 02:26 PM
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Bedoin is an extremly nice place to "base" if you are also staying in St Remy (and can visit the Luberon, Arles, Uzes/Pont from there). There is a very nice grocery right in the middle of town. There are also several bucheries, boulangers, etc on the "main drag", and there is someone selling produce out of their garage on the main drag. There are several cafes to start the day - we like the Bar au Cours. There is a great bakery 2 doors away (Bar au Cours does not have croissants, etc) and then a news stand next to that to get a paper if you want to have coffee/croissants/news in the morning.
There are 3 bike shops in town where you can rent bikes. There are 3 pizza places - we like the one which is also a bike shop. There is even a nudist camp in Bedoin (not in the middle of town - on the outskirts)
There are about 6 or so very casual restaurants. In '07 there was a very nice restaurant called Chez Hortense, but I think it has closed. The tourist office in Bedoin is very helpful.
And - of course - there is an excellent Monday morning farmer's market in town. We like to walk to the Bar Au Cours early, grab coffee & croisants, and watch the market vendors set up their displays.
There is heavy commute traffic in the morning - the bicyclists starting the ascent up Mt Ventoux. In the afternoon they are usually sitting at the cafes, having a beer, and bragging about their conquest.
We've driven through Villes sur Auzon several times - it is a cute village, but it does not have these ammenities.
There are several very nice restaurants on the western side of the Dentelles (Gigondas area) which are accessible from Bedoin, but too far from Villes sur Auzon, IMO. Chateau Mazan in Mazan is close to both villages, and it's very nice - especially if you can dine outside.
Do you have my 27 page itinerary for the Cote d'Azur & Provence, It includes several scenic drives in this region. If you want a copy, e-mail me at [email protected] - but early tomorrow we're leaving for 3 weeks in Paris, so if you want one now you had better hurry.
Stu Dudley
There are 3 bike shops in town where you can rent bikes. There are 3 pizza places - we like the one which is also a bike shop. There is even a nudist camp in Bedoin (not in the middle of town - on the outskirts)
There are about 6 or so very casual restaurants. In '07 there was a very nice restaurant called Chez Hortense, but I think it has closed. The tourist office in Bedoin is very helpful.
And - of course - there is an excellent Monday morning farmer's market in town. We like to walk to the Bar Au Cours early, grab coffee & croisants, and watch the market vendors set up their displays.
There is heavy commute traffic in the morning - the bicyclists starting the ascent up Mt Ventoux. In the afternoon they are usually sitting at the cafes, having a beer, and bragging about their conquest.
We've driven through Villes sur Auzon several times - it is a cute village, but it does not have these ammenities.
There are several very nice restaurants on the western side of the Dentelles (Gigondas area) which are accessible from Bedoin, but too far from Villes sur Auzon, IMO. Chateau Mazan in Mazan is close to both villages, and it's very nice - especially if you can dine outside.
Do you have my 27 page itinerary for the Cote d'Azur & Provence, It includes several scenic drives in this region. If you want a copy, e-mail me at [email protected] - but early tomorrow we're leaving for 3 weeks in Paris, so if you want one now you had better hurry.
Stu Dudley
Sep 19th, 2008, 07:01 AM
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Once again it really depends what you want. If you would like to go back to stay somewhere quiet at night then Villes Sur Auzon would be better. You'll probably get more of a sense of being in the countryside there than staying in Bedoin itself.
When we stayed in Sablet this July we took a trip back to Bedoin and I have to say I was disappointed. When we last visited in 2005 it was a pretty little town with an intimate atmosphere to the restauarants there. It has changed. One of the restaurants has been turned into a bar and there were lots of young men swilling beer outside stadning on the pavement. The place overall felt a little threatening which it had not done the other times we were there.There were youths hanging out in the car park, sitting in cars with the radio base turned up. It seems to have turned into a young persons town with the empahsis more on bars than fine dining. It just looked run down and nothing like it used to look.
The first time we stayed near there was in 2001 when we had a house in Caromb. We loved Bedoin so much that we came back for 2 weeks to stay in the town itself in 2005. By that stage it had slipped a little from what it was in 2001. Now it has slipped further.
Rentals in Bedoin always were more expensive than the surrounding towns and villages due to the fact, I suppose, that it has more going on and more restaurants etc. I'm not so sure that the difference in price is justified now that the area itself is not up to the standard it once was.
Is it your objective to be near the Avignon end of Provence? If that is the case you could look at the smaller villages aorung Avignon itself including Chateauneuf de Pape(The past Pope's summer residence and home of the wine of the same name)or even Orange. What time of year are you intending to go?
When we stayed in Sablet this July we took a trip back to Bedoin and I have to say I was disappointed. When we last visited in 2005 it was a pretty little town with an intimate atmosphere to the restauarants there. It has changed. One of the restaurants has been turned into a bar and there were lots of young men swilling beer outside stadning on the pavement. The place overall felt a little threatening which it had not done the other times we were there.There were youths hanging out in the car park, sitting in cars with the radio base turned up. It seems to have turned into a young persons town with the empahsis more on bars than fine dining. It just looked run down and nothing like it used to look.
The first time we stayed near there was in 2001 when we had a house in Caromb. We loved Bedoin so much that we came back for 2 weeks to stay in the town itself in 2005. By that stage it had slipped a little from what it was in 2001. Now it has slipped further.
Rentals in Bedoin always were more expensive than the surrounding towns and villages due to the fact, I suppose, that it has more going on and more restaurants etc. I'm not so sure that the difference in price is justified now that the area itself is not up to the standard it once was.
Is it your objective to be near the Avignon end of Provence? If that is the case you could look at the smaller villages aorung Avignon itself including Chateauneuf de Pape(The past Pope's summer residence and home of the wine of the same name)or even Orange. What time of year are you intending to go?
Sep 19th, 2008, 04:29 PM
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Thank you for your thoughts. We will be going for almost the whole of May. We will be in Nice for the first week and St. Remy for the last week with a few undecided days at the end of the trip. The apartment in Villes sur Auzon is in the village. Our intention was to base and then drive to explore the area. It seemed as if Bedoin would give us access to areas that were not as accessible from St. Remy. We will most likely eat a good lunch while out and about and then come back to cook at night. We are both 60 and are not looking for bars, etc. 8pm will most likely find us reading a book or catching up on the news curled up on the couch in the apartment. Not exactly party animals! I think from your remarks, the differences in the rentals, and my intuition, we will most likely go for villes. any other thoughts appreciated. and how did you get the name ferryann, coming from seattle, i am curious.
Sep 20th, 2008, 02:20 PM
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Ferryann was just a guess at a username. I felt like I'd heard a song once with the word in but couldn't identify it. I'm also an avid Beatles fan so Ferry across the Mersey came to mind and my mothers name was Ann.
I think the quieter village would probably suit you more. You do also get a lot of motorbike noise in Bedoin as it's a popular transport for the young in the area.
In France we have battled between liking the idea of being able to walk to get a loaf of bread etc and go to a local restaurant and having a quiet place in the country. Over the years we have alternated between the two and I have to say looking back we have always enjoyed the more peaceful places the most. There's something wonderful about being in a quiet village or the countryside at night. Seeing a black inky star studded sky and hearing nothing but bird calls or cigales. It's just the sheer relaxing nature of it all. Being in a village is nice for the convenience and the buzz of the restaurants but you never quite get the same feeling of utter peace.
Next year we are going to stay in in a remote village near St Gaudens in the Midi Pyrenees. We want to recapture the feeling we had when in 2007 we stayed in a hilltop hamlet in the Languedoc. We had an amazing view. Watched wild birds fly and had a local herdsman pass by every so often with goats. The goats had tinkling bells around their necks and it was just like a scene out of Heidi. I was told the very old man walking behind used to be an outrider for General De Gaule when he was a young man.
I love French cafe and restaurant life but you can have that all day when you are out and then return to the peace at night when you need it. From now on I have vowed to do just that and take advantage of the peace in France. I think you do get past the stage where you have to be in the midst of everything all day and all night. I hope you enjoy your stay in the area. If the following link works you can see the village we stayed in in the Languedoc and there is a picture of the goats.It was called Villfloure.
http://villefloure.free.fr/cadres/de...re_cathare.htm
I think the quieter village would probably suit you more. You do also get a lot of motorbike noise in Bedoin as it's a popular transport for the young in the area.
In France we have battled between liking the idea of being able to walk to get a loaf of bread etc and go to a local restaurant and having a quiet place in the country. Over the years we have alternated between the two and I have to say looking back we have always enjoyed the more peaceful places the most. There's something wonderful about being in a quiet village or the countryside at night. Seeing a black inky star studded sky and hearing nothing but bird calls or cigales. It's just the sheer relaxing nature of it all. Being in a village is nice for the convenience and the buzz of the restaurants but you never quite get the same feeling of utter peace.
Next year we are going to stay in in a remote village near St Gaudens in the Midi Pyrenees. We want to recapture the feeling we had when in 2007 we stayed in a hilltop hamlet in the Languedoc. We had an amazing view. Watched wild birds fly and had a local herdsman pass by every so often with goats. The goats had tinkling bells around their necks and it was just like a scene out of Heidi. I was told the very old man walking behind used to be an outrider for General De Gaule when he was a young man.
I love French cafe and restaurant life but you can have that all day when you are out and then return to the peace at night when you need it. From now on I have vowed to do just that and take advantage of the peace in France. I think you do get past the stage where you have to be in the midst of everything all day and all night. I hope you enjoy your stay in the area. If the following link works you can see the village we stayed in in the Languedoc and there is a picture of the goats.It was called Villfloure.
http://villefloure.free.fr/cadres/de...re_cathare.htm
