13 days - Paris, Loire and Provence

Old Apr 11th, 2010, 03:28 PM
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Tours is a city; Amboise (note correct spelling) is a town. I've driven in and out of Amboise many times, and except on market day, didn't encounter anything remotely like LA traffic. I've also driven in and out of Tours and found it a huge PITA. There are a number of good restaurants in Amboise, including the upscale restaurant at the Hôtel Choiseul, the restaurant at the Hôtel Lion d' Or, and l'Epicerie, right at the foot of the château.
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Old Apr 11th, 2010, 03:34 PM
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If you are flying in and out of Paris I would not try to arrive by train from Provence the same day as your departure-I have had the TGV be late too many times-so personally I would prefer to be back in Paris overnight before a flight.

Likewise with trying to catch a TGV directly on arrival from CDG to Tours-if you are delayed on your arrival or in customs, it could be a problem. It is isn't that easy from CDG to get there since it requires a change, whereas in Paris there is direct train from Montparnasse to Tours. I have mentioned in other threads a favorite hotel of ours near Montparnasse is the hotel Odessa-it is only a 2 star but almost right next to the gare and in a great little part of the neighborhood. So you might even just want to overnight close to Montparnasse if you want to go to Tours the next day....

In terms of weather-this is a general statement-if it is hot when you are there, then the Loire is likely to be hot and more humid and Provence will be more hot and dry. We live in Los Angeles too but don't like excessive heat, so we prefer to go to Provence earlier in the spring versus later. Also, the Loire tends to get more rain, so putting it at the end of the trip-you might have a better shot at sunnier weather-but as you can imagine, spring weather can be very changeable all over France.

In terms of traffic-I don't think you will find it that difficult in the Loire. The biggest problems are really getting in and out of Paris on weekends but it sounds like you will be taking trains for that part.
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Old Apr 12th, 2010, 05:54 PM
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Thanks jpie and StCirq. This helps a lot. Taking that into consideration, we are now looking at:

Day 1 -2 Paris - settle in, wander Paris 1st day, 2nd day- Giverny, day 3 leave for Loire in the morning.
Day 3 - 5 - Loire Valley - we booked a hotel in amboise.
Day 5 - 10 - Provence, leave for paris in the evening
Day 10-14 - Paris - french open starts the 23rd, maybe versailles

1) For Paris Part 1- Day 1-3 - Where would be a good base since we would like to visit Giverny on day 2 and leave for Loire on day 3. On day 1 we want to settle in and maybe spend the afternoon at the tuileries and have some macarons at laduree, maybe hang out on the lawn in front of eiffel tower.
Should we buy our Giverny tickets ahead of time?

2) for trains, is it best to book ahead of time? I see Montparnasse to Tours at ~$50 a person and Tours to Avignon at $140 a person. Will it get cheaper or should I just book. It's one month away.

Thanks again for all your help!
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Old Apr 12th, 2010, 07:31 PM
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Hi appletea:

In terms of hotels-I wouldn't base your hotels necessarily on the trains because it is so easy to get to the stations by metro or taxi. I think your itinerary makes sense and splitting the Paris visit gives you a chance to see 2 neighborhoods.
If it is a first visit my choice would be to stay one time in the Marais and the other time in the Latin Quarter- two of the most popular neighborhoods here on the board. If you know Paris well, then you might just want to explore new neighborhoods like near the Eiffel tower or Montparnasse for example.
When you are arriving from LA at the airport, then you might want stay somewhere along the direct RER B line from the airport to make it easy to take public transport into the city. The Latin Quarter near the St Michel stop is very central as is the next stop near Luxembourg gardens is also nice.
By the way-if you click on my profile it has my email address under location. Feel free to email me directly if you have more detailed questions-we spend around many months in Paris each year and have been to the Loire, Giverny and Provence multiple times in the past 5 years or so. Sounds like you are planning a great trip!
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Old Apr 13th, 2010, 01:21 AM
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Since we are taking 3 trainw, would it be worth it to get a 3 day rail pass? It seems cheaper, but is it harder to guarantee tickets for a particular train? I can't seem to find too much info on that on the raileurope site.

It seems there aren't too many hotels left for St. Remy for 5 nights. If the hotel is 5 miles from St. Remy city center, does that mean it's not really in St. Remy? If you we stayed 2 nights and 3 nights, what other area would you recommend? How is Arles as a base? We plan on renting a car.

Thanks again.
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Old Apr 13th, 2010, 09:18 AM
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In terms of the rail pass, you will probably need to price it out. Our experience is that with 2 travelers we can almost always beat the pass price with PREM tickets-which as you probably know from reading the boards are really low cost tickets that you can buy a few months in advance but are not changeable or refundable-but also have the advantage that you can print out at home before you leave-no need to "post" the ticket-you just show it on the train along with your passport.

In terms of the hotels, 5 miles from the center will definitely mean it is "outside" of the center. You will find with many of the towns in the south of France including parts of Provence that they have a one way circular road (like a mini Peripherique in Paris) going around the historic center-Uzes is like that Aix, etc. If you go to google maps and type in St Remy France and come in for a pretty close view you will see what I mean. So if it is important for you to feel like you are in town, try to stay inside the circle. That said there are lovely places that are in the nearby rural areas and distances aren't very long, so with a car you don't really have to limit yourself unless you want to.
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Old Apr 13th, 2010, 11:03 AM
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Thanks jpie.

Provence Hotels 5 nights - We are now deciding between staying:
Hotel Particulier in Arles (5 nights available)
or Clos de Glycine in Roussillon/Gordes (5 nights available)
or Vallon de Valruges in St. Remy. 3 nights and combo with above

Is one combination better than another?
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Old Apr 13th, 2010, 11:53 AM
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Hmm-a real bounty of riches! The hotels all look gorgeous. I can't remember if you said if it is a first trip to Provence or not? That would make a difference to me. And also be aware that Arles is very very different and not Provence. Even Provence itself has different areas that don't necessarily resemble one another. I am assuming you will pick up the car in one place and drop in another?

I would be tempted to take the train to Avignon (TGV)and then go to Roussillon. By the way, the gare at Avignon TGV is different from centre ville-it is basically a big open area outside of town that keeps you from having to deal with traffic inside the city itself. Here is a link to it-it si also a cool building http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gare_d%27Avignon_TGV

If you can stand to move twice I would be tempted to spend 2 nights in Roussillon then spend 1 night in St. Remy and then 2 more nights in Arles and take the tgv back from there.

If you only want to stay in 2 places and want to get the full Provence feel versus Arles which is more the Camargue area, then stay in Roussillon and St Remy. If you want to venture down further towards the Camargue and maybe even up towards Uzes, Nimes, Pont du Gard area, then you could split the time between Roussillon and Arles and stop in St Remy for lunch along the way. It just starts to come down to personal choice and how much driving you want to do.

Don't forget we aren't talking huge distances here. From Roussillon to Arles via St. Remy is only 80KM and about 1h45m so if you really want to, you could base in only one place and do day trips....but I would be inclined to do the pick up drop off route at different stations.
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Old Apr 13th, 2010, 06:06 PM
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It is our first trip to Provence. When you say pick up the car in one place and drop in another, is that not the same place at Avignon TGV?

We would prefer not to do more driving than needed so a central location to visit the various villages would be nice.
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Old Apr 14th, 2010, 06:19 AM
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Appletea
Check out B&Bs in the Luberon on Tripadvisor
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotels-g1...ce-Hotels.html
Enjoy provence
W
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Old Apr 14th, 2010, 06:39 AM
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I don't know what jpie means when s/he says Arles is not Provence. It is quintessential Provence. That said, of your choices, I would opt to stay in St-Rémy if your goal is to focus on the Bouches-du-Rhône.
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Old Apr 14th, 2010, 08:40 AM
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Sorry St. Cirq-I was typing too fast. I didn't mean to say it so literally-I guess I meant to say that Arles to me feels more connected to the Camargue region rather than what I think of as "quintessential" Provence-if there is such a thing. But St. Cirq is absolutely right, it is in Bouches-du-Rhône department. But I guess it just doesn't feel to me like Provence as much as some of the other departments like the Var or Vaucluse. That said even though Marseilles is in Provence literally-I just don't think as a town it describes the Provence that most first-time visitors think of i.e. the Peter Mayle Provence. And some places like Uzes that aren't really Provence all work hard to claim "membership" in their local tourist guides

Sorry for the confusion. Just to clarify-here according to Wikipedia are the departments of Provence:

Var
Vaucluse
Bouches-du-Rhône
parts of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence & Alpes-Maritimes

appletea-what I meant by about picking up the car at one place and leaving it another, was that you can take the train down to Avignon for example and drop the car at the gare in Arles and take the TGV from there rather than backtracking. We have found in the past that the cost of doing that is the same or minimally more than returning the car to the same Hertz agency and generally outweighs the cost of the gas to backtrack.
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Old Apr 14th, 2010, 09:15 AM
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This is my understanding:

Cote d'Azur
...Alpes Maritimes
...Var

Alpes
...Alpes de Haute-Provence
...Hautes Alpes

Provence
...Vaucluse
...Bouches du Rhone

There is an administrative region called "Provence - Alpes - Cote d'Azur"

The Michelin Green Guide to Provence includes sections of the departments of the Gard, Ardeche, and Drome. The Cote d'Azur omits part of the Alpes de Haute-Provence.

Stu Dudley
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Old Apr 14th, 2010, 10:21 AM
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Yeah-everybody looks at it a bit differently-when my friend bought a guide book in Uzes-I think it was Frommer's or insight they included Uzes in Provence-which I definitely don't include there, but I suspect it is the same in your Michelin? Anyway, my point I guess was, that certain towns/villages have more of the "stereotypical" feel of Provence to me, whatever that is
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Old Apr 14th, 2010, 01:46 PM
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Ok on to Provence rough itinerary. We love markets, lavender, flowers, food and old architecture. Would love to see fields of red poppies (Senanque?) and maybe catch a glimpse of lavender?

Based on our days, would you please advise on our itinerary?

~~Tuesday – Stay Canto Cigalo, St. Remy
Arrive at 7pm from Tours, rent car, check in, dinner somewhere
Anything to see in the evening?

~~Weds – Stay Canto Cigalo, St. Remy
St. Remy Market – I thought I read this somewhere but now I can’t find it on this site? http://www.avignon-et-provence.com/m...t-provence.htm If we did do the market would we have enough time for Pont De Gard, Nimes and Uzes?
Pont de Gard, Nimes, Uzes

~~Thursday –Stay Mas des Romarins, Gordes or Le Clos de la Glycine, Roussillon
Les Baux/Alpillies/Millau/ Eygalieres

~~Fri - Stay Mas des Romarins, Gordes or Le Clos de la Glycine, Roussillon
Carpentras market
Pernes les Fountaines
The Dentelles, Vaison with Roman Ruins

~~Sat - Stay Mas des Romarins, Gordes or Le Clos de la Glycine, Roussillon - is this too much in one day?
Oppede-le-Vieux
Village des Bories
Goult
Abbey Senanque
Menerbes
La Coste
L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue – is this worth going to if we are going on Sun for the market?

~~Sun - Take late train to Paris
Market at Isle sur la Sorgue
Roussillon
Gordes
Anything we missed the day before

Do we have enough time to go to Lourmarin, Cucuron, Pertius? I think Stu mentioned lavender route isn’t worth driving in May and we probably don’t have enough time anyway.

If we do this rough itinerary, which hotels would work better, meaning less driving? I mapped it out and know it’s only 30 min away, but maybe we’d have to wake up less early to go to the Fri and Sun morning markets? But then, is the food better in St. Remy? I think I read in Stu's guide that the food isn't as good in the Luberon.

1) 2 nights in St Remy and 3 nights in Roussillon or Gordes
2) 5 nights at Mas des Romarins in Gordes or
3) 5 nights at Le Clos de la Glycine in Roussillon
4) 5 nights at Canto Cigalo in St. Remy, 800 meters (0.5 miles) from city center.

Any opinions on or Clos de la Glycine, Roussillon vs. Mas des Romarins, Gordes? Is Gordes more central since Stu says "If you are basing in only one hotel in the Luberon and exploring all of Provence from there, I would stay near Gordes to reduce driving time a bit. "

Thanks for your help!
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Old Apr 14th, 2010, 04:10 PM
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>>~~Weds – Stay Canto Cigalo, St. Remy
St. Remy Market – I thought I read this somewhere but now I can’t find it on this site? http://www.avignon-et-provence.com/market-provence/market-provence.htm> If we did do the market would we have enough time for Pont De Gard, Nimes and Uzes?
Pont de Gard, Nimes, Uzes>~~Thursday –Stay Mas des Romarins, Gordes or Le Clos de la Glycine, Roussillon
Les Baux/Alpillies/Millau/ Eygalieres>~~Fri - Stay Mas des Romarins, Gordes or Le Clos de la Glycine, Roussillon
Carpentras market
Pernes les Fountaines
The Dentelles, Vaison with Roman Ruins>~~Sat - Stay Mas des Romarins, Gordes or Le Clos de la Glycine, Roussillon - is this too much in one day?
Oppede-le-Vieux
Village des Bories
Goult
Abbey Senanque
Menerbes
La Coste
L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue – is this worth going to if we are going on Sun for the market?

You should be able to visit all of these plus the pretty countryside in between. Doubt if you'll make it to l'Isle sur la Sorgue too. Oppede & Lacoste can be drive-bys & Menerbes can be a quick visit.


>>~~Sun - Take late train to Paris
Market at Isle sur la Sorgue
Roussillon
Gordes
Anything we missed the day before>Do we have enough time to go to Lourmarin, Cucuron, Pertius? I think Stu mentioned lavender route isn’t worth driving in May and we probably don’t have enough time anyway.,,>I think I read in Stu's guide that the food isn't as good in the Luberon.>Is Gordes more central since Stu says "If you are basing in only one hotel in the Luberon and exploring all of Provence from there, I would stay near Gordes to reduce driving time a bit. "
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Old Apr 14th, 2010, 04:16 PM
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>>~~Sat - Stay Mas des Romarins, Gordes or Le Clos de la Glycine, Roussillon - is this too much in one day?
Oppede-le-Vieux
Village des Bories
Goult
Abbey Senanque
Menerbes
La Coste
L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue – is this worth going to if we are going on Sun for the
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Old Apr 14th, 2010, 05:29 PM
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Thank you, Stu. Yes, we definitely want to relax too. Hoping we can relax in the evenings after driving around during the day.

Thanks Wilko for the b&b link on tripadvisor.

With our itinerary, would you recommend switching hotels or all 5 days in one hotel and if we switch does it make most sense to stay in St. Remy 2 nights then in the Luberon 3 nights?

Revised:
~~Weds – Stay Canto Cigalo, St. Remy
St. Remy Market
Pont, Uzes, and Nimes last

~~Thursday –Stay Mas des Romarins, Gordes or Le Clos de la Glycine, Roussillon
Les Baux/Alpillies/Eygalieres

~~Fri - Stay Mas des Romarins, Gordes or Le Clos de la Glycine, Roussillon
The Dentelles, Vaison with Roman Ruins Pernes les Fountaines

~~Sat - Stay Mas des Romarins, Gordes or Le Clos de la Glycine, Roussillon - is this too much in one day?
Oppede-le-Vieux
Menerbes
La Coste
Village des Bories
Goult
Abbey Senanque
Bonnieux & Saignon

~~Sun - Take late train to Paris
Market at Isle sur la Sorgue
Roussillon
Gordes

"So - 3 markets in 5 days!!! I would drop the Carpentras market - it's similar to l'Isle sur las Sorgue (more food in carpentras, but no antiques)" hahaha but I love markets and you said that's your favorite one, I think? but ok. prob too many markets in a 5 day span.

For sunday, what time is a good depart time if we want to visit Gordes and Roussillon?

Thanks so much.
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Old Apr 15th, 2010, 07:34 AM
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There is a good chance you can fit in Nimes on Wed, OR a better chance on Thurs.

I perfer the market in Carpentras because there is more food there. My wife prefers the l'Isle sur la Sorgue market because of the antiques & more "crafts".

>>For sunday, what time is a good depart time if we want to visit Gordes and Roussillon?
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Old Apr 15th, 2010, 07:45 AM
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>>With our itinerary, would you recommend switching hotels or all 5 days in one hotel and if we switch does it make most sense to stay in St. Remy 2 nights then in the Luberon 3 nights?
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