2 different itineraries
 

so I have gathered information from you wavy travelers about our France vacation and now need to decide which itinerary and would appreciate feedback.We begin our trip May 25th in Paris for 8 nights and I am fine with this portion which includes museum visits and hopefully French Open tickets. Now here is where the choice comes in whether to spend the our next 15 days in Provence or Provence and Dordogne . We have been to Nice before but only for a couple of nights.

I value your well thought out suggestions since many of you have spent much time in this area.

Option 1
May 25th till June 2nd- Paris
Day8- Paris to Dordogne- flight with HOP 8:55 arv 10:10 @ Brive Valle, or could take the bus. regardless rent a car where ever we arrive. Visit Collonges la Rouge . Overnite in Sarlat 4 nights
Day 9-Wednesday- Sarlat market and canoe trip
Day 10-Thursday-visit one of the prehistoric sites and one of the chateaus
Day 11 Friday free day for driving tour
Day12-SaturdayTo Rocamadour then to St. Cirq Lapopie not sure where we will stay this night
Day 13- Sunday- drive stop in Florac and St Enime and then to St Remy 4 nights
Day 14- Monday- Van Gogh tour @10:00, visit asylum
Day 15- Tuesday- Free day maybe Lourmarin
Day 16- St. Remy market, then afternoon to Les Baux
Day 17- Thursday-Avignon then drive to Vaison La Romaine 2 nights
Day 18 Friday- cooking class, wine tour
Day19- Saturday to Gordes and Rousillon and the to Isle Sur la Sorgue (overnight some where in area 3 nights)
Day 20- Sunday Isle sur la Sorgue market,
Day 21-Monday- Day trip to Menebes, Bonnieux and Lourmarin
Day 22-Tuesday- drive some where closer to Marseille for departure tomorrow
Day 23 Depart Marseille @ 10:40

Option2 This option has at lease one extra day to put some place. I do not know much of Cassis and seem to have a bit more time there then thought so certainly open to ideas if this is the option we choose.
May 25th till June 2nd- Paris
Day8- Tuesday-Paris to Vaison la Romaine , public transportation. One Fodorites said we could do the train to Orange. Is this the best way to reach Vaison la Romaine. We would rent a car then. Overnite there for 3 nights
Day 9 Wednesday- cooking class
Day 10 Thursday- visit wineries either on our own or with a tour
Day 11 Friday- to Isle Sur la Sorgue overnight 4 nights
Day 12 day trip to Gordes and Rousillon
Day 13 Sunday- market and afternoon canoe trip
Day 14 Monday-day trip to Menerbes, Bonnieux
Day 15 Tuesday-To Avignon and then St. Remy 4 nights
Day 16 WednesdaySt Remy market and then Les Baux
Day 17 Thursday-Van Gogh tour @10:00, visit asylum
Day 18 Friday-day trip to Lourmarin
Day 19 Saturday- Aix en Provence then to Cassis
Day 20 Sunday boat trip
Day 21 Monday-biking seems like this could be added to Sunday if we want to bike
Day 22-.??????? Extra day to put some where
Day 23 Depart Marseille @ 10:40

<i>Day12-SaturdayTo Rocamadour then to St. Cirq Lapopie not sure where we will stay this night</i>

Stay in Conques. I´d skip Rocamadour just to spend more time there. Conques is one of the last undiscovered tourist treasures of France. Don´t tell anyone.

http://www.tourisme-conques.fr/

My somewhat well thought out suggestions for Option 2:

May 25th till June 2nd- Paris

Day8 Tuesday-TGV Paris to to Avignon. Rent a car. Drive to Vaison la Romaine for 3 nights. [ My opinion- To get to Orange by train you have to get to the other station in Avignon and take another train to Orange, or continue to Marseille and train back to Orange. You might as well get off at Avignon and drive from there. There is huge car rental choices at Avignon TGVstation.]

Day 9 Wednesday- cooking class

Day 10 Thursday- visit wineries either on our own or with a tour

Day 11 Friday-Drive to St. Remy for 4nightswith a stop in Avignon.

Day 12 Saturday- Day trip to Uzes (nice market)/ Pont du Gard

Day 13 Sunday- Isle Sur la Sorgue market and afternoon canoe trip.

Day 14 Monday- Day trip Les Baux/Cathedrale des Images/ Arles

Day 15 Tuesday- AM van Gogh tour and St Paul de Mausole. Drive to Luberon for 4 nights. Stay in or around St Saturnin, Gordes, Rousillon, etc.

Day 16 Wednesday - Day trip Gordes, Rousillon (time for more)

Day 17 Thursday-Day trip Petit Luberon towns choosing from Oppede-le-Vieux, Menerbes, Lacoste, Bonnieux

Day 18 Friday-Bicycle riding day in the Luberon.

Day 19 Saturday-Drive to Aix en Provence for 4 nights with a stop in Lourmarin.

Day 20 Sunday - Explore Aix

Day 21 Monday- Day trip to Cassis.

Day 22 Tuesday- Market day in Aix shops etc.

Day 23 Wednesday-Drive your car or take the bus (2/hr,35 min) to Marseille-Provence Airport for your 10:40 flight home.

Notes
Replaced 4 nights Isle Sur la Sorgue with 4 nights Luberon. Isle Sur la Sorgue is too close to your other overnight stays. My favorite B&B is Le Mas Perreal
http://www.masperreal.com/index.html

Aix-en-Provence would be a nice place to end your vacation. It is not too far from the Marseille-Provence Airport.

Dugi, thanks for the tip about the train to Avignon from Paris. I will look at the revision. One thing I do not think it includes is the market in St. Remy which I would like to do. I know it is on Wednesday and possibly another day, I will need to look.

The Dordogne held many of the highlights of my 2011 trip to France. I haven't made it to Provence yet. Good luck choosing!

My comments on Option 1

May 25th till June 2nd- Paris
Day8- Tuesday- Paris to Dordogne- flight with HOP 8:55 arv 10:10 @ Brive Valle, or could take the train Paris to Brive-la-Gaillard (4+ hours). regardless rent a car where ever we arrive. Visit Collonges la Rouge . Overnite in Rocamadour. http://www.domainedelarhue.com/gb/accueil.htm Domaine de la Rhue

Day 9-Wednesday- Drive to Sarlat for 4 nights. Some possible sights in route- Gouffre de Padirac (probably skip it), beautiful towns of Autoire, Loubressac, and Carennac.

Day 10 and 11- Explore the Dordogne valley. Choose from canoe Dordogne river Vitrac to Beynac; villages La Roque-Gageac, Beynac, and Domme; Chateax Castelnaud, Beynac, and Des Milandes; and Grotte de Font de-Gaume.

Day12-Saturday- am Sarlat market for 2 hours. Drive a loop Lascaux ( English tour), St Leon-s-Vezere(visit), La Roque St-Christophe (visit).

Day 13- Sunday- drive Sarlat to St Remy for 4 nights( short stop Carcassonne )

Day 14- Monday- Day trip Les Baux/Cathedrale des Images/ Arles

Day 15- Tuesday- Pont du Gard, Uzes

Day 16- Wednesday St. Remy market, then afternoon to Arles

Day 17- Thursday-Avignon then drive to Vaison La Romaine 2 nights

Day 18 Friday- cooking class, wine tour

Day19- Saturday to Gordes and Rousillon and Stay in or around St Saturnin, Gordes, Rousillon, etc. for 2 nights Day 20- Sunday Isle sur la Sorgue market, Menebes, Bonnieux in afternoon

Day 21-Monday- Drive to Aix en Provence for 2 nights with a stop in Lourmarin.

Day 22-Tuesday- Day trip to Cassis, sleep in Aix

Day 23. You could drive to airport or turn in car on day 22 and take bus to airport. Depart Marseille @ 10:40

Wow. Either itinerary would be great. Being a history buff, I would say the Dordogne option is more about prehistoric times and then the Hundred Years' War. Provence on the other hand strikes me as more of a tale of the Roman history and then the move of the popes to Avignon. Either area is rich with things to do and see and great wines for sampling. I've been to both areas and while not a Stu Dudley, my experiences tend to favor the Dordogne option. With 15 days, I suppose you could spend a week in both places and have it all but that would be a lot of travel time too. Good luck making a choice - we should all have such dilemmas....

tidy

Don't get "hung up" on the Wed market in St Remy. I wouldn't plan an itinerary around it. There are markets somewhere in Provence every day. After L'Isle sur la Sorgue, you may be overwhelmed/exhausted and won't want to visit another market. Here are my favorites:

Sun - l'Isle sur la Sorgue (get there early - by 8am)
Mon - Bedoin - my wife's favorite
Tues - Gordes, Aix en Provence
Wed - St Remy
Thurs - Aix en Provence
Friday - Carpentras (my favorite), Lourmarin
Sat - Apt, Aix, Uzes

Stu Dudley

Thanks for your info on favorite markets

There's a smaller market in St. Remy on Saturdays, food only.

Sounds like Stu is favoring the all-Provence itinerary. I hate for you to miss the Dordogne. But maybe, given your interests, all-Provence is best -- this time.

For 15 days - Provence & the Dordogne would be perfect!!!

My only previous post on this thread was about suggesting to tidy to not plan the entire trip around the Wed market in St Remy.

Stu Dudley