5 best villages in Provence
 

I propose a selection of your five favourite villages in Provence.
This is my personal selection: Gordes, Menerbes, Oppède le Vieux, Seguret et Goult.

I'll add Les Beaux de Provence and Roussillon.

I would add St. Remy and Lourmarin

I'll repeat one and add a couple more: Goult, Saignon, Bonnieux, and Uzès. (I know, Uzès is in Gard, but let's say it counts.) That doesn't quite add up to five, but it's close.

Anselm

Anybody been to Rousillion? (the red village)

Yes, I've been to Rousillon. And well worth a visit it was too. The ochre (it is ochre, isn't it?) "canyon" is outstanding. One thing, as with all these hilltop villages in summer - get there early!

I wouldn't really count Les Baux as a village--it's more ruins with a small commercial section.

My own favorites: Le Poët-Laval, in the Drôme Provençale; Dieulefit (same region, but more of a small town); Valbonne (near Grasse); St-Paul-de-Vence; Tourette-sur-Loup.

I'm sure everyone's favorites will differ for various reasons, but mine:

Maussane-les-Alpilles (it's where I live),
Eygalieres, Les Baux...which is indeed a village as there are 80 inhabitants of the village itself
Roussillon and Oppede-le-Vieux.

Patricia

Eygalieres, Saignon, Bonnieux, Maussane and Lourmarin.

I have never been to Saignon, Le Poët Laval, Dieulefit, Eygalieres et Maussane.
Can you provide some information about them?

Le Poët-Laval is about 20 minutes east of Montélimar. The village was at one time a stronghold of the Knights of Malta and then became part of the Protestant-dominated region. The village perches high on a hill and is a magical place to visit in the evening, when all you see are stars and a few lights across the valley.

Dieulefit (God Made It) is a charming small town not far east of Le Poët-Laval. It's an interesting place to visit, as the region is famous for its pottery, and there are any number of good shops in the town--both pottery and otherwise. There are two excellent patisseries and one particularly fine regional gift shop. A handsome boule court runs along the road leading into the town, and it's fun to stop and watch the (mostly) men at play.

The Drôme area has yet to be discovered by American tourists, which is one of the many delights in visiting it.

Alex, go here:
http://www.provenceweb.com/e/villages.htm
it will have the alphabet so you can click the name of a village beginning with a letter and it will show a few pictures and tell you about it.
mimi who loves provence!

Well, that came out wrong--I meant to say that so far the only non-French visitors to Le Poët-Laval are British and a few Germans. So not many non-French over-all.