6 Aussies escape to France - Paris, Provence & Dordogne
 

Lets introduce ourselves - 3, 50ish couples on our much anticipated and longed for sojourn to France.
Most of our friends could not believe that we were "only going to France?"and for 4 weeks!. As Australia is so long away from Europe most Aussies like to see as many countries in Europe as possible. But oh no not this time we wanted to soak up the atmosphere, eat some food, drink that wine and live that French dream even if it was only for 4 weeks

Planes, trains and automobiles! And so our journey began.

I might add at this stage that prior to our trip I had spent many many hours reading Fodors, asking questions and scanning trip reports – my husband nicknamed me ‘Mrs Fodors’! I have received such invaluable hints, ideas and information from this site that all contributed to our wonderful trip to France.
Whats better than spending 30 hours to arrive at our destination of Paris. We live about 80k south of Sydney, Australia so drove to Sydney airport for the first leg of our much anticipated trip to France. Booked on British Airways to London via Singapore – due to online check in I was able to snavel exit row seats, I was very proud of myself. Having not flown BA before we were pleasantly surprised, service was excellent our FA was French and after DH practiced some of his recently learnt French language on him he became very attentive and always gave him extra of everything, especially alcohol . Sadly after 8 ½ hours flying we changed planes in Singapore for our next BA leg of 13 ½ hours to London, this leg we sat in the rear where there are just 2 seats on the side.
Arrived at T4 Heathrow at 5am, it was a lovely morning sun was rising and the airport and surrounds were just waking and coming to life. An 18min bus trip to the glass encased T5. DH was happily sampling the best Scotch he could find encouraged by a ruddy faced older gent salesman who looked like he too like a scotch or two. Next BA flight was a 7.30am flight delayed an hour by fog which seemed to be full of business people, this flight service was considerably less appealing but who cares we were almost in Paris!

On yet another bus to the terminal we then collected our bags (thumbs up for baggage handlers) and started the long walk to the RER. We stopped at a tourist info centre along the way and were able to purchase tickets which saved us a huge queue done below, now that was clever or lucky. After lugging our bags down steps onto a hot crowded train - a little overcrowding is not going to wipe my happy smile off my face, we got off at Luxemborg, had a little trouble finding our bus stop for the crowded number 27 bus with heavy bags. Reached our apartment ( I soo wanted to stay in an apartment but was a little nervous with the process but was so encouraged by all the expert opinions from Fodorites).

We LOVED our apartment. We shared it with our friends, another Aussie couple who arrived the day earlier. I had booked this myself after much searching and we just loved it. It was on the 6th floor in the 5th, there was a cute little elevator. This apartment was the owner’s home for 20 years and it felt like a home with personal little touches and sun streaming in the windows. It had 2 bedrooms, a lovely bathroom, great kitchen and a spacious lounge dining room with all the comforts of home. But best of all there were little balconies off each room to step out onto to savour the sights and sounds of Paris.

We had a delicious “power shower” after 30 hours of travelling, purchased a baguette and slice of yummy tart from our Boulangerie literally outside our door, yahoo our French adventure had begun. Feeling refreshed we headed along the cobbled street of Rue Mouffetard. We walked and walked all the way to the Seine, everything so old, so different, gets your senses going. Crossed the river to Notre Dame, looked so grand on a beautiful sunny day, We hadn’t planned to go in today but her powers were irresistible, sun streaming in through the stained glass windows. We then walked along the bank sat on the Pont Neuf looking at the Eiffel Tower and soaked up the atmosphere, we had to pinch ourselves, we were in Paris! Or maybe we were pinching ourselves to keep awake, because we had been travelling 30 hours with little or no sleep. But let me tell you we were so buzzed to be in Paris we could have walked another 3 hours.

Tomorrow Montmartre and our Paris Greeter tour

Great start - looking forward to more!

Great to see an Aussie trip report at last. Fair dinkum!

Thanks for your encouragement - I will work on the next instalment and try to upload some photos. Now that will be an interesting task for me!

A word about our apartment. I so wanted to stay in an apartment whilst in Paris but having never done so before I was a little apprehensive and spent many late nights trawling the internet and reading reviews of apartments. Let me say that we stayed in a wonderful apartment in the 5th. The owner was a so easy to deal with and we emailed back and forward with her answering all my questions and giving lots of advise, with such friendliness. The apartment was her home for 20 years and we felt so comfortable staying there with a great equipped kitchen , excellent appliances and lots of room. We would listen to Paris Jazz on FM gazing out over our little balconies into the warm Paris night listening to her sounds and sipping on a delicious wine. Mmm I’m in heaven.

Next day we headed off for Montmartre, stopped off at a ‘dodgy’ sports cafe for coffee and .5e loo stop. Met our ‘Paris Greeter” guide Sophie – an Aussie living in Paris 3 years. I booked ‘Paris Greeter’ through information supplied on Fodors and I highly recommended it. We started our tour walking through the colourful North African area, past lots of wig shops, sewing shops specialising in wedding dresses and some wonderful smelling food tantalising our taste buds. After many stairs we were staring at the magnificent and grand Sacre Coeur.
We spent 3 hours walking the area from little backstreets to the decadent patisserie shops, whilst Sophie told us the history and tales of the area finishing with a coffee in the ‘Amelie’ cafe. This personal tour was special and the only payment Sophie would accept was a friendly coffee.

We ate at a cute little restaurant La Midinette and whilst trying to decide (using our basic French) what to eat, a handsome young Frenchman eating at the next table helped us with our choices. He was very friendly and full of lots of interesting conversation about Paris, the people, the world. DH had poullet, me steak and dessert was the biggest raspberries I had ever seen (my mission in France was to eat as many red berries that I could). We chatted with the handsome Frenchman with blue eyes from Marseille, now living in Paris and as he left he said Bonjour and enjoy. Much to our surprise the waitress brought over 2 servings of coffee, chocolate ganche and chantilly cream and said “with compliments from the young man” she seemed very impressed and so were we – how nice! I am not a coffee drinker but I made sure I drank that one! How special was that encounter.

That afternoon we went home via the Luxembourg Gardens and spent our first of many interludes at the gardens, we considered it our local park and loved walking or sitting on the green seats soaking up the Parisian atmosphere.

I'm totally gripped by your story aussie_10 and can't wait until you get to Provence - the subject of my trip planning. Thanks for your great report.

I love trip reports and yours is off to a grand start..I am anxiously awaiting my trip in May and reading your beginning has me rushing out to get my "french phrase book" TODAY!

Time flies...

tx for sharing
FP

Oooh, this sounds like a good one.

Would you mind sharing a link to the apartment?

Ooh la la! Fab report! Keep it coming. More bits about the handsome Frenchmen would be good too ;-).

Great report and I too would love to see the link to your apartment.

Please post a link to "your" apartmnet on the Paris apartment threat so future travelers can consider it as well.
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...ent-thread.cfm

Thank you for your comments. I wasn't sure whether it is too long winded, I have left lots out also. But I have enjoyed reading OP trips reports and I felt I owed it to everyone that had given me help and advice along the way. We went last week in Sept til 3 weeks in Oct and the weather could not have been any more perfect.

uklisa - Provence is coming
flowerpower - my DH & I took French lessons for a semester at our local Uni, which really helped. My DH was much better than me because he always practised and did his homework straight away while fresh in his mind. I on the other hand always seemed to be doing my homework the night before lessons ugh! Knowing some language did help and I think people were much more obliging because we tried especially DH.

Judyrem - if I had only been 20 years younger, my DH says I swooned anyway. Wish I had a daughter. we talked to him throughout the meal for over and hour. He not only was gorgeous to look at, he was charming and intelligent. Did I mention swooning!

Nikki - we loved our apartment. On a recent thread a poster had a bad experience with an apartment and I know it is risk. Our Parisian adventure hinged on a great apartment especially as I was booking for friends too.Throughout all dealings I had a good feeling and the owner was always so friendly and helpful. I am almost hesitant to recommend because I would like to keep it to myself but that would be unfair. All amenities are in excellent condition rooms were spacious, comfortable, it felt like a home and we loved "coming home" each day to our apartment.

Here is the link
http://www.vrbo.com/196919

OOh la la.....ah Paris....and her gorgeous men.

Each morning I wake at 3.30am (must be the jet lag) and whilst the rest of our apartment sleeps I make a hot cup of tea and step out onto the balcony and take in the sights and sounds of Paris waking up in the mornings, it is a truly special experience for me.

We head off to Trocadero for the grand view to the Eiffel Tower (avoiding the ‘lookie lookie men with their trinkets). Walked Rue Klebber to Arc de Triumph up the 256 stairs, as the lifts weren’t working today, for the panoramic view of the 12 avenues and what a view. Walked down the Champs Elyssee to Place de la Concorde through the 1st & 2nd towards the 3rd & 4th arr., discovered rue Montorgueil – lots of food shops, boulangeries, patisseries and fromage shops, we were in food heaven! After satisfying our hunger we walked on to the Pompidou centre and enjoyed the view and ambiance.

We continued on through the Jewish area, intrigued by the stalls with lemons and sugar cane(?) as far as the Bastille. I have read Fodorites talking about Bofinger and found the restaurant and checked out the menu, but as we were looking at it in the window a nice older couple chatted with us and recommended Petite Bofinger across the road. We decided to eat there and thoroughly enjoyed our 3 course 25e meal of mussels, fois gras, carnard, a crème brulee to die for (I had to resist scraping my finger around the inside of the bowl!) and a half bottle of wine each, wonderful.

My DH & I have been to Paris before, 25 years ago when we were too young to fully appreciate her magical charms, on a camping tour, and I always wanted to go back and just wander the streets and little laneways to soak up the atmosphere, so this was the mission of this trip – to feel the city.

Next day off to Opera House and then on to Galleries La Fayette. What a beautiful department store, we caught the lift to the top floors and viewed the magnificence of the dome, not to mention the amazing array of beautiful items for sale. I saw shoes in styles that go way beyond anything I have ever seen before; I dare not try them on for lusting after them for the rest of my stay.

Metro to Eiffle Tower, on my list of things to do whilst in Paris was to have a picnic in the park underneath the Eiffel Tower. A scrumptious lunch of crusty baguettes and the obligatory patisserie, lying on a bed of lush grass, whilst gazing up at the magnificent tower. We had not planned to go up the tower again but hey no queues! So of course the lure was too strong. We were blessed with warm sunny weather for all of our stay in Paris so the views were outstanding.

Stopped at a Franco prix on the way home and purchased cheap Province Rose & beer, France has outstanding wines but awful beer. Ugh! A Rotisserie chicken for dinner and pommes – they can’t be good for the waist line.
A delicious meal at our apartment and then out for our Night cruise on the Seine – Bateaux les Vedettes - (I had read on Fodors if you booked this online you could get a 8euro discount, so we did and printed the pass up on our computer in our apartment).

Paris illuminated at night is quite spectacular, the buildings take on an ethereal quality in their yellow glow. The night breeze whispered around our ears and of course the Eiffel Tower stole the show.

What a treat to read your trip report on a cold January day! I can't wait for more. I am especially interested in the logistics of your traveling with a group of 6 adults in Provence and the Dordogne.

How fantastic to stay in a country for a month! Great report so far and bought back memories of Galleries La Fayette department store which reminded me more of a cathedral or similar. Last time I was in Paris, it was just for three days and there was a transport strike. I only got in one day sightseeing where we were ripped off and stranded by the driver our hotel had arranged. I was a bit cheesed off with Paris that trip but you make me want to try again to get back there!

Hi Kansas & Kerryajs1

We originally thought to have one car/van to fit all six, but soon realised it would have to be a big one, especially to fit all our luggage. I did ask Fodorites the question and after some deliberation we decided on 2 cars. It did not cost much more than the one van.
Main reason was: we in Australia drive on the other side of the road, that combined with unfamiliar roads and especially narrow little roads which we used most of the times.
Also the factor that if we all didn't want to do the same thing each day we had the freedom of 2 cars. We were very happy with our decision especially on some of those windy tiny roads meeting trucks, buses etc.
We leased Renaults, a Kangoo which amply fit 4 adults/luggage and a sporty little Megane. Sometimes at night if only going a little distance we would all squeeze in to the Kangoo.

Kerryajs1 I'm sorry your last stay in Paris was a little disappointing. As it is such a long way for us to travel to Paris I was glad that we had no hiccups. Everything was just wonderful and just reliving these moments make me long to go back.

Each morning the guys would do the warm croissant run and on this particular morning we needed more fruit so we sent them to Rue Mouffetard. My hubby had diligently been learning to speak French for the past 6 months, and was very proud of his efforts in conversing with the local shop keepers etc. but our friend struggled with the language. He wanted to buy some bananas from a local vender and indicated to the vender that he wanted 3. The vender indicated a big NO and our friend could not understand why, hubby came along and tried to help out to no avail, the vendor was not going to sell the bananas. DH finally realised that the store did not open until later. They asked what time did he open and he replied never! Never! says our friend, Frenchman says loudly never!!, never!? repeats friend. Meanwhile Frenchman is almost red with rage. By this time my DH realised that he was quite angrily saying ‘neuf heure’, meaning 9am (it was only 8am) Needless to say we had no bananas that morning and never assumed normal opening hours again. We actually found the French very friendly, kind and patient with our limited grasp of the language.

Our last day in Paris was spent meandering through the streets, soaking up the atmosphere, people watching, sampling the local fare and gazing one last time along the Seine. sigh A stop at the Bertillon ice cream shop, some more fresh raspberries, a stop at a beautiful chocolatier and one more walk through the Luxembourg gardens. Parisians dress very stylishly, even the little preschoolers were so cute in their little jackets. The teenagers seemed to have a uniform of black clothes consisting of skinny jeans, jackets and ballet flats. Dinner tonight around St Michel more delicious food, good wine and crème brulee! Or was it panna cotta this time. I am so not ready to say goodbye to Paris and our beautiful Paris apartment.

Just a small sample of some of our Paris photos, we did take a lot.

http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/...12%3A871039070

Up early to say goodbye to our lovely apartment ordered a large taxi to go to Gare de Lyon, but a small one arrived with his boot half full of junk. There was no way it would fit 4 of us and our luggage so we sent our friends off ahead and we wandered down the road and managed to flag one down. Had a little language barrier moment when DH said we were going to Avignon in his best aussie accent, our driver thought he said Avion meaning the airport, so once that was sorted we had a quick ride to the train station to meet up with our other Aussie couple and catch our TGV train to Avignon. Our taxi trip cost 8.5euros our friends cost 20euros from the same place, go figure.

Again through assistance on Fodors I was able to purchase us 6 first class PREM tickets on the TGV for 40euro each. So much cheaper than any Australian travel agent. Thank you Fodors. We had arranged to meet our friends and the 3rd Aussie couple under the big train screen, not realising that there were 2 large screens at Gare de Lyon. One in the yellow area and one in the blue, I had seen Kerouac's photos. That caused a little hiccup but once sorted we sat down for a cuppa at Le Train Blue cafe.

What a wonderful train system, great seats smooth trip and so quick. We were a little taken aback when we saw many passengers walking their little dogs through the carriage. We have since heard that some passengers purchase a seat for their dog.

Will continue on to Provence.....

oops sorry the link to the photos was wrong here is the correct one.

http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/...d=415354339112

Great report! The Paris you visited sounds much nicer than the Paris I am living in during this dreary January.

Kerouac - We are having a sweltering summer here in Australia. I have seen the extreme weather you are experiencing on the news.

But I have also seen the beautiful photos taken by you of Paris in all seasons. I love them and wont hear a bad word about her.

aussie_10,

Great report!

I enjoyed a meal at Petit Bofinger a couple years ago...at 10pm we walked in and the place was packed to the gills. We were told to wait a few minutes and they would seat us. As we stood squished in the bar area I was amazed at the food coming out of the tiny kitchen. I'm not sure if I was more amazed at the delicious food or the miniscule size of the kitchen! :-)

Late getting in on this you have probably received plenty of advice. I was in Burgundy last April and the Dordogne three years ago. Do not miss Rocamadour. Get a list of market days especially in the Dordogne we hit a different one almost every day. We visited Font Du Game to see prehistoric cave paintings (small cave) but some of the best preserved cave paintings the public can still visit. If you are still heading South Conques east of Cahors (windy roads to get there) has the best medeval gold outside of a major museum. And also in this area is the lovely hillside town in the Lot is Saint Cirq Lapopie a great place for taking photos.
Sorry if I am repeating what others have already suggested. Have a safe trip

I will just mention this in passing, even though it has no direct relation to anything that has gone before. I have always thought "Sunday morning -- no problem -- I can find a street market in one of the at least medium-sized cities." And I never ever find a Sunday street market in the provinces for some reason. In Paris, there are 20 or 30 of them and at least as many in the suburbs. In the provinces.... nothing that I have ever found.

Hi Aussie, we've shopped at the fruit stall at Rue Mouffetard too. An English chap served us and chatted for some time. He was gobsmacked when I told him how long the flying time was to get to Paris. We also added to the waist line with a rotisserie chicken and pommes dinner. However, we walked and
walked and walked so I don't think we did too much damage.

I'm glad you enjoyed your apartment. We stayed in one just near the Luxembourg RER stop and would catch the 27 bus from there to Rue Mouffetard to stock up on provisions. We were lucky enough to experience evening open air concerts in Jardin du Luxembourg while we were in Paris. We didn't have tickets, but we could open our balcony doors and the Tales of Hoffman would drift in. It was divine!

I'm glad you went to the Dordogne, I don't think it's experienced by too many Aussie travellers. We met up with Sydney friends in Albas, in The Lot, which is just a little north of the Dordogne. It's sooo beautiful!! I'm looking to reading your impressions of the area.

Looking forward to the next installment, Cathie (from Sydney)!!

We had leased 2 Renault cars back in Australia and were very happy with our cars. One a Diesel Kangoo and the other a petrol Megane. Armed with a TomTom – now I’m a map person but it was one of the other guy’s new toy –one day I could have stomped on it, but that’s another story. We made our way (on the wrong side of the road) to Buoux our home for the next 2 weeks.

Here are some quotes I like on ways to travel:

Lao Tsu says, “A good traveller has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving.”

And we can even use a quote by Yogi Berra, “If you come to a fork in the road, take it.”
A more contemporary figure is Mark Twain. He said, “Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

There are travel quotes on why you should travel:

St. Augustine said, “The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only one page.”

I love to travel, hey I even love reading about other people’s travels. But I’m a planner, so on this trip I tried to do lots of research first, gathered information and then tried to take a step back and go with the flow, hence the quotes. I wanted to meander, to take that other road sometimes, take a breath, listen, and savour, I’m in France.

Sidebar: When planning our trip to France we decided that we wanted to stay in an apartment in Paris, a country farmhouse in Provence and a townhouse in Sarlat, to get an all round experience. One of our prerequisites would be for each couple to have their own bedroom and bathroom. That was important for people that would be travelling together for 4 weeks, your own space. In fact we met many people who were amazed we were still happy and talking to each other after 4 weeks.

When firstly researching The Luberon I had never heard of Buoux. We loved our stay in Buoux. Our 17thC stone farmhouse was built on the side of a hill overlooking a magnificent valley reaching up to the Grand Luberon with the Buoux Fort on the other side. Our property was in an olive grove with almond trees and 2 resident horses. Very spacious and plenty of character with stone walls and a country chic feeling to it that the owner was very proud of. After navigating the narrow roads we decided to have dinner at our local restaurant. Now Buoux has a population of 110 people, no stores but has 3 very fine restaurants and we ate in all 3!

Dinner tonight at L’etape du promenade – little place, friendly owner, tasty salads, the biggest and best omelettes I have ever seen and tasted. I had the fromage omelette with lots of Roquefort cheese and apple tart for desert and of course we shared some great pichets of wine. We have good wine in Australia but the French wine is so easy to drink. Before going to bed I gazed out our windows in the pitch black, at the carpet of stars in the sky (they are so much brighter with now artificial lights) and said to my husband “did you hear that? No says he, that’s right I say, not a single sound” mmm I slept well that night.

It’s Sunday in Provence so it must be market day! We gathered our pretty French baskets and headed off to Coustellet via Bonnieux, down through the pretty hills and fertile patchwork of fields. Coustellet market was busy; we purchased vegies, pears and lasagne for dinner. Bought Paella made in the biggest wok I had ever seen, supplemented with scrummy baguettes. Back home through the winding roads to Maison de Marrenon and then out for a walk enjoying our beautiful aspect finishing with Rose and cheese on our deck.

Hi Cathie from Sydney Happy Austalia Day! I have enjoyed reading your reports.

Sorry I missed your post must have been posting my next trip instalment at the same time.

We were literally 2 minutes from Rue Mouffetard and I loved shopping amongst the fresh food vendors. Our apartment was on the 6th floor negotiated by the tinniest of elevators and in the afternoons sometimes we could here a pianist practicing nearby it was lovely to hear the melodious sounds wafting up.

Loved Jardin du Luxembourg.

Yes most Aussies had never heard of The Dordogne, it was only through Fodors that we decided to go there with the help of other peoples trip reports and postings. We did use St Dudley's Provence & Dordogne suggestions and many more Fodorites.

<<And I never ever find a Sunday street market in the provinces for some reason. In Paris, there are 20 or 30 of them and at least as many in the suburbs. In the provinces.... nothing that I have ever found.>>

Must be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Off the top of my head, here are Sunday markets I can think of in just three areas:

Dordogne:
St-Cyprien
Issigeac
Rouffignac
St-Geniès

Provence:
Ile-sur-la-Sorgue
Avignon
Coustellet
Sarrians
Mormoiron

Lot:
Labastide-Murat
Montcuq

Oh, and Libourne and Biarritz and St-Saturnin and Bouscat.....

NEVER=neuf heur :)) I speak a little french, but can't understand much of anything they say to me. That just tickled me. Loving your report.

I just returned from South America and am finishing up my trip report. What a joy to read yours! I have traveled in France many times including multiple weeks in Paris and Nice and port visits to Marseilles (Aix on one visit and LeBeaux and Arles on another), Villefranche(I love Nice!), and Le Havre, travels in Brittany, a memorable visit to La Rochelle and time in the Dordogne. I have a friend who does tours in Provence (met on our second port visit to Marseilles). If you'd like to be in contact with her and perhaps spend a day in her company,let me know. She's a delightful person, speaks fluent English and has a wealth of historical knowledge.

Right now I'm helping some friends plan a trip to France and am finding your report to be very helpful, so thanks again for the hard work you are putting into such detailed and delightful entries.

Hi wiselindag, thanks for your encouragement. It sounds like you have visited many great places in France. We are back home now but I would love to explore the country so much more. Our wonderful holiday just wetted my appetite.

Our trip was over 12 months in planning and as I did all the bookings for everyone I felt a huge sense of responsibility that everything go well.

We often comment that we were blessed as everything went to plan and even the unplanned things went well. We had an absolutely fabulous time and many fine memories.

I too now find myself being a consultant for friends but I love all aspects of travel so love to share in evryones travels and experiences.

I am now working on my next trip report segment so hopefully more to come soon

Great report on three of my favorite areas.

NEVER=neuf heure.....moi aussi....

Next day we headed down a narrow winding road to Lourmarin our 4 friends were in the lead car and almost came a croppa (aussie slang for mishap) rounding a corner to be greeted by a huge tourist bus. All the bells and sirens sounded in the car as the bus came within millimetres of squashing the car – did I mention these roads are narrow, with vast drop offs, we were thanking our lucky stars we did not hire a large van.

Another snippet of info that I gleaned from Fodors was to purchase the book 'Provence Byways' which is an excellent guide to Provence especially the Luberon, it has great driving tours and today we were doing ‘The Pays d’Aigues Loop – Lourmarin, Vaugines, Curcuron, Ansouis.

Lourmarin is a glamorous village, lots of galleries and boutiques. Had a morning coffee at cafe Gaby and watched the visitors ambling by. We wandered the lovely laneways with homes with blue and mauve shutters, decorative wooden doors and colourful window boxes with cascades of flowers and vines finishing off a perfect picture. We decided that Lourmarin was a ‘cat’ village, lots of them lounging lazily on windowsills.
Next stop was the small village of Vaugines tucked up tight against the flanks of the Grand Luberon. We parked under the giant plane trees beside a little running stream and wandered through the Romanesque church and graveyard. We wandered up to the deserted town centre and were impressed by the moss covered fountain which drips water through the moss. I’m sure the residents were enjoying their midday dinner as our sense of smell was tantalised by delicious aromas wafting from open cute curtained windows.

Next village on route was Curcuron; we parked in the shade of the 200 year old plane trees that ring a large spring fed pond. We made our way to the six headed fountain and picturesque clock tower walking past intricate doorways and windows. The church here had a beautiful violet marble pulpit. We had a late lunch at a little bar & restaurant with a very friendly owner who on realising we were Aussies told us tales of an Aussie rocker (Jimmie Barnes for those aussies reading this) who set up residence locally and frequented his bar often. We and the other diners were serenaded or should I say blasted by aussie rock music throughout our delicious meal accompanied by the standard pichet or two of wine.

Drove on to our last village of the day, Ansouis classified as ‘one of the most beautiful villages of France’. It is a small, pretty village spiralling up a hill, on top of that hill is an imposing chateau with 360 views. Ansouis is a serene village, well preserved as it is a Catholic town and remained unscathed during the wars of religion.

Next day our destination was Cassis. After rounding a couple of roundabouts several times to get the correct exit we hit the Auto route with assistance from TomTom and before too long we were looking down at the spectacular view of Cassis with the Mediterranean shimmering in the distance. It was a bustling town with a picturesque harbour with coloured residences lining the harbourside; it was nice to inhale the sea air. Purchased tickets for the Calanques tour, sea was a little rough. DH & I and a lovely young Russian couple were the only ones to brave the front of the boat, we got absolutely soaked but it was a beautiful day, the Mediterranean water was warm and we had lots of good laughs and interesting conversation with the young couple – she was a famous television presenter in Moscow. It’s always interesting meeting fellow travellers. A final swim in the warm sea and home to a home cooked meal of ratatouie, potatoes and spicy sausage, raspberry tart and of course French wine. (Whilst shopping in a large supermarket in Apt we were amazed by the size of the huge wine barn attached to the store with a walls and walls of every flavour and variety of wine one could imagine and soo cheap, we purchased many and were not disappointed – all good).

Next day was a visit to our closest village, 8 km away, and a pretty drive past lavender fields to the perched village of Saignon. Saignon was a fortress built to protect the larger town of Apt in years gone by. Was disappointed the famous boulangerie owned by Christine Thomas was closed but we climbed to the top of the old towers and was rewarded with a dazzling view of the valley below and the white top of Mt Ventoux in the distance. Next stop the town of Apt, wandered the streets sampled tasty patisseries and glace fruit – Apt is famous for glace fruit.

An afternoon of swimming in our pool, gathering almonds to crack open and relaxing. We love coming home from our days outing and relaxing on our outdoor area and soaking up the quite Luberon mountains. At night it is pitch black and sooo quite, it is really quite beautiful.

When we first arrived at our 17thC farmhouse the owner and his wife we away, they also live on the property. They arrived back a few days later. Our first glimpse of him was when he rode along the laneway to our house on a bicycle to greet us. He was a very dapper Frenchman around 60ish astride his bike in a blue lacoste chambray collared shirt, canvas coloured trousers and comfortable leather loafers. He had a wonderful French accent, wide friendly smile and became a very friendly host. He was accompanied by his dog whom we discovered later was a very valuable truffle dog. We originally knew her as Caramel who liked to sneak into our kitchen and steal chocolate.

Croissants for breakfast and off to Roussillon via Bonnieux. Ist stop Le Pont Julien a 2000 year old Roman bridge. The pont is the only bridge that survives from the Via Domitia, a major Roman road that linked Roman Italy with its provinces in France. We walked below it to admire its incredible Roman architecture.

We crossed the busy N 900 climbed the other side of the valley to Roussillon and was immediately taken with the beautiful russet tones of the buildings perched atop of cliffs of red, yellow and orange. The town is unique in its colours and we loved the area around the Marie and the great views over the surrounding countryside.

Next we headed in the direction of Gordes, our TomTom took us into Gordes via the backstreets and straight to the centre of the village. We had read of the beautiful views of Gordes leading up to the village so we drove straight out and approached the village from the opposite direstion and was well rewarded with a spectacular view of the perched village from the best vantage point. Gordes is a big rich village with lovely homes and some nice shops, it was quite popular and one of the more busy villages we had been to.

Returned home and had some nice Rose sparkly on our terrace before dinner at home, Coq au Vin by candlelight. A few days earlier we had called at Cotes de Luberon winery co-op for some wine tasting and purchases. There we met 4 French ladies push biking around and sampling the local wines. They must had been to quite a few that day as they were very merry and friendly and we were amazed that they could mount their bikes and peddle off with their purchases stashed in their saddle bags. Wished we had purchased more wines that day as they were delicious.

aussie...

You are bringing back great memories for me. I was in Roussillon in 2008 and while there I saw the most spectacular sunset I have ever seen! :-)

LowCountryIslander

Yes we loved Roussillon we almost stayed there but the gite only had 1 bathroom and we thought that would be too hard for 6 people and two weeks. Loved the building's colours and beautifully decorated windows, curtains and window boxes.

A sunset would be spectacular

Thanks for reading my trip report it is nice to recount our wonderful holiday, its just fitting it in with work etc. and I thought I owed it to the many people who helped with our planning. I wasn't sure whether people had got bored with it by now and had stopped reading.

regards aussie

Don't stop Aussie. It's a great read and those of us who are still in the planning phase really appreciate the information and insights. Thank you. Lisa

LOL 1 bathroom for 6 people for 2 weeks - no thank you!! I think you made a god decision to stay elsewhere.

Still loving your report......

We each had a great bathroom, ours had a toilet that was inside a stone wall enclave type cave. Our shower was over the bath and because we were downstairs the roof was in a curved like cave look. I am tall so everytime I washed my hair I scraped my knuckles on the stone roof. But we loved our accommodation it was clean spacious and well presented.

Still working on my trip report... just waylaid by inconveniences such as work, ugh.

My apologies I will try hard to finish this report over the next few days...............and put some photos in

Every day we have been out exploring the villages and countryside. It’s Friday so DH, GF & I visited the Lourmain village market and had a great morning sampling the many cheese, tapenades, salamis and breads, not to mention the good shopping. My GF is always a good shopper and DH was happy because once the vendors knew he was an Aussie they were very friendly he was given lots of free samples. We met some great characters especially the sausage man who had vast varieties of every imaginable type of sausage, mmm... tasty too. My GF was keen to sample the nutella crepes from the skilful lady who could whip them up in no time; we were then stalked by a friendly dog who drooled until we gave him a sample. The market in Lourmain had many stalls that we did not see anywhere else and the quality of the merchandise was excellent. I purchased a beautiful tablecloth, some great jewellery and some good ceramics, not to mention tasty food items. We sat down and had a cool beer and wine in the main square and watched the busy market trade before heading back home to nibbles by the pool. Weather still purrfect!!

Dinner tonight was at another local Buoux restaurant ‘Auberge des Sequins’. We drove down past the road to the Buoux Fort and headed along a dark gravel road seemingly to nowhere, and voila! A restaurant appears. The clientele were mainly European we were the only English speakers. Entree was a plate of various dips, vegies and interesting tempters. Mains consisted of 4 choices, duck, beef, lamb and fish. Deserts crème caramel, citron tart, chocolate ganache or banana crumble. Food was tasty and local ambience the restaurant was run by a friendly young couple and had a large clientele of rock climbers who stayed at the nearby hotel.

We awoke to a rolling mist in the valley; we couldn’t see 10 feet in front of us, very eerie. Today we went to L'isle de la Sorgue which is the biggest local market and it is huge! Everything from fruit, vegies, cheese, bread, trinkets, pottery, clothes, shoes, materials, antiques, and the list goes on. Foods and produce were displayed beautifully in colourful displays that tempted the most hardened shopper. The crowds were large but the setting by the river on a picturesque sunny day, created a happy festive day. We all had a prosperous morning.

Next stop Fountains-de-Vaucluse which is the largest underground spring in the world it’s a spectacular setting for a lovely village beside a roaring river of crystal clear water and lush vegetation and sheer limestone cliffs. The sun shimmering through the trees exuded a colourful glow of yellows and greens in the trees matched by glistening water that we could see through all the way to the bottom. As it is Sunday there were lots of French people out and about for a stroll with families and friends. I love watching and listening to them. Their voices are quite melodious and they are very fashionable, a little scarf here, a nice belt there and lovely shoes, even if you have to walk over cobblestones.

We then moved on to yet another little old village and wondered where everyone was until we came across lots of locals playing in a very big Boules (Bocce) tournament. It was fun watching the locals interacting with each other. We were just itching to play but of course tourists are not invited it is serious business! What we noticed in these villages were the beautiful curtains that always have flowers or scenes embroidered or woven into the design, but with a see through effect. I shall try and post some more pictures.

Next day early start and set TomTom for Pont du Gard, travelled via Avignon and the magnificent Rhone River. The Pont du Gard built by the Romans in 38 BC, is a 3 story bridge, the top tier was an aqueduct that supplied water to Nimes for 500 years. It is so well preserved and a magnificent feat of engineering, it’s hard to imagine its age. We were very impressed with how grand it stands and how solid it still seems, we viewed it from many angles and were over awed. They were clever people the ancient Romans.

We drove through the fertile Rhone valley (what a huge river!) on to Arles which resembled a mini Rome. Scattered around the narrow streets are relics of a lost empire and a huge colosseum, Les Arenes, dominating the town. We enjoy a few hours of sightseeing in the Romanesque town.

Can't believe I missed this great report in January. Keep it coming Aussie - loving it - agree my three favourite areas. Thanks for all the info, Schnauzer