Very enjoyable and how wonderful to have a month! More, please.

schnauzer thanks for you comments
I have just read your trip report of your stay in Paris I'm envious

TDudette - are you going back to France? I so want to go back its like a magnet. We thought our next big trip would be somewhere else but I think I will have to find some room for more France.

If only the airfares wern't sooo expensive and hours flying so long

Working on more trip report

Regards aussie

Hopefully March 8-22 to Menton, Lyon and London. We want to slip over to Genoa and some of the Italian Riviera towns so chose Menton as a good border town.

Italy was our first magnet, although we've been back to France several times so do understand its siren call. Because of Italy and France, we haven't seen the U.S. much. The price and inconvenience of air travel will be deal killers for us pretty soon.

Looking forward to more of your report!

Yes Italy was my next magnet wanted to do Cinque Terre. Have been to Italy when young and did a tour of the major highlights would like to go back and do the smaller villages and countryside.

Also want to go to Ireland, mmm have to work out a way to combine it all with time to savour and not rush

Today we all decided take a walk around our local hillside. Followed the rocky path to the bottom of the valley, as we were walking we could hear voices along the track and were overtaken by some very fit older European hikers who were hiking a different track each day. At the base of the valley we emerged at the restaurant that we had driven to the other night, had a coffee break followed by an impromptu game of boules in the gravel car park (they had a set lying around and we couldn’t resist trying out our skills – or lack thereof) we then walked on to the Fort of Buoux. Quite a steep walk back up the other side of the valley to the Fort and paid our 3euro entrance fee, collected by a little of old lady who obviously lived in the only house on the hillside – she had a great array of pot plants.

The Fort is spread over a very large steep site and it involved some climbing. It is amazing to think that people lived up there and fought off the invaders. The climb was worthwhile and the views wonderful. We could see across our valley but from the other side, so a completely different perspective. It was a clear day so the view of Mt Ventoux was excellent too. There is a lot of restoration happening (workers were working on the little church that day – it would be very difficult hauling equipment and materials up to the site). We met a couple up the top savouring the view and eating their lunch. My stomach groaned as we hadn’t planned to walk so far that day so we did not pack lunch – it was just that once we started the walk, we were enticed to go further as the area was so interesting, the air was fresh, the day sunny and warm.

A long walk home was rewarded with a late lunch of cheeses, sausage, tomatoes and crackers. Tonight dinner was at Auberge de la Loube in Buoux. DH in his best French phoned the restaurant and left a message on the answering machine to book a table for sept heure. So we all piled in the Kangoo and drove the short distance to dinner. When we arrived the restaurant seemed to be closed so DH & Friend went in search of someone. They came across a dishevelled Frenchman who quite abruptly told them the restaurant was closed when DH mentioned the phone booking our Frenchman yelled NO, no sept heuer, huit heure. DH then asked in his best French could we have a drink, no says Frenchman, no glasses, no matter what DH tried we weren’t going to get in until 8pm. So we drove the few minutes back home and had a couple of drinks to wait.

With a little apprehension we go back to the restaurant for 8pm. When we arrived the only person in sight was another man tucking into a meal in the outside area (he later became the gopher, assistant and chief washer up – we think he was working for his dinner). We were shown in to a large room with a crackling fire, by the French man DH met earlier, who turned out to be Maurice the owner. What can I say he turned out to be a most charming host. The room was full of horse memorabilia, photos, paintings, riding equipment, horse busts, everything horsey you could imagine. We showed an interest in his collection and he warmed to us being our wine waiter, menu interpreter, order taker, photo taker and best of all chef. Such a delicious meal, we were the only people in the restaurant and had Maurice’s undivided attention. He chatted about food, wine and of courses, joined in our photos and was positively charming.

Entree was the famous ‘basket’ of 16 different dishes. Each dish had a unique flavour and tantalised our taste buds, and had our lips smacking.
The mains we had were lamb, cod with scallops, tripe and hare, accompanied by several different varieties of excellent wine. I love that you can purchase half bottles of wine something that we don’t have in Australia – so we could each choose our own desired drop. For desert Maurice gave us each our own special plate with raspberries, apple tart, walnut ice cream, meringue, shaved chocolate and crème anglaise, all presented with artistic flair. We were happily sated with food and wine and then Maurice said had something special to show us.

Maurice led us by lamp light along a path to a large shed. He slid back the door and showed us his prized possessions. A shed full of American sulkies, all fastidiously restored to their former grandeur. They had all the little trimmings, top hats, blankets, gloves etc carefully draped across the beautiful seats. He had 14 in all and we were all so impressed and amazed at their beauty that we didn’t even think to take a photo, they were exquisite! Maurice was so obviously so proud as he told of their history and how he had painstakingly restored them. It was a special ending to a remarkable evening.

How cool.

aussi_10

There is something about France, isn't there? Could be the water; could be the the language and culture, the laissez-faire attitude to life or is it just the wine?

aussie, I hope you are already thinking when you will go back, perhaps to revisit some of the sites or to explore new ones. We spent 6 months travelling in France in 2008, like you, all the way from downunder. We travelled with our then 3-year old toddler, a different kind of journey. We were forced to be slow travellers but that way, we got to experience France beyond being your usual tourists, but like pretend locals, especially in villages where we stayed for a substantial period.

And we must have crossed path, perhaps at the Lourmarin Friday market or Sunday at Coustellet! We returned last year for 2 months, between mid-August to mid-October. The weather as you know was glorious.

We leased the Kangoo the year before and once again leased a Partner Teppee, a Peugeot equivalent to the Kangoo, for our most recent trip. I wanted to bring it home! Pity neither is imported into Australia, a great touring car!

Your trip report brings back fond memories of our own sojourn - familiar experiences and familiar sights! I look forward to reading further instalments and your journey back up north to the Dordogne.

hoo roo!

s

I am loving this!

fantastic report aussi_10! bringing this report with me on our tour of paris and provence in april 2010.

Marking to read later. Great report.

Am still working on the next instalment, which will be the last of Provence, trying to get the photos up.

I have enjoyed many trip reports here and love to share our experiences. Feel it my duty to pass on any information I can.

jamikins I enjoyed your photos of your live report from Paris.

Wow 6 months and then another 2 I'm soo envious swagman, maybe we did cross paths at the markets, loved those markets. France lived up to all my expectations and much more. It was just the best of holidays.

aussie--
We are trying to decide between gites in Saignon and Buoux. What do you recommend?

ChrisS

Yes we looked at Saignon also because an expat Australian owns a place there. But in the end the rental was not big enough for the 6 of us. We checked out the place at Saignon and liked the location. It is a nice quiet village with great views and has a few more shops than Buoux, plus the bakery run by Christine Thomas, which was not opened the day we were there.

Buoux is about 8 mins away with a different outlook. There are no shops in Buoux so if you were looking at fresh pastries for breakfast, it would be a little further to go.

When we first arrived in Buoux we wondered whether it was too rural(not that any where there is far away) but in the end we loved wandering home to our little piece of heaven and our rural aspect. Not to mention the 3 great restaurants which we went to.

Where in Buoux is the property?

DH & I went almond gathering (we have almond trees on our estate) it was fun until the broom I was throwing up into the trees to knock them down got caught and nearly knocked us out when it finally fell down again after much shaking. We add the almonds to our salad made out of local produce. Needless to say we have been eating well, well too well. But best bargain of all is the cheap wines at the supermarket!

Bonnieux is a 10 minute drive from our farmhouse and a road we know so well by now. We round the corner and are greeted with a stunning profile view of the village overlooking the countryside. Bonnieux is a nice village to walk around, with steep narrow streets and great views. We hike to the church at the top of the hill to a vista point that has an orientation table pointing out various places across the valley to the Vaucluse Mountains. We drive on to the village of Menerbes of Peter Mayle fame – it is a quiet medieval village, looking over the patchwork landscape below. We were a little underwhelmed by Menerbes and so moved on to Lacoste which is also a quiet village – probably we are almost villaged out. - has any one seen the Russell Crowe movie ‘A Good Year’ supposedly set in Menerbes ( but not really). It didn’t get rave reviews but I loved it for the look at rural Provence and the ways of the French people, I liked it for the beautiful countryside also. - We stop at Café de la France and its spectacular overhanging terrace and enjoy a beer, wine or coffee and are entertained by a group of middle aged ladies resting after a gruelling bike ride. They are lamenting that they have ridden 50k today and still have 15 more before they meet their final night’s destination. We pass them later riding through the pretty road out of town, some of them far behind the group and we are glad that we are in our trusty Renaults. Although each day we have done soo much walking and climbing that all our eating and drinking of fine French fare hasn’t seemed to increase the waistlines too much. We stop off at a local winery on our way home, where we have to toss a stick to an eager dog ten times before he will let us into the tasting room.

The next morning was spent packing and cleaning up for our departure the next day for Sarlat. I enjoyed a final shower in our bathroom cave where I have to duck my head when washing my hair for fear of scraping my knuckles on the curved stone roof. But I loved this bathroom, loved my French chic bedroom with the thick stone walls and window looking out over the valley offering a beautiful sunrise each morning – did I mention we had fantastic weather, sunny every day for 2 weeks in Provence. Couldn’t ask for more!

For lunch we head to Bonnieux for our farewell meal at Le Fournil. This was a highly praised restaurant by many Fodorites; it is carved into a rock cliff and faces a pretty square. Le Fournil is the perfect combination of great food, great setting, and a reasonable price. It's built into the rock on which Bonnieux sits and the interior is arty and interesting. The food is modern, mixing Provence with outside influences. Our expressive waiter led us to our choices and there were no disappointments. We started with a Rinquinquin (a peach wine starter drink) mmm yum! For starters I had pumpkin and mushroom soup, DH pork & ginger terrine. My main was veal and DH fish, for dessert we chose chocolate ganache and rhubarb pannacotta. The flavours were exquisite and the service excellent and we were glad we had chosen Le Fournil for our final meal in Provence.

It is our last day in Buoux can't believe how fast the 2 weeks have gone. We have traipsed all over the countryside, driven along country lanes flanked by fruit trees, grape vines or market gardens. It is true the saying “no road is a wrong road in Provence”. Walked and walked through winding cobblestone streets, tasted every kind of patisserie imaginable, sipped too many delicious wines and sampled such local delicacies as: duck, lamb, hare, fish, snails, beef and the list goes on!. We have met some lovely French people and fellow tourists, they could not be friendlier.

Our days have been peppered with amusing and warming one off moments that have made our stay here that much more memorable. We have loved coming home from a day of touring and relaxing on our patio overlooking our magnificent valley and the Luberon mountains, with only the sound of nature to soothe our tired souls. For our stay here we wanted to savour the experience and take pleasure in the little things – there is still so much more to see and do but we leave with very happy hearts. Provence has more than lived up to our expectations. We have lovely stories and memories to treasure, the two weeks just flew by and we are longing to return. DH's French has continued to improve and we all use him as interpreter when the conversation gets tough, he loves using his French language skills (with flavours of Aussie) and the locals like conversing with him.

Our French Renault cars have served us well and the guys are doing a good job driving on the right hand (or in Aussie terms ‘wrong’) side of the road and around the narrow winding laneways. Tomorrow is our long drive to our new destination of the medieval village of in Sarlat in the Dordogne.

A final game of French Monopoly before bed!

The narrower the road, the less obvious which is the wrong side!

kerouac, yes we did encounter some very narrow roads. I remember us having to pull in the side mirrors so that we could pass another car. All the time holding our breath.

I think the hardest part was the first few days getting use to the cars, their width and judging how close to the big drop off over the edge was!

aussie, you are awesome for reporting your trip. It is a great help in planning mine. I am travelling to Provence this summer but alas, for only 4 or 5 nights. We reserved in St Remy, but it sounds like the place (Buoux, I haven't looked it up yet) is NE of Remy (Apt area?). I hope we can make it this far around the northern Luberon with only 2 days in St remy. We are staying 2 days in Cassis, but it sounds like you did a day trip there from up north and still had time to visit the Calanques! Maybe we should stay longer in Provence and do that, or maybe move on towards the riviera. Oh, so many choices, so little time! (life is grand when these are the dilemmas we face)

soliera

Personally I would spend more time in Provence, either in the Alpilles or in the Luberon.

Cassis is easily accessible from St Remy, according to Google Map, it takes less than 90 minutes using the A7. Staying one night in Cassis is a good idea though, on top of sampling great seafood, you can also visit some of the calanques, the most beautiful is arguably En Vau. Be sure to dine at Nino's, expensive but great food and service.

Enjoy!

s

soliera

Yes Buoux is NE of St Remy. We did a day trip to Cassis and it took us about 1&1/2hours. We had a lovely day there weather was great. I would probably put more days in Provence.

Even with 2 weeks in Provence there was so much more to see, I will just have to go back wont I!

Lots of people stay in St Remy and love it. My suggestion is just enjoy as much as you can, Provence it is a beautiful part of France. Soak up the atmosphere and enjoy!

I'm sure once you have been there you will want to go back and see more, that is what happened to us.

Have a lovely time

Aussie, loving your very full, most interesting report. I remember a week in Provence - just not enough time; but incredibly beautiful towns and villages, landscapes, - and very friendly, helpful residents!

Looking forward to Dordogne as we are headed there in May, after a week In Paris.

FP