A Month in Gordes (Provence)
 

We (my husband and I are a retired couple) are renting a house in Gordes for the month of September. I am interested in what you think are the best day trips (we will have a rental car, of course). We enjoy walking and love beautiful scenery. We like museums. We are not big shoppers.

Also, we do like to have our big meal mid-day rather than in the evening, so if you could also recommend restaurants in the locations, I would appreciate it.

I do have all of the terrific information from StuDudley already, so thank you for all of your suggestions and help. I wanted to see what others recommend also.

Nobody can beat Stu who has developed a 34.5 pages distributed to 5476 fodorites. Including 2 blind Ones.

Personally I would recommend to complete this wealth of information to buy the Michelin green guide.
True it is done by professional and french ones but nevertheless these guides exist since more than 50 years and still sell very well.
You'll find proposed circuits with reference to all the things to see.

I never travel without one.

>>distributed to 5476 fodorites<<

5481 - I sent it to 5 people today.

Stu Dudley

In addition, get the Michelin Green Guide to Provence and use the viamichelin.com web site for driving information.

Green Guide for sure. I would go bats with a month in Gordes, but there are certainly plenty of things to do if you have and can get out of there.

Here are some highlights from my trip to Provence, copy-pasted from my blog.


We enjoyed a superb tasting meal for lunch at La Bastide de Marie. I can't say enough about how good the meal was ... and the wine parings. I don't normally eat beef, but the beef fillet was perhaps the best I've ever had. This property has a lovely setting and rooms decorated in a traditional Provençal style. If authenticity is what you're after, I cannot recommend this hotel strongly enough.

Cooking class with Jean-Marc Villard - Jean-Marc has retired to Maubec and offers cooking classes in his home to small groups. We spent a whole day with him and four other students, visiting a local market and preparing a three course French meal designed with our food preferences in mind. I never imagined how much is involved in creating a beautifully presented meal.

Sight-seeing highlights:

1) Roussillon — a hill town with reddish-colored buildings, reflecting the ochre deposits in the area. Be sure to take the Ochre Trail; 2.50€ admission per adult to this beautiful, shaded walk.

2) Bonnieux — a cute little hill town. It's worth the climb to the ancient church at the top of the town.

3) Lacoste — another cute little hill town. Most of the parking is on the north side of the village.

4) Saint Remy de Provence — Come here if you want great shopping and/or are a fan of Vincent Van Gogh. You can visit the sanitarium where Van Gogh spent some years of his life, learn about his story, and see his bedroom.

5) Gorges du Verdon — Moustiers Saint Marie is a beautiful small town at the western end of this incredible region of France. The drive through the gorge is simply gorgeous. Are the words etymologically related?

We have spent about 6 months in the area [cumulative]; check this out for ideas:
http://www.accommodationinprovence.com/what-to-do/

http://www.accommodationinprovence.com/region/

I'd highly recommend that you order the book Provence Byways, by Bob and Sue Winn. This book outlines day trips in the Luberon and surrounding areas of Provence and also provides other really useful information. www.provencebyways.com.

Enjoy your month in the beautiful Luberon!

ksm,

don't have anything to add except the info that stcirq is a familiar figure on the Europe forum who turns up whenever someone has a lovely plan for an extended stay in Europe o sneer Has no awareness of how knee-jerk tedious she is.

Have a lovely month in one of the most beautiful parts of Europe.

Thank you all! I will look into buying the books suggested. Specifically love @travelhorizons suggestions. I am very interested in a cooking class, so will look into that one further. Great blog post @DebitNM!

massimop,

St-cirq is one of the best resources for French travel. You yourself seldom have anything worthwhile to contribute.

Thank you, @KathyWood, I ordered Provence Byways and it is terrific!

I agree about Gorges du Verdon, the drive through the gorge is simply beautiful!

Moustiers Saint Marie is one of my favorite small town in France.
I recommend to have lunch at La Bastide de Moustiers, one of the best meal we ever had.

I am so jealous, nothing like spending one month in France. Have a wonderful time!

I like you massimop, I really like you!