a week in provence
 

we will be spening a week in Provence in May.<BR>Our itinery so far begins with 2 nights in Aix, followed by 2 nights in Arles, then 2 nights in Avignon. My quandry is what to do with the seventh night. Should we tack it on to Avignon, where we are catching the train back to Paris in the evening of the 8th day or should we plan a stay in Gordes or Nimes or St. Remy, driving back to Avignon the next day. We have a rental car so the travel isn't a problem but i'd dont want to spend too much time driving on our last day. Any suggestions?

I would just tack on a night at Avignon because those towns are all so close that it is easy to see them all with day trips. The first time we &quot;did Provence&quot; we stayed in both Avignon and Arles, but after seeing the short distances and traveling times between towns and villages, the next time we used Gordes (gite outside Gordes, actually)as a base. Also, I personally like to avoid as many one night stays as possible. <BR><BR>It's really hard to go wrong when spending time in Provence regardless of how you do it.

We love St. Remy, a beautiful village. We have visited here in each of the lasrt ten years.It is only 15 kms from Avignon. You could remain in Avignon for the third day and go over to St. Remy. There is an outdoor market each Wednesday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. that is the best in Provence in my opinion.

First, let me say I won't mention anything about Aix for fear of being Aixcommunicated from the Board.<BR>I would make my last base in or near St. Remy. Charming place. Near Les-Baux, or you could take a journey to Roussillon, my favorite Provence hilltown.<BR>In Arles, I had two of my favorite dinners at Grand Hotel Nord Pinus.

YOu should stay in Avignon. If you have a car you can visit another place anyway, if you want. Why would you even consider moving hotels for one night to be farther away from the train station?

I agree, stay one more night at any of those and take a drive, Pont Gard or Les Baux or even out to Cassis, dip your toes in the Mediterranean.