Once again I am putting out there the hotels that my husband and I are staying at in April. would love your imput and critiques.

Arles-----Jules Cesar Hotel 4*

Lyon------Hotel Phenix 3*

Avignon---Chateau de Fines Roches
(Chateauneuf du Pape)

Nice -----Radisson SAS Hotel 4*


Would love to read your imput on these hotels.

Merci Beaucoup!!!!!!!!!! Phyllis

The Radisson looks quite nice, but it is a long way to walk from the hotel down to Vieux Nice or even the more central part of Nice. However, since parking under the Cours Saleya is convenient for visiting Vieux Nice, you could just drive down and leave your car.

We stayed in Chateau de Fines Roches last 2002. We loved the room and the place. It was great to drive up to the hotel passing through the vineyard. You smell the grapes as you enter their property. We also loved the idea of staying in a hotel that looked like a castle. The rooms were pretty and very big. We had a big bed with a sitting area. The bathroom was huge. The view of the vineyard from our room was just magical. We also enjoyed dinner at their restaurant in the ground floor.

Thanks so much for your information on the hotels. We are really excited and cannot wait to start our trip once again. We have gone to Burgundy, Bordeaux and now Provence. My husband is in the wine business here in California so we mainly visit alot of the vineyards and wineries when we are in France. The Chateau de Fines Roches looked so fabulous on the internet. Thanks for all your input.We will have a car so driving to the central part of Nice from our hotel will be no problem. We just wanted to be by the Mediteranean, and have a nice view. Merci Beaucoup...Phyllis

I hope you've planned to do the loop of vineyards in the Beaumes de Venise/Gigondas area; don't miss Vacqueras and Rasteau.

Merci Underhill...

thanks for all your info, I am going to run it by my husband. Any other tip will be greatly appreciated.

Tips on areas for wine aficianados? Certainly the countryside around Châteauneuf-du-Pape, where there are quite a few small properties whose owners will be glad to see you--one of our best memories is the old man who climbed up on his huge casks and used a pipette to draw samples out for us. He was delighted when we bought one bottle and carefully wrapped it up in purple paper. If you're driving down from Paris, you can check out the many, many vineyards and producers in the Côte d'Or and Côte de Nuit, not to mention all the lovely Beaujolais and, down in the Rhône Valley, the Hermitages.

Over toward Cassis are the various Bandol appellations--be sure to try the rosés, which are wonderful drunk in the summer and go well with just about everything.

Then there are the Côteaux des Baux.

This is making me thirsty.

another vote for Chateau de Fines Roches.
We stayed at the Nord Pinus in Arles
but wish we had chosen the Calendal that first time.

Merci beaucoup

I don't know what happen....but thank you all again for all your input. We are really looking forward to our trip and it is only 2 months away.Phyllis