Avignon or Aix en Provence Base Suggestions
 

We will be traveling from Nice to Provence in late May . We arrive in Nice and will stay 2 nights in Eze. We are booked at Domaine Pins Paul. We will drive to Provence from there. For possibly 4 nights. We are looking at basing ourselves in either Avignon at a property just north of the city or in St. Remy in another lovely bed and breakfast. The last 3 nights will be spent at le bonne etape in the alps du Provence area and has been booked. We are two women traveling and are looking for a great heart of Provence base. Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. We love sightseeing, cooking classes and shopping. We can also possibly spend a night in Cassis! We prefer small hotels or bed and breakfasts.
Thanks!

How do you plan to get around Provence, you don't say? I am assuming a car or you'd mention otherwise. I think St Remy is a bit more centrally located to be considered the heart of Provence, compared to Avignon, and it is smaller so would be an easier base if you have a car. I think there are plenty of other places more around the Luberon that I would personally consider more the heart of Provence, but plenty of people do like St Remy, I just don't like it much myself. But if you like shopping, I think a lot of rich people are there so there are stores for them. That's one reason I don't like it, actually.

But you are considering some place north of Avignon, it sounds like, but you don't say where it is. I wouldn't call that the best location for visiting the heart of Provence, but I would for the Vaucluse. But if that isn't want you want to visit, I think St Remy is a better choice than north of Avignon. Orange is pretty much the NW border of Provence, after all, not the heart of it.

St Remy will be ideal for shopping, cooking class etc.
However It might be tricky to find cooking classes for 2.
I recommend the Mas des Figues or Mas de Cornud in St Remy but other option are available.
For more info about St Remy you can check this blog
http://saintremydeprovencetourism.blogspot.fr/