inor

We are going to France in May and plan to spend 2 nights in Provence. Which would you recommend as a base: Avignon or St Remy de Provence? We will have a car.

My concerns are that St Remy won't have enough to do, and that Avignon because it is a city won't have the quintessential provincial charm. We are looking for both charm and enough to do.

Please help.
Inor

uhoh_busted

St Remy has plenty to do. It is a lovely village. We stayed at a B&B outside of St Remy (and several Fodorites have since stayed there - the Presbytere St Thomas -- which is just off the beautiful treelined road between Avignon and St Remy.) I prefer the feel of St Remy to Avignon, but that's just one opinion.

StCirq

There's lots going on in St-Rémy. In fact, I wouldn't call it a village, I'd call it a town, and a pretty lively one at that, with lots of "provincial charm."

PalQ

depends on what you want to do - St Remy, the quintessential sleepy Provencal town, i wouldn't call it a village, has enough for most tastes - Avignon a tourist mecca and large urban area, has something for every taste; much more animated at night with tourist crowds, whilst St Remy will be dead; some prefer one and some the other. You can't go wrong.

cigalechanta

I agree with uhoh. I hav stayed at both places. There are loads of hotels and B&Bs nearby. You can visit the remains of the earliest Greek houses in Provence that date from the 4th century BC in Glanum and Les Antiques, memorials on the opposite side of the road. Plenty of good restaurants and cafes, jazz and gypsy music at La Gousse d'Ail.. Visit or stay at L'Hotel Les Ateliers de l'Image with a photo gallery and a French/Japaneese restaurant. One of the rooms is built into a tree.

kevin_widrow

And plus since you will have a car, you can easily visit any of the many beautiful sights around St. Remy - there is enough to do for two months, let alone two days. With a car, St. Remy has the advantage vis-a-vis Avignon of allowing you easier access in and out of town. Go with St. Remy.

-Kevin

PalQ

It seems that St Remy drove Van Gogh crazy!

monicapileggi

I enjoyed my stay in St. Remy, as well as Avignon with my cousin. Once we "moved" to Avignon, we got rid of the car. I enjoyed being able to drive from St. Remy to other towns and wouldn't recommend doing that on a daily basis in Avignon.

You can read my journal (the Provence portion) to get a better idea. http://www.luvtotravel.homestead.com...journal02.html Scroll down to May 12th.

We stayed at Residence les Sources http://www.sources-saint-remy.com/ which we really enjoyed. It's located about a 10 minute walk to the center of town and just a few minutes walk to a grocery store.

Monica

orangetokyo

for a three bedroom house with pool and within walking distance to the village in st remy de provence, email me at...
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sandi

PalQ - believe Van Gogh cut his ear off before (when in Arles) getting to St. Remy, where he went to heal. If I'm in error, please do tell!

Powell

Van Gogh's brother sent him to an asylum in St. Remy to see if he could regain his mental health. He did some of his most memorable paintings while in St. Remy for eighteen months. The asylum was run by Albert Schweitzer after Van Gogh moved to Auvers sur Oise near Paris. It still exists and can be visited on Patrimonie Day in September.

St. Remy would be, and has been for 13 years, my wife and my choice. Do go to the Wednesday morning outdoor market. It is one of the best in Provence. We plan to be there in June this year. (Incidentally, the lavender blooms in late June, early July along with sunflowers.)

Good luck.

Anthony

Christina

I think it depends what you want to do, and maybe you can't have both. I personally thought St Remy was dull and would much rather stay in Avignon-- but I don't like little pokey towns like that.

Ultimately, it's only two nights so I don't think it matters as much about things to do as a longer stay would. If small town charm is really important, go to St Remy as it will be easier to get out as a base.

gaelle

It sounds like Saint Remy is winning and I agree. We stayed at the Chateau des Alpilles where Lamartine and Chateaubriand stayed also.....just gorgeous. Then we drove to Ilse dur la sorgue....a beautiful little town filled with antique stores and an enormous market on Sundays. Go early! From there it's a very short drive to Gordes which is worth just driving up and then down for the spectacular view of the area. Unless you want to go to discos and do some serious department store shopping, the bigger cities are not as much fun. Plus it's so much easier to drive around when you're starting point is a small town. Too bad you can't extend your stay to 3 nights. I would recommend that heartily.

LarryJ

Why limit yourself to only two choices. I spent a week based in St.Remy last summer while touring all over Provence. For two days I would recommend basing at Gordes or Rousillon to get your shot of rustic charm and drive around Provence for things to do like seeing the vast commercial fields of lavender around Sault in the shadow of Mt.Ventoux, see the breathtakingly beautiful Gorge de Verdon near Moustiers Ste.Marie and maybe a few hours driving around the Camargue delta. If you want to see serious lavender don't look for it around St.Remy and not in June or July but go to Sault in early to mid-August. And reconsider your time factor. This area is worth at the very least a week. Do two days and you'll be back next year.Two days will get you interested though. Hope you have as much fun in Provence as I have had.

I just returned 10 days ago from France. Spent most of the last three months in France concentrating on the Cote d'Azur, Provence and the perched and stacked villages of the Maritime Alps above the Cote d'Azur. (and of course a couple weeks in Paris) Will gladly answer any questions about the area. I lease an apartment in Beaulieu Sur Mer which is 10 minutes east of Nice by train.

Larry J

hopingtotravel

Ooh, glad to hear Chateau de Alpilles is luxurious. I'm looking forward to two nights there at the end of April, followed by two nights near Gordes. I already know two nights is not enough and am hoping this is a good teaser to get my husband to return!

PalQ

Sandi - you're right, i was just being flippant, regrettably. But the asylum where Van Gogh stayed in one of the great sights of Provence. On the edge of town, several of Van Gogh's paintings of the rural area in and around the asylum have been re-created in the setting he painted them in. But right, cutting off his own ear was a major factor in him being voluntarily i believe committed here. But i'm like Christine - 'pokey' slumbering towns drive me crazy!

sandi

PalQ - I realized the flippancy, but more interested in the actual incident. Yes, Van Gogh did spend about a year at the asylum, and when one walks thru the gardens you can understand why he found the area so worthy of his paint on canvas.

We used St. Remy as a base for a week and managed to visit towns in all directions from here and quite easily. Admittedly end-October is much quieter, gray and has less visitors (though plenty to do and see real close-by), then would the month of May when it should be absolutely charming. While we visited Avignon, and enjoyed our day in the old town, for us personally, it's too big, too many people. Overall, our decision to base in St. Remy was a good one.

inor

Thank you everyone for your replies. St. Remy is clearly the winner.

If we decide while we are there, we want some additional night life, would it be easy to drive at night to Avignon, park and then back to St. Remy to sleep?

Inor

StCirq

inor:

Of course it would be possible to drive to Avignon from St-Rémy and back at night, but 1) unless you really have to have some pretty intense nightlife like discos and all-night dancing, I think you'll find St-Rémy has more than enough cafés and bars and restaurants, etc., to keep you occupied at night, and 2) it will be light well into the evening in May in Provence, but serious nightclubbers would be out well after dark, and let me tell you - it is DARK on those provençal roads at night. Navigation could be a problem.
If you're die-hard city people, stay in Avignon. If you want charm, stay in St-Rémy and accept the inevitable trade-offs.

twoflower

I haven't been yet, but my own enquiries and researches for an upcoming trip later this year have led me to choose St Remy as one of my Provence choices. It's gratifying to learn that most fodorites seem to agree.