We will be in Paris for a week in June. On past trips we have stayed in the (sp) Loire Valley for a couple of nights and have seen Paris extensively. We want to experience Provence but have a limited budget and frankly, no clue as to whether that is a reasonable trip or not. Anyone familiar with the area? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

There are beautiful bread and breakfasts all over Provence.
go to www.provenceweb.com, buy the fodors rivage bread and breakfast of character and charm in France.
Some of these are nicer than hotels.

Also see : www.karenbrown.com France B&B's
Viva la France
Fluffy

Thanks for the quick replies! What about GETTING from Paris to Provence? What would you recommend as the best, least expensive way to do that and how long of a trip is it?

Take the TGV from Paris to Avignon - takes 3 hours. With the new PREM fares offered by the sncf (www.sncf.com), you may be able to get there for a song!

it really helps if someone in the party speaks French -- mine is limited but enough -- we spent an absolutely fantastic 4 nights just west of St Remy
at http://www.avignon-et-provence.com/b.../gb/index.html We took the TGV to Avignon, picked up car rental and drove about an hour and half to this spot (maybe shorter time, but we were pretty jet-lagged by arrival). Think rose gardens, fresh lavender scented linens, big tile bath rooms, total quiet at night. It's about a 10-minute drive into St. Remy but also great for daytrips to many spots. In May her rates were 61 Euro per night -- could be slightly higher as the "season" begins in June. The proprietress here speaks no English, but if you have a little French, you will get along fine.