Driving in the Luberon
 

After hearing about the winding roads, I'm wondering if this is a reasonable allotment of time. I'm planning 2 nights near St. Remy. Would plan to see Les Beaux and St. Remy early in the day then lounge around our hotel. The next day make a leisurely late morning departure. Plan to see some of Menerbes and Rouissilon(sp)on the way to Gordes. I would hope to arrive in Gordes between 3 & 5. The next day would plan to see Senanque Abbey, and maybe another nearby place, then lounge around. Does this sound too ambitious? Sorry, I never seem to have the spelling of these towns at my fingertips when I hit the computer.

Les Baux early in the day would be a good idea, and it's not very far from St-Rémy; so you can have a relaxing day of it.

However, Ménerbes, Roussillon, Gordes, and the Abbaye de Sénanque are all fairly close together in the Lubéron, and you could do them all in one day, especially as Gordes and Ménerbes don't require all that much time, IMO.

The roads in the areas you'll be visiting aren't at all bad; don't worry about them. There's a fairly fast main road that cuts right through the Lubéron, so all you'll need to do is go off it on one of the roads that run up to the hilltop villages.

..my only comment is re Gordes and senanque..they are very close and it doesnt make much sense to go back to st. remy and then visit the next day (if i read your querry correctly)..would do those the same day..there are 2 roads from gordes to senanque..one is quite hairy..very steep with stone walls..the second is much easier..so map this out..i also liked the village of la coste..not as touristy and gave me a feeling of a much more lived in place..Roussillon is absolutely gorgeous..but touristy..i quite liked gordes..nice restaurant..Boquet Basilique..very charming ...if you are in the off season all places more charming IMO..

hi hoping to travel, when are you going?
underhill is right, the roads aren't bad.

to love Provence is to live

P.S. a very special restaurant, outside Gordes in Les Imberts, is the Mas de Tourteron, one of the best woman chefs in Provence. A very charming terrace.

I just re-read my post and realized I didn't make it clear that the first 2 nights are St. Remy, then the second 2 nights would be Gordes. In response, am currently planning for next April. I think one of the people who commented on the roads had been a passenger, not a driver, which does make a difference. Would it be safe to assume that someone at my 'mas' in Gordes would know the pleasanter road to Senanque?

oui, I'm the guide, the husband drives BUT I put my foot up against the glove compartment when we are on a scary road that has sharp curvs, it's a joke now, he imitates, my ""OO OO"as we do that hairy road.

I agree with travelbunny - Lacoste is far more interesting than Menerbes - and closeby, so easy to see both. Gordes is not nearly as interesting as Roussillon, but the Abbey is worth seeing. Two days is plenty of time to see all these villages.

I will have to look up Lacoste. I don't remember having read about it. Friends who just got back said they loved Gordes. I guess it's lucky we all have different tastes or we'd all want to live in the same place.

Your drive to Gordes sounds very do-able. I posted on another thread that one of our days on our last Provence trip left from St. Remy, heading east on the prettiest roads we could find, through Cavaillon, Oppede-la-vieux (very charming and not overly restored, unlike Gordes), Lacoste, Menerbes, Bonnieux, Roussillion, and lastly Gordes. It took us all day (including the return to St. Remy), but we were driving on tiny back roads most of the time, stopping to buy wine, walk to the old castle above Oppede, and so on.

Re Lacoste: The ruined castle of the Marquis de Sade is there ... a wonderful place for wandering around. Rent the DVD of "Swimming Pool," with Charlotte Rampling, which was filmed in that area. Be sure to check out the deleted scenes, which include much more of the castle than you get in the movie itself.