What' yours (within a day trips distance from Arles or Avignon)?

Gordes, Roussilon, Venasque, Menerbes, Bonnieux.

Roussillon, Eygalieres, Oppede-le-Vieux,<BR>Grignan<BR><BR>PB

Menerbes. Read Peter Mayles book A year In Provence. It is based in the area. You can see for yourself the Cafe Du Progress mentioned in the book and there are some lovely restaurants and breath taking views.

thanks

anyone else?

It's not a hill town, but I love l'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, about 15 mins in the hill direction. They have a great Sunday market (saw Dennis Franz of NYPD Blue there last time--the last person I would have imagined); lots of water wheels, a great little square that is just typically French (actually featured on one of those old-time French postcards) and an interesting church.

Gordes, Roussillon, Bonnieux<BR><BR>Not a hill town, but St. Remy.

I think the recent Conde Nast Traveler issue has a good article on Provence. Might be worth checking out.

Aups en Provence. Way up in the hills, vineyard upon vineyard and the silvery shimmer of the olive trees...

eygalieres, saignon, seguret

For hill towns, Roussillon & Venasque. The setting of Gordes is very dramatic but I wasn't all that thrilled with the town itself. Also, I don't recall much of the town of Lacoste itself, but I thought the ruins of the Marquis de Sade's chateau, perched above the town and valley, were pretty cool. <BR><BR>We drove through Menerbes & Bonnieux without stopping, but they seemed very nice from what we saw.<BR><BR>Although, as Sue said, it's not a hill town, I also liked l'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue. And another non-hill town I liked, northwest of Arles and the Pont du Gard, is Uzes. It has a beautiful central square, the Place aux Herbes, which is surrounded by colonnaded buildings. <BR><BR>

We rented a house in Roussillon for a week. Great central location,plus a delightful village for dinner,walking about,etc.

Rosemary,<BR><BR>This will be our first trip to Provence--in fact, to Europe. How did you find the house in Roussillon? <BR><BR><BR>Kathy<BR>

Kathy, The site is www.holidayrentals.com<BR> Rented 2 house in Provence thru them-no problems. Site has pics of interior of house-very important.

For Margot

Lebaux....had a great meal there, a couple of bottles of Chateuneuf du Pape and spent way too much for a tapestry. OTOH, the wine is gone yet the tapestry does hang in the art niche in the great room.<BR><BR>US

Mike,<BR><BR>Favorite hill town in Provence has to be Bonnieux. Spent one week in village house on fabulous "food vacation" by French lady who opened up her home to two couples at a time. Good centralization for visiting other villages around especially the great Saturday marketplace in Apt.<BR>Francie

If you you want more info and lots of links, articles and some photos about Provence check out:<BR>http://groups.yahoo.com/group/provence