France - First Visit to Provence, seeking help
 

My husband and I are fairly active seniors.
We love visiting France and have done so a few times previously but we have not visited Provence before. In June this year, we are planning to go to Provence and will be spending 12 days there before we make our way to Portugal.

I would appreciate suggestions and comments on the following itinerary outline --

Day 1 (Wed)
Fly from London to Marseilles. Arriving in the early afternoon. Pick-up rental car and drive to St Remy (where we plan to stay for 4 nights).
Overnight: St Remy
Question:
-- is St Remy a good choice to use as a base for exploring the surrounding regions? Or should I choose Arles or Les Baux instead?

Day 2 (Thurs), Day 3 (Fri), Day 4 (Sat)
We will be using [St Remy] [or another place] as a base.
Plan on visiting Arles and Les Baux, Uzes, Avignon, Nimes and Pont du Gard.
Questions:
-- is there any particular order as to how we should visit the above places? For example, spend a day visiting Arles and Les Baux, another day for Nimes and Pont du Gard and the third day for Avignon?
-- Since Arles has a Saturday market, should we visit Arles on Day 4 (Sat)?

Day 5 (Sun), Day 6 (Mon)
We would like to visit the Cotes du Rhone region, particularly Chateauneuf du Pape and Gigondas.
Where should we base ourselves? Vaison la Romaine?
Will the wineries be closed on Sundays and Mondays?

Day 7 (Tues), Day 8 (Wed), Day 9 (Thurs), Day 10 (Fri)
Our plan is to spend 3 days visiting the Luberon towns, and one day visiting the Lavender fields (?Valensole ?Gorges du Verdon? or..?)
Which would be a good place to stay for 4 days? Bonnieux or Rousillon or Gordes?
Which are the "must-visit" villages?
I read that the market day (Thurs and Sun) in the Isle-sur-la-Sorgue is particularly good, is it worth visiting just for this market experience? I also read that parking is a headache and that the town is very touristy...

Day 11 (Sat), Day 12 (Sun), Day 13 (Mon)
Plan on staying in Aix-en-Provence
Day 11, a Saturday, is market day in Aix-en-Provence. Will we have trouble driving to wherever we are staying in Aix? We have not yet decided where to stay in Aix. We will be flying out from Marseilles to Lisbon, so currently I am thinking Aix would be a good place to stay as it would be easy to check out and drive to return our rental car at the airport in Marseilles on the day we leave.

I have not started doing research on what to see or do and I understand that Sundays and Mondays are very quiet days for many villages/towns in Provence. Any suggestions for things to do would be most appreciated!


Will we be able to rely on Google maps for navigation or should we rent a GPS with our rental car?
Would we need a road map?

Restaurants
At the places we plan on visiting, are there any particularly good restaurants that we should make bookings for?

We have concentrated on the western part of Provence and plan on visiting Nice and the French Riviera on a future trip.

Many thanks for taking the time to read this and I would be grateful for any suggestions and comments!!

As you noted -- Aix will be quite dead on Sunday, and Monday morning also. Shops will be closed - except for food shops in the am, and museums. Not a good day to visit Aix - plus Aix is really not too close to the sites most people want to visit in Provence. Switch with the Luberon.

I would imagine wineries will be closed on Sunday too.

Now is quite late for making accommodation reservations for Provence in June. June is only 2 months away. We made our reservations for 2 gites in Provence in May last year.

Do you have my 35 page itinerary for Provence & the Cote d'Azur? I've sent it to over 3,000 people on Fodors. If you would like a copy, e-mail me at my Fodors name at AOL and I will attach a copy to the reply e-mail.

Stu Dudley

We loved our hotel Aquabella in Aix, BooFit. https://www.aquabella.fr/en/information We loved the pool (heated by a spring) and actually used it. We didn't drive but there was a parking garage either on the property or contiguous to it (we never checked). If the Aix Ring road was a clock, the left exit for the garage was at about 12:30...do check

We sandwiched Aix between two visits to Paris. I loved Aix but others will have to weigh in about driving there:

https://www.fodors.com/community/eur...ndwich-446896/

Please let everyone know all about your visit.

​​​​​StuDudley I know and I wish we had more time for planning this trip. I hope to be able to still book some nice accommodation once I sort out how many days to stay in which place/village.

Fact is, I did not think we would be able to go on this trip this time last year. For the first 6 months of last year I could barely walk due to hip pain, and in June last year I had a total hip replacement. My recovery has been slow and troubled by complications, and it was only very recently (about 3 weeks ago) that I could start walking for longer distances pain free. Since my doctors say that it is likely my un-operated hip will need replacing in maybe one or two years' time, my husband and I have decided to go travelling whilst we still can (my husband is in his seventies and I am fast approaching seventy too)! So we will be travelling to Sydney to visit our daughter and new grandchild in 10 days' time, returning home end of May, and then travelling to Europe (Provence and Portugal) in June. Right now I am "working" 4 to 5 hours each day on planning this upcoming trip :) ...

Stu, I remember you very kindly helped me with my itinerary for Burgundy back in 2008
( https://www.fodors.com/community/eur...-rhone-322989/ )
and I have a copy of your 26 page Provence guide (you kindly emailed it to me back then because initially we were planning to include Provence for that trip, but then decided to leave it for later and concentrate on Burgundy on that trip). We are now finally going to Provence and I would love to have your updated version! I will email you separately, merci beaucoup!

TDudette Thank you for the suggestion! I did a quick check but it seems like they have no vacancy for our dates.
I think, as Stu said in his reply to my initial post, I have left it too late and I think most of the really nice places will no longer be available. Once I have sorted out where to base ourselves for the places and villages we wish to visit I will start looking for places to stay, probably on Airbnb, Vbro or Booking.com

Will do. I have posted trip reports (but usually on Tripadvisor) in the past.
Here is a Trip Report of our visit to Burgundy (we had a lot of help from Fodorites for that trip!) --
https://www.fodors.com/community/eur...2008-a-366288/

If you plan just to enjoy Aix itself for a couple of days, drop the car on arrival, saving parking fees and headaches and some of the rental cost. There may be a one-way fee and then the shuttle bus direct to Marseille airport from the downtown bus station could cost another €10 or so. But this way you have more choice of hotels. There are indeed museums open, and some really fine restaurants (say hello to the Poivre d’Ane, open every evening except Wednesday, or try one of the 40 other restaurants recommended by Gault&Millau).

Just visit one good market at your convenience during your trip — there are many of the same vendors at each. The ideal is to wake up in the town on market morning, having cleverly parked the night before. But we’ve arrived mid-market in Carpentras and Apt and survived the Parking Experience.

One base should do you for both the wine villages and the Luberon, somewhere in a rough oval covering Carpentras/Mazan to Isle sur la Sorgue. I guarantee you that not every nice lodging in that whole area is already booked solid in June. I also checked the hours for the caves coopératives in Gigondas, Séguret and Cairanne (named villages) — they are all open Sundays. Albeit in June most of them close daily at lunchtime.

Similarly, draw a rough blob around St Remy to include Fontvielle, Eyragues, Maussanne-les-Alpilles, plug in your dates on booking,com or Gites-de-France.com, and something will pop up that will make you happy.

lavender chasing — I would not go as far as the Gorges du Verdon and Valensole unless you really, really like driving for its own sake. Take local information at the time on how the weather has brought lavender along at each elevation, and be prepared to try Sault, Senanque or Lacoste.

FTOttawa Thank you very much for your helpful suggestions! We like French food and wine and when we get to Aix we will be going to Poivre d’Ane as well as some of those recommended by Gault&Millau!

We like going to the markets for the local produce - cheeses, baked items, honey, fruit, olives etc and to feel the energy and marvel at the displays and colours. We plan on taking things easy for this trip -- soaking in the scenery, having meals at nice restaurants (will probably have to book ahead for some of these), wandering about, practising my very very rusty and basic French, enjoying good wine (one of hubby's favourite pastime), and slow living in general.

Your suggestion of having just one base for the wine villages and the Luberon is excellent, and we will do just that (unless I cannot find someplace reasonably nice for the entire 6 days that we are there).
I plugged in the dates on booking.com yesterday, and it does look like there are not many good ones available (e.g. not all places have air-conditioning or are quiet/serene). Will continue the search over the next few days (before we fly to Sydney next Wednesday!)

I did not realise that places other than the Gorges du Verdon and Valensole had lavender fields. Will ask about Sault and Lacoste.
We have seen lavender fields in Japan (Hokkaido) before, but Provence is inseparable from lavender, n'est ce pas? ;)

Market days - an exhaustive list
https://www.provence.guideweb.com/ga...e-provence.php

routes-lavande.com
only in French, but the maps are so useful and Google Translate can help

You can stay in St Remy and visit all of those places you have identified by car pretty easily. I spend a lot of time looking for a nice place to stay and having fewer places to stay makes my life easier if my day trips are of reasonable length. Les Baux is nearby and would also work but it is a smaller town. We ate at Restaurant de Tourrel in St Remy last summer and it was quite nice. Have been to about 10 markets in the area over the years and I would say our favorites were Arles, and Aix. St Remy has a decent market.

This is wonderful FTOttawa ! Somehow my AirMac does the Google Translate automatically (I am somewhat IT challenged, so don't know why), and I have everything in English! And yes, the maps are most useful!

mjs I agree that staying at one place for the trip would make life easier. Unfortunately I have only started the planning process for this trip recently and it seems to me that trying to find a nice place to stay for the entire trip is somewhat difficult. Breaking the stay up into 2 places (plus Aix towards the end for an easier journey to the airport) may make it easier I think.

I am wondering if it would be easy to get an uber or taxi from Aix to Marseilles airport on the day we depart. If so, we could perhaps return the car in Aix on arrival as FTOttawa suggests and spend the next few days taking public transport for sightseeing. Depending on where we stay in Aix, we would prefer not having to lug our suitcases to the shuttle bus for the airport.

Daytime taxi to the airport from downtown Aix would cost about €70. You can book from one of the companies listed on the airport’s web site, or ask your hotel to arrange.

I am sorry to report that neither of the nice places we stayed that were handy to Cotes du Rhone and the Luberon are in business as B&Bs any more.

OMG no, they’re back!

I went to Gites de France, plugged in a Sunday to Friday in June, 11-16th (which may not be your dates, I know) and got 80 listings in Vaucluse, 40 with aircon. And heyyy one of them was Auberge de la Camarette just outside Pernes les Fontaines. It is also a winery and they used to do dinners which were amazing (though you ate what was set before you, causing some consternation among American guests one night who didn’t feel like either rabbit or skate).

and did I mention the part about 40 listings. Don’t despair!

pro tip, using the French language option will make more listings pop up, because only Gites or chambres d’hôte that have chosen to provide translations into English get listed on the English side of the web site.

Hmm, that’s odd, my last post disappeared.

anyway, I am happy to report that in fact one of the B&Bs is now back in business, Auberge de la Camarette in Pernes les Fontaines. — it is also a winery and may have resumed restaurant service at least some nights, which would be awesome.

I found this out by selecting “Vaucluse” and the dates June 11-16 on Gites de France. Those may or may not be your dates but it was worth a whirl. 80 listings popped up, 40 of them with aircon, including the above mentioned. It may be helpful to choose the French version of the web site, as the English side only lists properties whose owners have supplied English text.

Roussillon and Fontaine de Vaucluse are essential to me. Deservedly, both are magnets for tourists. One way to avoid that is to make sure you are there in non-peak times, quite early or late. So it might pay to stay in places like that. As always, I encourage folks to read Village in the Vaucluse by Laurence Wylie. It is a sociological study of village life in Provence that will make you cry. It's a powerful work.

There are many little-known gems in the area. My two favorites are the Grottes de Cales (7th Century BC Ligurian grottoes) and Vieux Vernegue, a village in ruins.

I am not quite clear if you have mobility issues. In your OP you say you are 'active' but later on you indicate maybe some sites might be problematic. Can you descend into the ochre quarry in Roussillon? Many people of all ages do it, but that doesn't mean everyone can.

RE: Fontaine
A close analogy would be, if you could walk the trail at Bryce Canyon, you could walk Fontaine de Vaucluse. No comparison, though.

We were told we’d been lucky to see the Fontaine de Vaucluse in spate (late May), and that it could be unimpressive at other times. Last June of course was disastrously dry. Take local information before setting it as a destination. Though the small, well done Musée d’Histoire Jean Garcin is worth a visit if you want to know more about France under German occupation in WW2.

""(plus Aix towards the end for an easier journey to the airport)""

Did you not read my first post about shops being closed on Sunday, & Monday morning in Aix? Did you also not read page 2 of the itinerary I sent you about only 1 of the 27 shops that had hours posted, was open on Sunday in Aix? Aix is my wife's favorite shopping city in France (after Paris). What is your site-seeing plan for Sunday & Monday in Aix. Museums, churches, long lunch??

Swap Aix & the Luberon.

Bonnieux/Luberon is 1 1/4 hrs from the airport. Gordes/Luberon is 1 hr. Aix is 1/2 hr from the airport. You save a whopping 30-45 mins by staying in Aix. With not much to do there on a Sunday & Monday. As I stated earlier, the sites most people want to visit are close to the Luberon & Avignon. Not close to Aix.

Stu Dudley

Fontaine de Vaucluse is outright gorgeous and has many terrific features. it is named after the mysterious source of the river which flows from underground, and there is a nice walk to the source. The beauty of the village is not seasonal. In addition, these are some of the other sites (from provenceweb.fr):

Ruines du château des Evêques de Cavaillon, XIV°.
Eglise ND de St Véran de style roman du XI°.
Ruines d'un canal romain sur la Sorgue.
L'Ecomusée du santon et traditions provençales : Musée du Santon.
L'appel de la liberté musée d'histoire 1939-1945 (Musée de la Résistance).
Ecomusée du gouffre (Musée-grotte : Le Monde Souterrain).
Musée bibliothèque Pétrarque (dans l'ancienne maison du poète Italien, XIV°).
Cristallerie des Papes (soufflage de cristal à la bouche).
Moulin à Papier (fabrication de papier à la main comme au XV°).

Also, I highly recommend visiting the Fondation Vasarely in Aix. All of the works on display were created expressly for this site, and it is open every day.

Shelemm, good points. The santons were another lovely feature, now that you remind me.

shelemm Thanks for the suggestions on places to visit in Fontaine de Vaucluse. We will be visiting and including some of the sites mentioned. We are early morning people, so making an early start is not a problem for us at all.

I am going to try get my hands on a copy of Village in the Vaucluse by Laurence Wylie and hopefully find time to read it in the coming weeks when I am in Sydney.
I read this article which gives an insight into the book:
https://travelerstales.com/homage-to...-the-vaucluse/

FTOttawa I went onto the site and did a search, Auberge de la Camarette is not available for my dates, and looking at their FaceBook page, it seems their restaurant is not open yet and they are only offering themed menus or cooking classes on certain days.

I am currently looking at Airbnb places (seems easier for me to navigate) and will be staying in/around St Remy or to its north for 6 to 7 days and using that as a base to explore areas such as Arles (will go on a Saturday for its market), Nimes and Pont du Gard, Avignon as well as the Cotes du Rhone area. I am hoping to include Vaison-la-Romaine for its Roman ruins in one of those days...

After the first 7 days or so, I plan on staying somewhere around Rousillion and using that as a base to explore the Luberon region. Depending on what the weather is like I would hope to visit the lavender fields. As suggested, I will go to Tourist Information offices for local information on how the weather has brought the flowering along at various elevations/places.

StuDudley - your itinerary has such good information and suggestions -- thank you so much! I had a quick read but will need to go through it in greater detail when I come to do my planning which will be after I have sorted out accommodation at the places which I intend to use as a base.

I did indeed, and have taken note of that. Right now, my thinking is to allocate just one or two days for Aix at the end of this Provence trip. What are my plans for Aix?? I did some initial research and did not find any thing of much interest for me in Aix, particularly since we are not big into shopping, and in any event we are leaving for Portugal after Provence and do not want to be carrying a lot of "purchases" around. We are more interested in scenic and historic sites, in good food and wine and in general just wandering around soaking up the atmosphere and people watch. If we are in Aix on a Sunday or Monday, we will do a walking tour (either with a guide or following Rick Steves' Aix-en-Provence walk), have a nice long lunch and maybe visit the Fondation Vasarely as shelemm suggested..
I am interested in post-impressionism art (hence am looking forward to visiting Arles) and may also consider doing a self-guided walk following in Cezanne's footsteps or even booking a visit to his studio (which I understand is open every day of the week but requires booking in advance).

For those who don't care to read the whole article, I am always amazed at how the book begins:“Thirty-five miles east of Avignon on National Highway 100 is the turnoff to Peyrane. From there up to the village’s nine-hundred-foot perch it is three miles on a gently rising blacktop road. By car it takes only forty minutes to go from Avignon to Peyrane. It is even an easy bicycle ride if the wind is not blowing.

“Without a car or bicycle the trip is complicated. The only bus that goes directly leaves the bus station under the old Avignon ramparts every Thursday morning at eight o’clock. It does not follow the main road but meanders from village to village and reaches Peyrane only in midafternoon. Seven hours to go thirty-five miles!”

The book was recommended to me before my fist trip to Provence. At the time, it was commonly read in Sociology departments in the US. In a way, it changed my life. To this day I am always drawn to a taste of village life in Europe. Cities can be spectacular, but the glory of Europe is in the villages.

If you seek out a copy, realize that there are updated versions, with chapters added even 25 years later showing what has changed (or hasn't) in the village.

BooFit, sounds like you have an excellent plan. You could expand your Luberon search to Lourmarin and Bonnieux (Friday morning markets) as well as Apt, Oppède and Manosque (Saturday morning markets), bearing in mind the fun of waking up there on market day. Apt and even more so Manosque begin to put Valensole and Moustiers Sainte Marie into play…but perhaps you prefer to concentrate on the Luberon itself with so much to offer.

Whew! Finally got my bases sorted out! Thanks to all who kindly offered advice on this thread!

I have booked 3 places for this trip. My requirements for accommodation were (1) air-conditioned; (2) Bed size: at least a queen; (3) preferably 2 rooms or a bigger space for us to "spread out and relax"; (3) quiet surroundings; (4) car parking on site or within very close walking distance; (5) views and (6) very good reviews.

For the first 7 days we will base ourselves in the St Remy area. For the next 5 days in Bonnieux. For the final two days in the Loumarin area. We will have private gardens and a private pool for the last two days (the place is simply wonderful and has received over 60 reviews with all full marks), and we may just enjoy staying in and skip Aix altogether!

Now the next step is to flesh out the outline of our itinerary!! AND make reservations at nice restaurants :)

One question please: is Google maps reliable as a GPS when driving in Provence or should we rent a GPS with our rental car?
Should we get paper maps? (In 2003 when we drove round Spain for a month we relied solely on paper maps!)

I'm in love with paper maps, particularly the Michelin series with scenic routes outlined in green.

The last time we rented a car, just pre-pandemic, a GPS screen was factory equipment, no need to pay. Handy feature: it flashed up every change in speed limit.

Some rental cars already have a GPS, although you may have to pay to access it.

'I'm in love with paper maps, particularly the Michelin series with scenic routes outlined in green.'

Me too FT! Those are really indispensable and are always part of our brought map collection.

OP BF, you could also gain a bit more input from our 'Provencal Echo' TR or its associated foto essays here such as ''D'Aix' or 'Cuckoo for Cucuron'. Our other similar imagery for Uzes, Avignon and Lourmarin will appear further down the road.

I am done. the lavender

Try looking at chambres d'hôte for lodgings. These are rooms, some small, some large, in or adjacent to the owner's home. The several at which we've stayed have been interesting, comfortable, and enhanced by the presence of local owners who enjoy sharing their knowledge. Breakfast usually comes with the room and sometimes dinners can be had by advance reservation. We particularly enjoyed our stay at one near the small town of Mouans-Sartoux, near Grasse, where the host liked to cook and made crêpes for us one morning. At another the hostess gave me French lessons.

Thanks FTOttawa , AJPeabody and zebec - I think I will get some Michelin maps. I too am a fan of paper maps :)

Underhill - I stayed at some of those for my earlier trips and loved it. They enhance the travelling experience for sure!

Hello Stu, would it be possible to send me your Provence itinerary by email? [email protected]

Many thanks!
Regards, Matthijs

A fodorite offered books on Provence late last year and I took her up on her offer (if you are reading this please message me your address as check came back addressee unknown). If you would like them, I would love to pass them along. PM me ASAP. I say that as I live outside the US and will be going there in 2 weeks and will be able to mail them to you.

Hi jan47ete ,Thank you so much for your kind offer. I don' live in the US (although parts of my family do) so it will not be possible to mail the books to me in the US. I have got Rick Steves' book on Provence (and Portugal as we will be going there after Provence), and his books have helped a lot! I have also paid heed to Stu's advice to get Michelin maps, so have ordered them as well.. Am also doing research on the internet, although I feel I am progressing slower than expected because I sprained my knee whilst here in Sydney (visiting daughter, son in law and my 5 month old bundle of joy).

Enjoy your stay in the US!!

"Do you have my 35 page itinerary for Provence & the Cote d'Azur? I've sent it to over 3,000 people on Fodors. If you would like a copy, e-mail me at my Fodors name at AOL and I will attach a copy to the reply e-mail."

Hi Stu,

I've emailed to request your guide. Thank you for all of the information you share here!

Update:
I had a meniscus injury and had to cancel my trip to France and Portugal. My knee was swollen and painful and I could not walk without severe pain. Orthopaedic surgeon said I was not fit to travel. The knee seems to be getting better (very) slowly -- I have turned down the option for surgery and am hoping to try conservative means first.

Thank you to all who helped me with planning my itinerary, I hope I can visit Provence soon...

Keep well!

Oh no, a meniscus injury can be quite painful, hope you get better soon. Sorry about having to cancel, but there will be other trips. Take care and get well soon 😊

I realize that you have had to postpone your trip, and I am so sorry to hear that. My DH and I are similar in age and had to cancel a Portugal trip pre-covid three years running-it was disappointing but necessary.

But for others reading this I just wanted to say that we did a month long driving trip last fall in that area and google maps handled it all without a hiccup. We love maps, but with "old eyes" trying to use them for navigation is getting harder and I personally prefer google maps to most of the gps systems I have used.

BooFit I'm sorry to hear of your injury and this trip to Provence has been canceled or postponed. I read through many of the posts here and am now inspired to revisit Provence. I went as a 20-year-old during a study abroad (20 years ago) and we stayed in and visited many of the places you have mentioned here. Today is an American holiday so I took the time to pull out my old photo books to remind myself of our adventures. We had a home base in Aix, which I absolutely fell in love with. We experienced a festival for the calisson sweets where they were being handed out in the streets. I was excited to see your interest in the Cezanne connections to that area. If I go back, which I think I will, I will definitely visit his studio and do all things Cezanne while I'm there. Speaking of art, at the Aix market (Saturday or Sunday, maybe?) I bought an original artwork that I've cherished ever since and has hung in my bedroom for 20 years. As a starving student, it was a splurge to buy that and I'm so glad I did. A favorite memory is sitting out in a cafe late into the night with my classmates.

Arles was another favorite visit. After experiencing Arles, you can really appreciate Van Gogh's art. I was so excited to see the stands selling Santons there and I added an angle to my family's nativity. Pont du Gard and Fountain de Vaucluse were stunning. Gordes was probably the gem of the region. At that time, I'd never seen something so picturesque and quaint in my life. Avignon felt lively and colorful. Many of the girls on my trip bought traditional tablecloths there. Someday when I go back, I want to time it better to see the lavender. I hope this trip can still happen for you!