Hello!!
My family and I are leaving for a short trip to Provence on Thursday, and have found place to stay in the Luberon area. My plans currently are as follows -

(1) Thursday: Drive from home to hotel (about 4.5 hrs). Arrival in hotel around mid-day. Afternoon at Les Baux and then St Remy, dinner at St Remy.

(2) Friday: Stu Dudley's (Thank You!!!) Luberon driving trip to see the perched villages. I am hoping to see the lavender fields as we drive around.

(3) Saturday: Morning at Aix-en-Provence in time for the market. Afternoon trip to Marseille. Dinner at Marseille.

(4) Sunday: What to do? We need to leave the region at about 1:30 or 2 to get back home in time for a rest so that my good man can get back to work the next day. But we have the morning hours.' My options :
- Sunday market at L'Isle sur la Sorgue. But my man will not be willing to spend the whole morning in a market. What after that?
- Avignon - we have visited before but did not have time to see inside the Palais des Papes. Keep us entertained for a few hours??
- Leave early and do Stu's drive through the Valensole Plateau and see more lavender fields. But the towns will be shut on Sunday
- Drive to the Verdon Gorges. That's a 2 hr drive from our hotel. So we may have 1 hr to do a drive up the North Rim maybe before we take a much longer drive back home (Switzerland). We have been to the Grand Canyon...Is the long drive worth it?

All suggestions are welcome But I have only a short while to plan..we leave the day after tomorrow !!
Thanks

I'll top for you so people see this

The market at L'Isle sur la Sorgue is so wonderful that I hope you will go. Perhaps your husband can find a cafe or a shady spot by the "river" or basin and just people watch. It's a very large market with lots of vendors and is reported to be the second largest market in France after the flea markets in Paris. I love it!!!!

If you leave the market early, why not drive to Roussillon. It is one of the most gorgeous spots on this earth!!

Enjoy!

joy/luvparee

I'd vote for the market at L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue. You could shop for picnic supplies at the market and then stop at Fontaine-de-Vaucluse, have your picnic next to the river, and do the little hike back to the source of the spring.

http://www.beyond.fr/villages/fontvaucluse.html

That's what we did last year, and really enjoyed it. The town of Fontaine-de-Vaucluse is touristy, with lots of little tacky shops, but it really is a pretty place, and amazing the way the river seems to start out of nowhere between the tall cliffs.

Thank you Suzie for topping this

Thanks you Joy and Marcy, L'isle sur la sorgue seems to win hands down!! As I plan to visit Rousillon on Friday, I shall look up Fontaine de Vaucluse and the source of the Sorgue. Your help is much appreciated

Suja,
For your trip to Roussillon, if you're going to go hiking in the valley to see the rock formations, make sure you take old shoes and jeans or non-stainable pants, because the orange ochre dust gets everywhere.

It's great, though, and you shoudn't miss it!

Another vote for the Sunday market as well as a picnic at the river at Fontaine du Vaucluse.

We had lunch there a few years ago and next to us were two elderly French couples who put up their table and covered it with a beautiful table table cloth. After that they took out their lovely glasses and plates and lunched on cheese, fruit and baguette! O yes, and wine. It is still one of my fondest memories - the cool spot under the trees with the sound of water and this real movie scene next to us.