Gretchen

After reading tons of postings here, I give up on figuring out the best place to base ourselves. Can you help? We only have 3 nights in Provence before heading to Cote d'Azur. (Arriving in Avignon via TGV.) Since our other 2 bases are bigger cities (Paris & Nice), I thought a small town (i.e. St. Remy) would be a good base for a change of pace, but we don't want TOO small of a town -- we want to be able to return after a day of site seeing (via car) to find several restaurants to choose from, people strolling the streets, etc. Is St. Remy too small? Everyone seems to either love or hate Avignon and Arles. Some people say they are "big cities," but I'm not sure what that means. We were in Italy last year, so can anyone compare these towns to Florence, Siena, smaller towns like San Gimignano (in terms of size)? Although Aix seems like a place we might like, I've ruled it out because it seems too far south and east of where we'll be spending our time - plus, we can perhaps drive through there on our way to Nice. Mainly what we want to see during our 3 days are interesting sites, such as Roman ruins, Pont du Gard, les Baux, Gordes, street markets, 1 day driving tour of the Luberon region, etc.) Any advice will be appreciated (and I'm sorry this was so rambling).

Fred

I vote for St Remy. Has exactly what you want plus easy in and out plus convenient to towns you'll want to see - Rousillon,Gordes, Cabrieres, Lacoste, Menerbes, Bonnieux, others. For Paris information e-mail me – [email protected]

PB

St. Remy has more than enough restaurants to suit anyone's tastes... it's a delightful town for strolling after dinner and having coffee in one of the many cafes. <BR> <BR>It's also the most convenient and centrally located for visiting Les Baux (15 minutes by car from St Remy), Pont du Gard and the villages of the Luberon. <BR> <BR>I don't know which three days of the week you'll be in the area but there are markets somewhere every day of the week.. <BR>Wednesday is the big St Remy market, Saturday the big market in Arles. Smaller markets in Tarascon on Tuesday, Maussane-les-Alpilles on Thursday, St. Martin de Crau on Friday,l"Isle sur la Sorgue on Sunday <BR> <BR>PB

Christina

I think St Remy would suit you, especially if you mainly want to go elsewhere during the day, as driving will be easier. I like all these places, love Avignon, like Arles; St Remy was sort of boring to me and I wouldn't want to stay there long term, but it would be fine for your purposes as so many tourists are there that there are plenty of restaurants, more than you'd expect for a city that size. Now I stayed in a small town without many tourists in the Vaucluse which was probably about the same population, but it did not have many restaurants to choose from, the tourism makes a big difference in that, as well as hotel availability. All of these A... cities have a population of about 85,000--100,000, I think. Aix is not so small that you can just sort of drive through it on the way someplace else IMO, driving and parking will be tricky. I agree for your needs, the others are better situated, anyway.

Jen

St. Remy is where you want to be. Very convenient to all places you want to visit, good restaurants, great town. <BR> <BR>To be honest, I wasn't impressed with Arles, and Avignon is fine, but you might have better access from St. Remy to the places you've named. Aix is nice, but I agree with Christina that car access can be an issue there. <BR> <BR>For comparison, IMO, St. Remy is like Siena, Avignon is smaller than Florence and bigger than Siena, and Aix is more like Florence.

linda

Gretchen, In St. Remy do eat at Cafe des Art(e)s. Charming old fashioned atmosphere and delicious food. Let us know what loction you choose! I chose St. Remy and loved it. <BR> <BR>linda

ann

I agree with others about staying in Rt Remy but disagree about the parking in Aix. There are several parking lots around the outskirts of the old center section. There is one about a half a block from the tourist office, right near the big fountain in the rotary (forgot it's name. It's true Aix is too big to get anything out of by just "driving through" but the trip from St Remy to Nice is only a few hours so you could spend most of the day there, have lunch, walk around and that would be enough to give you a taste of it. Coming from the highway you drive through about 5-10 minutes of suburban sprawl and then get to the rotary with the fountain and will see signs for parking lots. Do NOT drive in the old section. Otherwise it's very easy.

Betty

I have nothing against St. Remy (lovely town) but if you are mainly interested in the Luberon area, you might want to consider Apt, just north of the Luberon mountain. It's a fair-sized town, about 12,000 inhabitants, not as touristy, lots of shops, pedestrian streets, cafes, restaurants. It also has a good Saturday market. We stayed in two rental houses there last fall and it was an easy drive to all the Luberon hill towns.

Gretchen

Thanks for all the comments. I think we'll shoot for St. Remy as our base, assuming we can find a hotel there. I did find availability this morning at Hotel Les Ateliers De L'Image. Is this a good choice? They say they're in town but down a little alley, so not too loud. Sounds good to me. Any comments?

PB

Gretchen: <BR> <BR>Atelier de l'Image is a very nice small new hotel built on the site of the old village cinema - it's not really down what I'd call an 'alley' - more like a small right of way behind other buildings. THe staff is charming, the rooms are nice (and they have A/C)and the location is ideal. <BR> <BR>PB

Gretchen

Thanks to everyone for your input. I booked the Ateliers-Image and can't wait to get to Provence!