Oh, I wasn't challenging anything written here. I know the guidebooks all call it a chateau because it is the ruins of a chateau. But people should not think they are going to see rooms with medieval furniture or anything like that.

Indeed they do.

Les Baux is just the short form of the name Les Baux-de-Provence. Just think of it as the place where bauxite originated.

Bédoin is a totally different town, which is pleasant to drive through on the way to Mont Ventoux but which is a real bitch on market day when you have to follow dinky little signs to route you around it.

I just checked Google and there is indeed a farm in Bédoin called Les Baux. It probably has a deposit of bauxite as well. (And there are a few other places called Les Baux in the area.)

>> BTW, Alpilles or Luberon? <<

Is this a question? If you are asking whether one should spend time in the Luberon or les Apilles - I give a huge recommendation to the Luberon. I'm actually not a fan of the Alpilles.

Watch out for some farms/camps in Bedoin. There is a nudest camp there. We've vacationed for 10 weeks in Bedoin (kerouac's description is accurate). Friends who were staying there, got lost & stopped at a guest house to ask for directions. They stood in line & noticed that everyone else in line and behind the desk was nude. Quite a surprise.

Stu Dudley

[QUOTE=StCirq;16966672]I don't even remember any shops in Les Baux, and I've been there half a dozen times, so I guess I'm clueless. But I don't go much of anywhere for "shops." You go for the ruins on the big plateau and the pretty much overpowering sense of history and the chateau.



When we were in the village I was very taken with a shop near the entrance that had a good selection of santons and Provençal soaps and lavender.* But I don't remember much else in the way of shops.

*

I think the Dentelles are more interesting than the Alpilles.

Stu Dudley

I'm not sure what information you saw, but I believe the full fare rate is 13 euro:
https://www.carrieres-lumieres.com/en/visit/rates
When I went in May, the price was per admission -- once inside, you could stay inside.

I don't think that's the official site, scrb11.

Actually that may be the official site, kja -- I just bought some tickets for Tuesday at the sister site, Ateliers des Lumieres. It diverted to ticketeasy to complete the purchase.

Ironically, I too ended up in a shop in Les Baux and picked up new cushions for my patio set. They were 1/2 the price of a popular French chain for better quality! Totally unexpected in such a touristy place. I prefer the geography of the Luberon as well. Mausanne-les-Alpilles was a nice town, and seems livable, with markets and restos aplenty (unlike some of these smaller towns that have lost their village's boulanger)

My apologies for any confusion I've created!