lilaki

hi everyone,

we are looking to visit france from monday, september 22 - monday, october 6, 2008. we'd like to spend the first week in paris followed by a week in provence. i have read through many of the posts on this forum and have also e-mailed with stu dudley (thanks, stu!!).

we're looking into a B&B/cottage/gite in provence for seven nights starting on monday, september 29th. we'd like to stay in one location. accommodations do not have to be luxurious but at least comfortable. we will have a rental car but we'd still like to be close enough to a town/village for dinners etc. finally, we're avoiding staying in/near avignon/ aix-en-provence/st. remy in hopes of getting a truer provence experience.

i have found the mas solige in carpentras (http://www.mas-solige.com/). has anyone stayed here? can anyone provide any comments?

in addition, do you have any similarly-priced accommodation recos in provence? i realize that the majority of gites are rented from saturday - saturday but we'd really prefer to arrive in provence on monday for a week. has anyone had any success renting a gite from monday-monday??

thank you in advance for your help.

TuckH

We haven't stayed there - based on the website it looks to be a very nice place.

I'd just like to say that I commend your choice of location. It's ideal for many scenic daytrips...

lilaki

thank you! do you have any 'must see' or 'must do' tips??

ctoner

Hello there lilaki! That's my kind of plan!! My DH and I are staying in Uzes, which is an old walled village near the Pont du Gard. If you Google Uzes, you will be able to see some great pics. Very historic as well. I've stayed there b4 with sisters and found the area great for day trips to Provence. The place you are looking at looks lovely. The only thing is, it looks pretty remote. We like the kind of place whereafter a day of touring around, you can be close to shops, bars and great eating choices without having to drive. Stu Dudley has been a real help to me and is so willing to share information. We got great accomodation in Uzes by going through www.vrbo.com and the rates are pretty reasonable, depending on what you are looking for. When you go on the site go to Owner Listing # 54865. If you are interested in more info, email me at the address beside my screen name. You will LOVE the area in Sept. I was there that time of year a few years ago and the weather was amazing. I am going to be on the forum again soon with some final trip shaping questions as well.

ctoner

Opps...how rude of me.....Good luck and happy trip planning!!
ctoner

lilaki

ctoner - thank you SO much for the information. i will definitely check vrbo.com out!

TuckH

> do you have any 'must see' or 'must do' tips?? <

You have Stu's itinerary which I too relied upon. I'll just add my two cents...

We covered a lot of ground in our 2 1/2 week visit to Provence - east to west, from Forcalquier to Sommiéres and north to south, from Le Poét-Laval to Stes-Maries-de-la-Mer. I'll single these out as being our favorite villages:

Venasque, Joucas, Lacoste, Saignon, Seguret, Le Crestet and Brantes.

lilaki

thank you everyone for your comments.

i've done a thorough search online for more information on mas solige (along with this and other travel forums) but still nothing...

sooo...if you can't find any information on a specific mas/gite in provence, does anyone have any other tips on how to verify that this place isn't a dump??? the price is really reasonable so i'm wondering if it's too good to be true???

i've checked with gite de france and cle vacance but the property is not listed there. i originally found it on: avignon-et-provence.com

thank you.

TuckH

I'd write to them and ask some pointed questions and then make a judgement based on their response...