gnaij

We'll be spending three nights near Apt from June 22-23. I took a look at Stu's itineraries and there seem to be more options for drives in the region than we have time for, so we need some help prioritizing. Which of the options are the (i) most scenic overall, (ii) most varied in scenery, and (ii) maximize our chances of seeing lavender/lavandin in full bloom?

Option A: north to the Albion Plateau / Simiane-la-Rotunde / Saint-Christol / Sault / Gorges de la Nesque / Vanasque

Option B: east to the Valensole Plateau / Viens / Forcalquier / Moustiers-St-Marie / Riez

Option C: south to Loumarin / Cucuron / Mirabeau / Silvacane Abbey

Option D: west and northwest to St Didier / Mazan / Crestet / Vaison la Romaine / Seguret / Gigondas / L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue

We will have spent 2 nights in St Remy to cover the Alpilles and Uzes areas. And we will definitely visit the towns within the Luberon itself.

StuDudley

They are all nice.

If you want to be smothered in lavender fields, visit the famous pottery in Moustiers, and if you don't mind a longer drive to get there, then B.

"A" gives you some mountains, gorges, 2 perched villages, and more lavender.

Wine villages & vineyards, Roman stuff - then D

"C" is probably my least favorite - but it is still nice - especially Lourmarin. Maybe just visit Lourmarin - it's not that far from Apt.

Stu Dudley

geetika

Bookmarking!

frenchaucoeur

I"d pick B and D, without question.

B gets you the beautiful lavender fields, which should be in full bloom, around the Valensole, as well as the touristy but beautiful Moustiers and the less touristy but beautiful Viens. That's a pretty full day; if you skip Riez and Forcalquier that won't be a tragedy.

As for D, my favorite part of Provence is the northern Vaucluse--the area around Vaison, Gigondas, Seguret and the Dentelles de Montmirail. If you're coming from around Apt, this too will be a pretty long day, so you might trim your itinerary a bit and perhaps subsitute a drive through the Dentelles for some gorgeous scenery. You can take the D90 from Beaumes de Venise, through the tiny Lafare, to Malaucene and see some beautiful views. Crestet is a lovely small village just outside of Vaison. I think you'd have to give LSLS a miss, as well the other villages, but you can do only so much..

The area around St Simiane isn't that spectacular. Lourmarin and Curcuon are pretty, but not unmissable. If you have to choose, to me the finalists are clear.

frenchaucoeur

Aso, if you're willing to do the drive, if you're at Moustiers you're practically at the Gorges du Verdon, which is a fine subsitute for the Gorge de la Nesque. Even if you just drive one side (I'd say the south, though I think most people prefer the north), you'll see plenty of stuff to gasp at.

geetika

We're also in Provence around the same time as the OP, from June 13-23, and will be based at Sarrians, a little north west of Carpentras. We're planning at least one, if not two drives to see the lavender/lavandin. We were definitely thinking of working our way towards Sault, but it looks like going further east towards Moustiers and Viens is a good idea too. My only concern is that it might be too long a day, how would you suggest we structure it? Both days we'll take a picnic lunch and probably spend the hottest part of the day someplace cool.

Thanks

StuDudley

>> how would you suggest we structure it?<<

Get an early start for the Valensole trip. If you are just north of Carpentras, you re close to the Sault fields. However, there is a good chance the Sault fields won't be in full bloom yet. We visited both regions last year near the last week of June. The temperatures were scorching hot from the 2nd week through all of June then. The Valensole fields were stunning. The Sault fields - not so.

Stu Dudley

frenchaucoeur

You get a very different experience of the lavender in Sault and in the Valensole. At Sault, there is a huge park/overlook where you look out onto the valley dotted with lavender fields, but you're not actually surrounded by them. In the Valensole, there are several roads (e.g., the D56 from Valensole to Puimoisson) that take you literally through the fields; like everyone else you stop alongside the road and walk a few feet or more into the fields, inhaling them. I guess you can tell which is my preference!

It's true that the Valensole plateau is a longer drive (probably between and hour and an hour and a half vs. about 45 mins). But it's worth it, in my opinion. Sault is a small, attractive but undistinguished village; I can't image it would attract so many people if not for that overlook. Your call!

Depending on your preferences and how much driving you can tolerate, you might have to eliminate the Verdon, though you should be able to get to Moustiers. The Verdon is further east and would add significantly to the drive and probably be more than you'd be happy with. On balance, probably not a great idea.

StuDudley

>>At Sault, there is a huge park/overlook where you look out onto the valley dotted with lavender fields, but you're not actually surrounded by them.<<

You can drive down into the lavender fields from Sault. And you will be surrounded by lavender fields We've done it dozens of times. You can get out of the car & wander around also. You can drive through them and on to Mt Ventoux (D164).

https://www.google.com/maps/@44.0986484,5.4115479,15z

The D164 branches off the D942 (route through Sault) and goes through the fields. The area north & around the D164 is packed with lavender fields.

But the fields on the Valensole plateau are much more robust & impressive.

Stu Dudley

geetika

Thanks a lot Stu and frenchaucoeur. We'll probably do both circuits, but the drive through the Valensole plateau sounds lovely! We're fine with driving an hour and a half each way, especially since we'll probably break it up with stops en route.

BTW, which area has the lavandin, I believe this blooms earlier than lavender. Understand from our landlady that it's been a very wet spring this year, hopefully it'll warms up and we're able to get our fix of lavender. Will let you know how it goes...

StuDudley

>>BTW, which area has the lavandin<<

Valensole plateau. There is a Lavendin in the Luberon Valley too. Also lots of it in the Drome to the north.

Stu Dudley

geetika

Thanks Stu, unfortunately we won't have time for the Drome this trip.

My apologies to the OP for hijacking his/her thread!

gnaij

Thanks frenchaucoeur and Stu for the helpful replies. (And thanks geetika for asking more questions!)

I've tried to map out Option B - does this look about right? https://goo.gl/maps/enSLsMky3622 This is just what Google thinks is the best route from point to point, with only one adjustment to take the D56.

Adding the Gorges du Verdon (or at least the more interesting parts according to what I can tell on Google street view) seems to add almost 2 hours to the journey: https://goo.gl/maps/u7B36BRDWrm

StuDudley

I didn't follow your Google suggestion in detail - but I NEVER let Google tell me which roads to take when I want a scenic drive. The roads specified in my itinerary are the ones that pass the best lavender fields. Some fields are much better than others. You should see my Michelin map - I have grades (A, B+, C-, etc) written next to all the roads we've aimlessly traveled on in the Valensole plateau. The map is a "mess" of scribblings. Then I transferred this info to the Itinerary you have, and offered that as the BEST of the Valensole plateau. I bet Google didn't consider the roads with the most robust lavender in their mapping. Throw out Google and get the 300 series Michelin Map and mark in yellow magic marker, the route that I describe in the itinerary.

Stu Dudley

StuDudley

Gorges du Verdon

I'm not a big fan of this gorge. We've visited it 4 times - most recently just last year. I think the Gorges du Tarn and the other gorges in the Tarn gorge region are more spectacular. So is the red-rock colored Gorges du Cains just north of Nice.

As I stated in my previous post, I give "grades" to scenic drives. The southern side of the Vorges du Verdon is about a C-. The northern route and especially the slow/winding/narrow one-way Route des Cretes is an A-. I never travel without a Michelin Green Guide. The southern road past the gorge has only 1 or 2 three-star (Michelin rating) belvederes/lookouts. The northern route has about 9 - most on the Route des Cretes. Unlike the the Gorges du Tarn & Cians - you can not drive at water level through the Verdon gorge. You will need to stop the car & view it from the lookouts. There are usually too few lookouts. It would be much more enjoyable to take a canoe trip through the Gorge - but that is a full day event.

Last year we took an overnight trip to the Valensole area from our gite in Bedoin/Provence. We visited Forcalquier, 2 other nearby small villages, Lavender fields (re-driving the Lavender route I wrote several years earlier), Moustiers (lunch), not Riez, and Gorges du Verdon. This took most of 2 full days.

Stu Dudley

gnaij

Stu - here's another try: https://goo.gl/maps/cVGxPivFQcx

I think this should follow your instructions where given. frenchaucoeur mentioned taking D56 above between Valensole and Riez but your itinerary favors D8 which is parallel to it. I also have an approach to Simiane-la-Rotonde from the south via D51, instead of from the north from Sault; this approach seems to mean it goes directly to the viewpoint over town but skips everything north of it as we would be too early in season for option A. I also added a stop at Viens which frenchaucoeur mentioned above so it's via D33 instead of D22. 4 hours 24 minutes....

(I love paper maps but have to use google, at least eventually, because I plan to be driving and my wife has absolutely no sense of direction and can't read maps. So I need something with real time GPS tracking so I can drive and navigate at the same time without getting too distracted.)

StuDudley

On my Michelin #334 map, I have "A" lavender fields noted along the D8 between Valensole and northeast to where it hits the D953. Then "B" fields south on the D953 until about half-way between Puimiosson & Rietz. I either didn't travel on the smaller D56 or there are no remarkable fields there.

Stu Dudley

frenchaucoeur

Coming from Cotignac, we made a loop from Valensole along the D8 out to the D953, south to Puimoisson, then west again on the D56. As I recall, both roads were beautiful, and I'm not going to get intoo a back and forth about which was better; I recall thinking both were beautiful. We also visited a couple of small villages, of which Esparron de Verdon was the most interesting, but none was a must-see.

As for the Verdon, we didn't drive the Route des Cretes on the north side of the gorge, and we did find the views better from the south side. I know that's a minority opinion, but there you go. It's true that the number of pullouts is limited, but that's true on both sides. At any rate, rethinking my own suggestion, I think the Verdon would be too ambitious for a day from Apt; just enjoy the Valensole, which will be in full bloom or very close and just intoxicating, and stop at Moustiers if you can.

If you do want to see the famous view not far from Moustiers where the Verdon narriows as it enters the gorge, it's along the D957.

frenchaucoeur

As for Viens, we actually visited it on the same day we went to Simiane; they're about fifteen minutes apart. If you really want to go to that area (and to my mind it is much less interesting than either the Valensole or the northern Vaucluse), you might consider seeing them on the same day and dropping Viens from the Valensole day, even though it might seem kind of on the way.

In looking again at the suggested routes, I can't help thinking that they're kind of packed. You might need to do some triage, picking out the places that appeal the most.

gnaij

Here's our plan so far:

Wednesday: leave St Remy by 10:30 after seeing the market -> Beaumes-de-Venise -> Gigondas -> Seguret -> Vaison-la-Romaine -> Crestet -> Malaucene -> Bedoin -> Vensaque -> Murs -> St Saturnin les Apt by 18:30
https://goo.gl/maps/6FejwD5SuB42 148km 3h6m - allow 8 hours to complete

Thursday: leave St Saturnin by 10:00 -> Simiane-la-Rotonde -> Forcalquier -> Lurs -> Valensole lavender fields -> Riez -> Moustiers-St-Marie -> return via Greoux-les-Bains -> Saignon -> maybe dinner near or in Apt by 20:00 -> St Saturnin
https://goo.gl/maps/KTxdbwgHDQ82 237km 4h34m - allow 10 hours to complete

Friday: leave St Saturnin by 10:00 -> Bonnieux (market day) -> Lacoste -> Menerbes -> Oppede le Vieux -> Goult -> Gordes -> Roussillon -> St Saturnin by 18:00
https://goo.gl/maps/FSvW2e2198z 99.2km 2h29m - allow 8 hours to complete

This incorporates both B and D above with a full day dedicated to the Luberon. Too ambitious or doable? We're generally fast paced and active travelers who don't like seeing the similar things over and over again; that said, we understand this is not somewhere we should be rushing it. Our TGV is scheduled for around 1pm on Saturday, so we probably only have time for the morning market in Apt before having to drive back to Avignon.