JulieVikmanis

Stu, can't recall which day we were at the Cavaillon Market, but your thought would explain why we might have very different opinions on the same market. OTOH, my Markets of Provence book lists only Monday as a market day in Cavaillon, no Friday. 'Tis a puzzlement.

StuDudley

The Patricia Wells book says that Monday is the market day too - but my "France" magazine articles about markets in France indicates that they have them Monday & Friday. Perhpas I went to the Friday market.

Stu Dudley

sunupdj

Thank you Julie, Stu, sequess, cigalechanta, Patay, and TDudette!

I'm still trying to hammer this all out. I've ordered your recommended maps, Stu, but over this weekend, I'll have to drive my eyes buggy using online maps to try out some possible routings to take in the must-sees. Right now I'm trying to deal with small hotels that don't give instant responses--how technology spoils!

The topic of markets is still up in the air. Having never been to Provence, of course we'd like to have that experience. Our timing isn't good to hit any of the highly touted markets, but it might still be nice to try hitting one of those Monday markets.

Julie, you seemed to enjoy the Cavaillon market well enough. Was it difficult to find it and how was the parking? How many vendors would you say, and what type of products? Also, what time does it start up? We will visit the Cours Saleya market on Sunday in Nice. Should I just stock up more there instead of possibly backtracking to Cavaillon on Monday? Has anyone been to either Cadenet or Lauris markets on Monday?

Sequess--thank you for the Zucca Magica in Nice!! I found their website and it looks fantastic! I'm sure D1 will be thrilled (as will be the rest of us). We'll definitely go there for a meal, and it's great that cigalechanta and TDudette also agree! Good thing grapes are vegetarian, too;-)

Patay, I had a look about that winery and I'm definitely going to try working that in. I know we have too little time for all we want to do and that this will be a whirlwind tour at best, but it may be my only chance to see this area.

I'm looking at a 6:40 a.m. departure on the Wednesday morning from Avignon TGV and will need to return rental there. I'd planned to stay in town Avignon for Monday and Tuesday nights and thought the trip to the TGV in the early morning darkness would be fairly direct once I'm out of the city center. Is that a bad trip? How would that same trip be if made from St. Remy? Of course, if I get lost and we miss the train, we're screwed....

Thanks to all of you for your interest and helpful suggestions. I love to plan trips, though right now I'm at a stressful point. I'll feel much better when I've got a few more ducks in order. This will be my weekend!

StuDudley

Getting to the TGV station from either St Remy or Avignon is "mildly" difficult - if you happen to miss a sign or turn-off. It is in an industrial area & you can actually get on the wrong road. What I've advised people to do a couple of times is a practice run a day or two ahead. Just go in & swing by the rental reurn offices, staying out of the left lane that is used for drop-offs.

Stu Dudley

PeaceOut

Scheduling two beach visits in Nice sounds like a waste of time to me. There's so much to see in and near Nice. I'd suggest you keep your plan to stay there two nights, at least.

Here's one suggestion for an afternoon, from my trip report:
"The next day we decided to take the short bus ride on the #81, to visit the Villa and Jardins Ephrussi de Rothschild, near Saint Jean Cap Ferrat. (The bus is just 1.30EUR each direction, which you pay in exact change on the bus.)

"It was a nice visit, especially to see the views of the sea down below on both sides of the hillside. I thought the price was a bit steep, at 9.50EUR for an adult, because the Villa isn’t really all that interesting (sorry!), but the gardens are beautiful. There’s also a nice little café there, for a light snack or drink or meal, which was a welcome break from all our walking.

"From the Villa, we did the easy walk down to the port of St. Jean to walk around and check it out. There are nice boats in the little harbor, with cute restaurants and shops. It’s very tiny, so doesn’t take long to walk from end to end of St. Jean. We spent just about an hour and a half there, then caught the #81 back to Nice."

Or, go to Antibes:
"Antibes is a short 20-minute train ride from Nice. We were glad we’d chosen Antibes, as it’s beautiful. The sea wall makes a nice walk, and the Centre Ville is very charming. We wandered its streets, shopped in a tiny clothing boutique, found a little place for omelettes (nothing special, but nice enough), then headed back to Nice by train after about 4 hours total. It was a good choice for a quick day-trip."

Two restaurants we enjoyed:
"1. A very simple local favorite in old Nice called Acchiardo, at 38 rue Droite in Vieux Nice. We headed over for their opening at 7p.m., and were very happy with it. Really friendly and attentive service, very quaint and casual atmosphere, with a good menu. I had a steak dinner, which actually included vegetables on the side. My daughter had two different salads. We had bottled water and a half-liter of house red wine. When the bill arrived for 28.50EUR, I thought they’d made a mistake because it was so much less than I’d been accustomed to paying in Venice, Florence and Rome. But, no, it was correct. (We would have maybe eaten there another night, but found out it closes on weekend nights, believe it or not.)

"2. We returned to old Nice for a slightly more upscale dinner. We loved that neighborhood’s little streets, overall atmosphere, and cute shops. We found the Restaurant la Tapenada, 6 rue St. Reparate and had a very nice dinner. It was probably about 60EUR for the two of us, on their fixed price menu, with a bottle of house wine. Very nice little place, with friendly and attentive service. They even let my daughter trade her dessert for a salad. So she had two salads to start, one after the other, and they timed the arrival of our main courses perfectly. We were very happy with our meal there."

samoca

I was in Provence for 2 weeks in spring '06. I wouldn't stay in Nice (you can take a city bus tour around it) but maybe up in St.-Paul-de-Vence area (not in St. Paul--too expensive)--St. Paul and Vence are as beautiful as anywhere around. They are maybe 20 minutes max from Nice centre. Go see the wonderful famous restaurant in St. Paul (La Colombe d'Or) with the Picasso fresco on the wall. For Provence, base yourself maybe in St. Remy, which is a town of about 10,000 people. An absolutely archetypal French village built around a square. Nice Wed. market. The place where Van Gogh lived last year of life is in a beautiful old monastery right outside town on way to Les Baux de Provence. A MUST VISIT: La Cathedrale des Images (Cathedral of Images). It's an astounding sound and light show in a gigantic old limestone quarry. It was started in the 70s. It's right next to Les Baux. It's one of the best things we saw in our 2 weeks. When we went the subject was Cezanne. This year it's Picasso. Note: It's very cold inside.

We liked "Sous les Figuiers" which is a small hotel--12 rooms, lovely female hosts). Glanum Hotel (or something like that) is supposed to be decent and cheap. You can go everywhere from there on day trips--Arles (which is wonderful--wanted to live there), Avignon (which I didn't see), the Pont du Gard, all the little towns like Gordes, Roussillion. Gordes is very tiny--you can see it in 2 hours or less frankly. Roussillion is unbelievable--hills made of ochre. Go at sunset. But these are tiny little towns--don't stay there--too expensive. Uzes looks a bit different from the other places--it's a bit bigger, gray stone. Okay for lunch. Not that pretty. If I were to go again, I would only stay in 2 places max. The distances are not that great in that part of Provence--you can get everywhere in an hour or two max and be home for dinner to St. Remy (I would move there in a heartbeat if I could afford it). If you need to get back to Nice in a hurry, the main autoroute going cross-country is a great road and very fast. I will caution you--we got lost constantly, and I read and speak French. The signs are beyond awful. Get a GPS if you can. Bon voyage!

samoca

P.S. Reread your post and realize you have only 4 days. I would stay in Nice just overnight. The market is wonderful. Take a bus tour around town. Like somebody above recommended, there are wonderful little picturesque villages right around Nice that are even moreso than a lot of Provence--St.-Paul-de-Vence. Good place for someone with mobility problems (built like an American motel--from the 70s) is Les Bastides de St. Paul up the road from Nice and close to St. Paul. See the little towns around Nice (Antibes, Villefrance, Eze, St. Paul as mentioned above--all have great modern art museums) and then drive through to Avignon--and see all the lavender you want on the drive. Gorde is tiny, gray stone, not that interesting, nice setting. Roussillon is similar, but incredibly scenic (ocher cliffs--whole town ocher-colored). St. Remy is a great base to explore the tiny perched villages and everywhere else. Arles is great, worth it. Didn't go to Avignon--don't think you need to stay there. Pont du Gard is 2 hours (or less) of taking photographs of an ancient Roman acqueduct. Depends how much you like them. Uzes is a bigger town--gray stone, not really worth it in 4 days IMO. Les Bastides-de-St. Paul on the road from Nice to St. Paul is a sort of 2-story motelish 1970s era place, with a very nice host, perfect for somebody with mobilty issues--you can drive right up to your room. Hope this all helps. I would stay only in 2 places if I were you in 4 days and again, IMO Nice is not worth more than half a day if that.

samoca

Good God, I'm getting senile and didn't realize that I'd repeated Bastides de St. Paul twice. Sorry. Don't expect it be pretty--just useful place to stay.

cigalechanta

If you stay in Les Imberts, there's a lovely place to dine outside, Mas de Tourteron.
Ive stayed several times at the Colombe D'OR. I love that place!

Plan2GoSoon

Just read your posts. I am in Avignon right now. We have a rental car and are staying in the centre of town at a place called Le Clos du Rempart. It is off season and our host has a garage so it has been very easy. We drove to the TGV station to check it out. It was a little confusing but if you follow the signs and DON"T go over the bridge across the Rhone you should be fine. It only took us (if we hadn't taken the bridge) about 10 minutes. This was at 8 AM on a Sunday. Look for P3. You drop off the rentals there. The entrance is very close to the station, not out like at US airports or train stations, and it looks like you are going into a caged area. Just be on the lookout for P3. Good luck and have fun. We are and have!

JulieVikmanis

We pretty much stumbled upon the Cavaillon market. Knew there was one that day, drove into town and it was there, taking up several blocks in a couple of directions. Don't recall parking but if it had been tough and DH was driving, believe me, we'd never have seen it, just moved on. So it couldn't have been all that bad. Sorry not to have more definite information. Overall, I'd stop in Cavaillon if you're in the vicinity on market day but not make it a destination. There are pretty much markets everywhere. You'll see plenty. Enjoy.