Obsessive Planner Would Like Provence Experts' Input
 

Please look at my plans for a week in Provence! We are two fit and adventurous coworkers traveling, both of us have been to France and I've been to Arles but that is the extent of our Provence travels. Lodging is set.

We won't live and die by an itinerary. I enjoy compiling the info and if it doesn't work out we'll adapt. I like to maximize my time by knowing what is nearby, what is closed, what I must see, might skip...

Saturday, June 23
TGV to Avignon after a day in Brussels arriving at 2:42pm
Stop at TI to pick up Passion Pass for discounts on museum entrances
Take Tourist train for an orientation of town
Walk the rue des Teinturiers- Picturesque street w/cafes, galleries & shops. Water wheels & little bridges to cross.
Wander Avignon shops as they may be closed on Sunday/Monday
Nightclub suggestions?
Stay at La Banesterie in Avignon

Questions-
WILL shops be closed on Sunday & Monday in Avignon?
Any other areas for walking in Avignon? (I'm saving the museums for a later day with less jet lag.)
Any nightclub recs?

Sunday, June 24
Isle sur la Sorgue via bus or train for the morning market (antiques, crafts, produce) which runs until about 12:30pm
Notre-Dame des Anges- 12th C. baroque church but with 17th C Louis XIV propagandist architectural additions for a big WOW factor
Three 12th C. waterwheels
Rent bikes for ride to Fontaine de Vauclause (5 miles gently uphill)& wander the town
Wander Avignon
Stay at La Banesterie in Avignon
Questions-
Bus or train from Avignon to Isle sur la Sorgue? Why?
Should I be looking for anything in particular at the market? I know antiques are the draw but not my interest. Smaller items I can take home?

Monday, June 25
Tour Avignon sites
Musee du Petit Palais- Church’s medieval Italian paintings and sculpture. Good to visit before palais to see what once furnished palais open
Palace du Papes- Construction started in 1335, completed in less than twenty years, biggest Gothic palace in all of Europe
Wine Cellar at the Palace of the Popes- the “Bouteillerie”- educational approach to the Côtes du Rhône wines, offering “guided” wine tasting of over forty wines
Hike up (or take tourist train from palais)to parc des Rochers des Doms for a panoramic view of river valley and bridge
St Bénezet bridge- built in 12th C
Stay at La Banesterie in Avignon

Questions-
Has anyone done the wine tasting at the Palais? Comments?
This is my last day in Avignon. What am I missing?

Tuesday, June 26
Pick up rental car (for next 4 days)
Pont du Gard- 3 level aqueduct built over 2000 years ago, by son-in-law of Augustus.
Uzes-Wonderful pedestrian center, interesting shops, especially for pottery.
TI has self guided walking tour brochures in English
Tarascon-Narrow medieval streets, ancient walls & fortified arched doorways, pretty arcades, lots of little shops & cafés.
St. Remy-Birthplace of physician and prophet Nostradamus in 1503 and retreat of Van Gogh in 1888
Visit Joel Durand chocolate shop (free samples) and next door Le Petit Duc, antique cookies on Blvd Victor Hugo.
Walk to St. Paul Monastery (don't plan to go inside)& walk the footpath leading back to town with 21 panels of Van Gogh’s works located where he painted them
Stay at Hotel Soleil in St. Remy

Questions-
Any other worthwhile stops between Uzes and St. Remy?
What to do in St. Remy in the evening?

Wednesday, June 27
Morning market in St. Remy
Glanum- Foundations of Roman market town on trade route between Italy & Spain
Les Baux de Provence- castle ruins and a medieval town
Caves de Sarragan- winery & tastings,
good view of Les Baux from parking lot
Arles - Roman coliseum, theater, necropolis
TI has walking tour brochure outlining Van Gogh’s time and paintings in Arles.
TI offers 2 walking tours in English- historic Arles and Van Gogh in Arles
Stay at Hotel Soleil in St. Remy

Questions-
Have you done the self guided walking tour or the guided walking tour in Arles? Any feedback?

Do you know what time the guided tours begin? I can't find the times for the guided tours on the Avignon website.

Anything else between St. Remy and Arles that I shouldn't miss?

Should I see Glanum & Les Baux another day in order to get to L'Atelier Jean Luc Rabanel for lunch? Does anyone else want to join us for a little GTG at L'Atelier?

I don't want to have dinner there as I won't drink and drive and I know myself...if I'm in such a place I'll want to drink.

Thursday, June 28
Gordes- Most touristy & trendy town in the Luberon. Not a lot to see except boutiques
Abbaye de Senanque- Photo op for lavender fields- skip the tour, its in French,
Roussillon- A definite stop, built on red and yellow ochre cliffs, home to artists and galleries. Great pottery shop at the top.
Bonnieux
Lacoste Marquis de Sade’s castle ruins
Climb through village & up to the castle base for a great view of Bonnieux, not a lot of commerce here and the castle is closed to the public.
Menerbes- of Peter Mayle fame
Oppede le Vieux- The hike from the village to the church, and on to the ruins, is about 10-15 minutes of steep uphill, with cobblestones through the trees, and past cave-rooms as you go through ruins of the ancient dwellings. Fantastic panoramic view of tiled rooftops at the level of the church and the chateau ruins.
Stay at Hotel Soleil in St. Remy

Questions-
Is it a crime to blow through some of these places?
Where to go and where to fly by?
Are there other hilltowns I should check out?

Friday June 29
I have no plans yet but this is our last full day with a car before we return it Saturday morning and TGV to Paris.

Stay at Hotel Soleil in St. Remy

Question
Where to go with the car for a scenic drive but without the hassles of a city and for something different than we've seen the rest of the week?

Should I tour the Cote du Rhone- Dentilles, Gigondas, Vaison La Romaine?

Slow down and let someone else post.... Is your name Kathy?

Your best bet is to email StuDudley if he doesn't see this thread. Give hime a couple of days as he is pretty busy now. He is the best out there for Provence. I'm using his 26 page guide, beg him for it, for my trip in 2 weeks.

[email protected]

Stu, my apologies, but I very much respect your opinion.

Just got back from a two week trip from Barcelona and through Provence. We loved Arles and enjoyed the Musee d'Arles et de la Provece Antiquities...it gave a wonderful overview of the Roman history and then as we went around the town and found many of the places we learned about in the museum. We then proceeded to Les Baux and St. Remy. We did go to the assylum and enjoyed the self guided tour inside and walking around the grounds. (No restroom available there, however). BUT, our favorite places of all (and we were also in Aix, Nice)were Vence and St. Paul de Vence. Hotels are cheaper in Vence, but you definately want to drive over to St. Paul, enjoy the Fondation de Maeght museum (don't miss it) and the shops. We stayed in two different hotels in Vence, but it sounds like you wouldn't be able to spend the night. The other highlight in Vence besides the old part of town, was the Matisse Chapel. I hope you can make a side trip over that far east.

Hey Rasta, thanks for the reply.

I wanted to get the whole thing on the thread at once so all my days were shown and because I was tired and needed to go to bed.

I've been poring over Stu's guide for the last year to make decisions and I was hoping for some input from him about the Dentilles as I think that's the area he'll be in this summer.

jckcpv- Thanks for the St. Paul de Vence idea. I hadn't thought about going that far away but I won't discount the idea. I need to check how far of a drive it is from St. Remy... I don't want to be behind the wheel for 4 hours each way.

I plan on coming back to the area w/ DH within a few years so if it doesn't work this time I'll put it on the itinerary for the next trip.

You're going to a place I LOVE!!

You are spending alot of time in Avignon. That was not a favorite of mine. Walking around the Palais and the garden (which was the highlight) was enough for me. Too big.

The market at L'Isle sur la Sorgue has lots of stuff you can buy!! Dish towels, soaps, placemats, napkins, table runners, olive oil, clothing, jewelry, handbags, pottery, cheeses, olives, etc., etc.

St. Remy was a fun town. We did that market and enjoyed buying what we missed in L'Isle sur la Sorgue!! The Joel Durand chocolates didn't last too long at home, though!

Menerbes is not very big and I think you could walk through very quickly. Roussillon could be a couple of hours just "gawking" and taking photographs! Spectacular! Gordes is stunning on the drive in and won't take too long to walk around. We spent probably an hour or so in Bonnieux - cute. We didn't do any hikes or museums or castles -- just strolled the towns/villages.

We stayed in Pernes les Fontaines (charming little village with 39 (?) fountains -- fun walk). We took the "wine route" up to Vaison la Romaine on market day, spent some time there, and then visited Gigondas for a wine tasting and stopped in Seguret which is a precious little village -- so charming! The drive up was gorgeous with vineyards as far as the eye could see. We were there late June last year and the sunflowers and lavender and all the other flowers were beautiful!

Enjoy!

joy/luvparee

I think your Wednesday schedule is extraordinarily ambitious and I can't imagine you can fit everything in. The St. Remy market is a delight and my husband and I spent much more time there than we thought we would. And then we spent the rest of that day in Les Baux. If you rent the self-guided audio tour and listen to the whole tour it can easily take a couple of hours, if not more. And then there are little shops to poke around in

I don't believe there is too much to do in St. Remy at night. We based ourselves in St. Remy for almost a week and took day trips and by the time we finished our touring and had dinner (all dinners back in St. Remy except for one restaurant in Les Baux) we were pretty beat. I don't remember seeing much night life. But perhaps we just didn't know where to look.

I think it's going to be a long drive to Vence or St. Paul-de-Vence. You'll undoubtedly be able to fill up Friday with things you weren't able to squeeze in from your list.

Enjoy Provence. It's a special place.

St Remy is a wonderful place to come back to after a busy day of touring! Make dinner the main event of your evening followed by a leisurely walk back to your hotel.

Yaaay! Just the kind of feedback I was hoping for. I can use mappy.com to figure distances between locations but it is difficult to know how much time one might spend at various locations.

luvparee- Love your enthusiasm for the place. Although we're basing ourselves in Avignon I hope I haven't devoted too much time there. We don't arrive in Avignon until midafternoon and I figure with jetlag still a factor we might not want to jump right into sightseeing the museum type places that day. Plus, we're both shoppers and since shops may be closed all or parts of the next two days I thought it best to shop on Saturday.

The next day we plan to spend most of our time in Isle sur la Sorgue and then Fontaine de Vauclase and mabe a couple other little towns via bike that day. Thanks for letting me know what else might be of interest at the market.

If we do end up seeing all the sites in Avignon by Sunday Plan B is to hop on a bus or train and see another area on Monday. Marseille is only 70 min. away via TGV and we won't otherwise be in a port town.

Thanks for the Cote du Rhone info!

2010- Got any specific suggestions for dinner in St. Remy?

sharona- You're right. Too much on Wed. I underestimated the time needed for the St. Remy market & Les Baux.

I've already been to Arles anyway and we'll already have been in Avignon so we'll drop Arles. It can be Plan B if we happen to get to Glanum and Les Baux the day before.

St. P de V looks to be at least 4 hrs one way so I'll save it for another time.

I started researching the Dentilles and realized this will be an entire vacation for DH and I (bikes, mountains, wine) so I'm not going to spend Friday there afterall.

Looks like Arles is back in the picture. And L'Atelier Jean Luc Rabanel!

Provence is wonderful , Gordes IS worth seeing as is Les Baux for a first time (like Carcasonne and MSM.) Most of Provenc has little night life. You go to Cote D'Azur for that. St Remy and Avignon do have private clubs. It's so long ago tht I went to one in St Remy.
The Arletan Museum in Arles is a must, as is dinner at L'Atelier.
Walk across the Avignon bridge to Villeneuve-lez-Avignon to the Abbayee St André that has one of the most famous Provençal gardens.
Provence is my Earthly Paradise.

Thanks for reminding me about Villenueve lez Avignon. I will definitely put it on the itinerary while in Avignon.

I'm not really looking for nightclubs in St. Remy. We're just planning on hitting one in Avignon and the next week some in Paris on Saturday nite. I know it will be light quite late into the evenings in late June so I was trying to come up with ideas for after dinner in St. Remy.

They have good flea market on Saturday in Villeneuve.
I've bought an antique cutting board, an Provençal old hand made skirt and pottery through the years. There's a café so that whoever is with you can sit while you browse.