Paris/Provence Itinerary help
 

Hi there

Its our first trip to Europe this year - we're from Melbourne, Australia, and the hubby and I are already suffering from information overload! Not surprisingly, I now really need some help in terms of advice on itinerary etc for our time in France

We are taking the Eurostar from London on the 10th of Sep and our train back to London is on the 19th (in the evening). That effectively gives us 9 days. I thought of spending 10-12th in Paris, then leaving on the 12th to Provence, and returning from Provence-Paris on the 18th, one night in Paris and then back to London on the 19th.

So this now leaves us with 6 days to do Provence.

My initial thoughts (from reading the posts on this forum) is to take the TGV to Avignon. Maybe spend the night there and then on to St Remy. But from there, I have no further ideas. I am not familiar with the region at all, so any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

It looks like renting a car is the best option, so we'll do that, but unclear about whether to make 1 or 2 places our base.

In terms of what we are like - hubby loves architecture, and is really keen (we both are actually) to see some fantastic architecture. We're keen to go to some good markets, and see historic/beautiful towns. Unfortunately, hubby is also allergic to lavendar so seeing lavendar farms etc is out of the question.

Someone mentioned Carcassonne, and it looks beautiful! Would that be worth a stop at all?

Any help provided would be much appreciated!

Cheers

Carcassonne is a little out of your way. Having been there, I wouldn't suggest chewing up time to go there.

There are many options around Avignon:

St Remy
Les Baux
Arles
Nimes
Aix en Provence
Uzes
Pont du Gard

It'll be somewhat tricky to tippy toe around the Luberon in lavender season. Besides the lavender field, its in all the shops and markets. Not sure how your husband is affected by it so I'm not sure how to proceed there.

I don't remember seeing much lavender around Bonnieux, Menerbes, LaCoste, Lourmarin, Cucuron, Roussillon, Isle sur la Sorge. We did see it in gardens just about everywhere we went in the Luberon and it's even used along roadways like a decorative flower. It'll be difficult to avoid.

Good luck with your planning

The lavender harvest will be over by September. I think the lavender is blooming in late June/July (always depends on the weather!) so by September, all you will see is the sunflowers with their dried heads drooping.

You will be able to see alot in the Luberon/Vaucluse area. The towns/villages are fairly close together.

My favorite market is the Sunday market in L'Isle sur la Sorgue. You need to arrive around 8:30/9AM so as to be able to park somewhat close to the action.

We stayed in Pernes les Fontaines as we found that was quite central to all the villages/towns we wanted to visit. We also were there for 8 nights.

If you make a list of all the places you want to visit and then check a map of the area(you can google and find them on the internet), you can decide where you should base yourselves. I wouldn't stay in two places -- don't like to settle in somewhere and then have to pack up and move in 4 days. However, that may work for you.

You'll get lots of information on this forum so keep asking away!

Enjoy!

joy/luvparee

My husband is an architect so he too was quite interested in the architecture of the area. My guess is that some of the most noteworthy buildings are in the larger cities (Nice, Marseille, Avignon, Arles, etc.) and we didn't explore those on our trip last year.

Personally, I prefer to pick one place as a base as I don't like the time it takes packing, unpacking, packing and unpacking again. Plus, if you are wanting to stay in an apartment or house where you can prepare some of your own meals with wonderful ingredients purchased at the markets(which I highly recommend), once you've stocked up on your basic kitchen necessities - it's difficult to round all that up and restock the next kitchen. It's time consuming. We had no problem driving from Menerbes as our base to the villages listed below. We would usually drive one route to our destinations and an alternative route back to Menerbes. We never felt like we were "in the car" all the time.

Last year we visited the following and there's not a one of them I regret having visited:

Menerbes
Roussillon
Joucas
Apt (our favorite market)
Isle Sur La Sorgue
Bonnieux
Gordes
Les Baux
St. Remy
Aix en Provence
Vaison la Romaine
Abbye de Senanque


We so thoroughly enjoyed our visit to Provence last year that we're going again this Fall. This time we plan to visit Arles, Crestet, Seguret, Suzette, Gignodas, Sault, Lourmarin, Cucuron, Pertuis.

I might recommend too, if you have any choice in the car you rent...we had a Pugeot mini station wagon and it was ideal. Tiny enough to drive through streets where it felt you were threading a needle but it also had great power which is important for driving through the hilly countryside and perched villages. I say that because we then went on to Tuscany and the car we were given there had significantly less power and it was not as enjoyable driving through Tuscany as it was through Provence in that regard.

We stayed in St. Remy last May and drove to Carcasonne on our last day in Provence. It was a 2-1/2 hour easy drive but I wouldn't recommend it.

It's very touristy and not 100% authentic. I was sorry we spent the last day doing this.

Thanks for the great advice all!

OK - Carcasonne is out, will follow through the suggestions you've listed

Just in terms of where to base - I will follow your suggestions for just the 1 base - StuDudley had suggested in his itinerary to make Gordes our base - is that fairly central? I did also have a look at Pernes les Fontaines, which looks stunning as well.

Caroltis - your suggestion of getting an apartment is a great one - am really leaning towards this now. Are there any particular websites for apartment rental that are good?

Thank you all so much!

We use www.vrbo.com and www.homeaway.com most of the time.
We found the place to rent in Menerbes last year at www.theluberon.com where there are several listings.

Our trip in October we are staying in Roussillon. It is listed at VRBO but also has its own website(www.villaquatresaisons.com) And yes, Gordes would be a great place to base as well.

Hi:

We traveled to Paris and Provence in the summer of 2006 and, based on Stu Dudley's recommendations, divided our seven-night visit into four in Gordes (stayed at Mas de Romarins) and three in St. Remy (Mas des Carassins). We loved the area around Gordes a lot more, but it may have been because of the blooming lavender which is a non-issue in September.

For our trip, I prepared a day-to-day calendar of things to do and villages/places to visit, and we pretty much followed the plan and were happy with it. If you think it may be of help for your trip planning, e-mail me at [email protected] and I will attached a copy.

Anna Roz

Hi Anna

Thanks very much! I would love a copy - will email you now!

Also, trying to decide between Gordes and Roussillion (or anywhere else as a base). I was going to take Stu's suggestion, but reading some other posts on this forum, there seems to be a train of thought that Gordes is a bit overrated.

Does anyone have any thoughts on Gordes at all?

Cheers

We visited Pernes les Fontaines and did not care for it at all...I was expecting a lovely town and it wasn't at all what I expected..a little run down really. The area around it isn't particulary pretty either.

The views of Gordes from afar are stunning..something outside of town might be nice but parking can be an issue when you go in to visit.

We very much enjoyed our stays in Bonnieux and St Remy. Both have enough restaurants and services to make a good base. There are many lovely towns in this region to chose from.

A few people on Fodors have recommended this property in Bonnieux.

It looks lovely and Bonnieux made a very convenient base. The countryside is beautiful:

http://www.holidaylets.net/properties/5436

http://www.homeaway.com/vacation-rental/p18822

http://www.bastidemarechaldenier.com...artements.html

The main reason people pick Gordes as a location is because they want to stay in the beautiful Luberon. Gordes also has lots of hotels in various price ranges. Only one of the hotels I know about is actually in Gordes itself - the remaining ones (including Romarins) are just down the hill. The other Luberon villages - Bonnieux, Roussillon, Goult, Menerbes would work just as well as a base for visiting the Luberon. Gordes is slightly west of the others, which means it's closer to St Remy, l'Isle sur la Sorgue, Avignon, Vaison, the Dentelles, Rhone winegrowing area - thus a little less driving if you want to visit these areas.

Gordes gets some "bad press" because (IMO) it's a A+ when viewed from the outside, and a B from the inside. It's also quite touristy and the main "plateau" area around the castle is a little bland. However, if you walk through some of the small streets down to the wash basin at the bottom of town, you'll see a different Gordes & it may become an A-. IMO, Roussillon is just as touristy. Remember, many of the hotels in the Luberon are not really in town - they're on the outskirts. Some hotels on the road from Gordes to Senansque have wonderful views.

Stu Dudley

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Actually, Romarins is above Gordes with stunning views of the village from dawn to dusk. We had a small room with a large window toward the village and the view was just exceptional. It is also within an easy 5-7 minute stroll to Gordes.

So, essentially the "bad press" is about Gordes being overriden with tour busses, which may be true during the day when one would be touring the area in general and not necessarily staying in Gordes. However, by the time one stolls into town for dinner, a drink, or a walk, the busses are gone.

I would not hesitate to stay there again, but all other villages we visited in the Luberon were also very nice.

Anna Roz

Hey guys

Thanks for all your help and suggestions - we are going down the path of finding a rental for our time in Provence.

I'm looking for a place in the Luberon area, but confused as to what is a 'reasonable' amount of money to pay.

It will be for 6 nights - 13 Sep to 19 Sep, for 2 people. We'd like a place with a kitchen so we can cook some meals etc. But the prices can range from like 400 Euro to like thousands of Euro!

We are on a bit of a budget, so would really appreciate any assistance you can provide on where we could find some reasonably priced rentals...

Thanks :)

I found these websites very useful for planning:

Luberon News
http://tinyurl.com/44sd9z

The Luberon Experience
http://tinyurl.com/3napvg