Paris to Avignon & St. Remy
Jul 3rd, 2002, 07:23 PM
#1
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Paris to Avignon & St. Remy
I would like to get a taste of Provence during my 2 week vacation to Paris in September. I prefer not to rent a car and have a home base for 2/3 nights and see the sights and shop. Can anyone recommend a nice place to stay in Avignon ? I am thinking Avignon as it sounds easy to take the train from Paris. Shops, markets, hotel, rest. suggestions in Avignon ? Is St. Remy a good day trip ? What is the best way of getting to St. Remy from Avignon (w/o a car)? <BR>
Jul 4th, 2002, 12:01 AM
#2
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Hotel: Cloitre Saint Louis is nice and very convenient, across the street from train and bus station.<BR>www.cloitre-saint-louis.com<BR>St Remy: there are buses about every hour that take abt 40 min.<BR>You can also book a day tour with Lieutaud bus co.<BR>Do a search on Avignon and look for the thread 'Provence without a car' that has a lot of suggestions.<BR>Enjoy!<BR>
Jul 4th, 2002, 03:27 AM
#4
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I agree with Gretchen. You can rent a car at the station in Avignon but be prepared for the traffic. The nearby hill villages are a must see. To me they are Provence. For more info check out:<BR>http://groups.yahoo.com/group/provence<BR>and go through some of the recent postings.<BR>Bon Voyage.
Jul 5th, 2002, 10:05 AM
#6
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Agree with "avignon." We stayed at the Hotel Cloitre Saint Louis, right inside the city walls. Got off the TGV train from Paris, walked through the gate & there was the hotel (it's down an alley on the left - easy to miss).<BR> We took the bus to St. Remy, which was easy - except that the driver ignored the scheduled return time (insisted on leaving an hour later but no big deal). Besides checking out St. Remy, we walked to the nearby Roman ruins of Glannum.<BR> We took the train to Arles, again it was easy. The Arles station involves a bit of a walk into town. Arles has a marvelous museum & outdoor market (very colorful, tradespeople from throughout the region) <BR> In Avignon, there's a small touring office right by the train station. We took an excellent tour through them to the Camergue (marshes, French cowboys, wild horses, flamingos; a town from the Crusades era, etc.). We learned about the tour company through the tourist bureau on the main drag.
Jul 5th, 2002, 10:35 AM
#9
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I don't think you should rent a car, you're only there a couple days with more than enough to do. Renting a car will cost a lot and add a lot in time, complexity and potentially nervous breakdowns. I don't agree that it is easy and trivial, nor necessary. I travel a lot without renting a car, even in Provence, and it's not necessary for a 2 day trip. I've been to Avignon a couple times, once completely without a car, and the other time I did but wouldn't have used it if I were just in Avignon for a couple days. So don't think you must rent a car.<BR><BR>For a hotel, La Mirande is a very nice hotel near the palace (www.la-mirande.fr). I don't know a good medium level one, unfortunately -- I think there was one on the main street going to the palace from the station that looked convenient and nice. I think it is the 3-star Bristol. Here is a good web site with info and contacts on most hotels in Avignon, sorted by rating:<BR>http://www.gaf.tm.fr/en/france/hotel...se/avignon.php Both the Mirande and Bristol are also in www.avignon-et-provence.com, a great resource for all kinds of info.<BR><BR>I think above advice covers it for St-Remy, I took the city bus from Avignon, but an organized company bus might be preferable for scheduling. Avignon is small enough that you won't have trouble finding shops, there are plenty around the center. Just don't miss the Petit Palais museum (assuming you like fine arts), it's one of the best smaller regional museums I've seen (lots of Renaissance Florentine art).<BR><BR>I think Arles is an excellent day trip from Avignon.
