Can someone give me info. on the train schedule (Thalys - spelling?) from Paris to Provence, as well as cost and duration? Web site with all of the listings and days run would be great.

Looking to stay in Paris for 3 or 4 days in March and then in Provence area (Avignon or somewhere else nearby?) for several days. Any recommendations on towns to visit and hotels in Provence region are appreciated. Love something with character and scenery of course wihout being financially excessive. This is my first trip to Europe! Thanks.

The main train that runs from Paris to Provence is called the Méditeranée; I believe the Thalys runs up into Belgium. As for where to stay...now is the time to pick up a guidebook and start looking at what sights interest you. Provence is BIG, and making recommendations without knowing what you want to see and do is difficult. However, if you search for Provence you will pull up quite a few posts on the subject, for starters.

Knowing your budget requirements would also be very useful.

www.sncf.com/

That's for the trains. Provence is a fairly diverse area, so a good guidebook [like the DK Eyewitness Guide} might be helpful in seeing what interests you the most. St Remy is a better base than Avignon for that area.

Thanks. I'll check into the tips/guidebooks mentioned so far.

If this helps...points of interest to me are usally historical (which I assume covers a lot of territory there), but cathedrals and castles, and any "must see" historical sites along the way. Also enjoy shopping (flea markets, antiques), etc. and good cafes, wine. Due to limited time (2 days or so), it sounds like having a central base would be best. Looking for best "bang for my buck" given my limited time there. Really would like to stay under 200 Euros per night for a hotel if possilbe (120 - 160 or so would be great). Thanks.

Although www.sncf.com is the real French railway site, for general planning, www.raileurope.com can be more user-friendly. It will give you times and major routes (although it won't list small runs nor all the schedules, only real popular ones). Raileurope has a rather large markup for delivery and service fees and the fare shown is marked up about 25 pct or so, also, so I wouldn't buy tickets from them, though.

They will probably show lots of schedules from Paris to Avignon--the other major places you could go by train from Paris down therewould be Arles, Nimes, Aix-en-Provence or Marseille. Several days isn't very long to spend there, you can't move around much. For anyone to advise well, I think it would help if you said where and how you intend to depart.

It will be very easy to spend 200 euro or less for a hotel in Provence in March.

Given your interests in history, I would also recommend the green Michelin Guide to Provence. In just several days you're going to be able to cover only a limited area, and the Michelin gives suggested itineraries and driving routes. My first inclination would be to suggest that you base near St.-Rémy and take day trips to Les Baux, Arles, and possibly Avignon, throwing in the Pont du Gard as well. That will give you just a taste of what PRovence has to offer.