I've been reading many posts concerning rental car theft. We will be driving around Provence & although I scheduled the trip so there will rarely be a time when our luggage is left unattended--but there will be occasions. Does anyone know if there are pay/attended parking garages in Chateauneuf du Pape, Orange, or Carpentras? These are areas that I might need to leave the car with baggage. We are getting theft coverage for car contents, but it would still be annoying to get the bags stolen. Thanks!

None in Chateauneuf du Pape...at least that I remember!<BR><BR>1. It is very small and you can probably park your car right on the main street...and...<BR><BR>2. After all the great wine I drank, my wife drove back to Avignon where there are parking garages.<BR><BR>US

Anyone else? Peter? PB?

We were in Carpentras in November and saw no parking garages. There are some street level pay lots but they are in open areas with lots of pedestrians about -- not that I would know if this deters the determined thief. For what its worth I felt safer with the bags in the trunk in the open lot than in the multi-level parking garages in Aix.

<BR>Avery: I don't want to be nosy, but I assume that the reason you have luggage in those locations is because you're changing hotels. Given the fact that Chateauneuf, Orange and Carpentras are only about 8 to 12 miles from each other, why not simply drive to your next hotel first and drop off the luggage. They may even give you the room if it's ready. The extra 15 minutes is well worth the peace of mind. You can also take a different road coming and going to make it more appealing. Cruising through these little roads is fun by itself, and you always see things you didn't expect.

Keep: Actually, we were going to stop in Carpentras on the way from Seguret to Bonnieux. I believe it would be a bit out of the way to come back to Carpentras from Bonnieux. But thanks for the tip.