Pezenas, Carcassone or Uzes
 

Need some help trying to decide where to spend two nights between leaving Barcelona on a Thurs. and arriving in St. Remy on a Saturday (early Sept.),short list is Pezenas, Carcassone or Uzes, we have not visited any of these towns before so all would be new to us. We would prefer to spend both nights in the same town and are leaning towards either Pezenas or Uzes both of which have a Sat. market which we could do before going onto St. Remy, I've read various threads on Carcassone and have mixed feelings, not sure if we would enjoy the crush or not!!
Ease of getting into a town and finding a hotel or B&B with parking is a priority.

Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

I like them all. Carcassonne is most out of the way but if you're looking for a disneylike magical town with a double wall then that's the place for you. The whole town is filled with touristy shops and almost too perfectly renovated that it has a theme park feel to it. We still enjoyed our stay there since we stayed inside the wall. There are only 2-3 hotels inside the wall if I remember correctly. Uzes is also out of the way though probably not as far and the hotels will be cheaper and average type. Pezenas will be more on the route btw BCN and St Remy.

Thanks for your response. Our first choice was originally Pezenas mainly because of being on the route, second choice Uzes and now Carcassone has got thrown into the mix to make the decision even harder.

Anybody else got an opinion to help us decide.

Just reread my previous post which sounds too negative about Carcassonne. I have to say that Carcassonne will give you the biggest "wow!" of the 3 places (in spite of all the negative things people write). Sure it's overcommercialized like Rothenburg in Germany, but it is still an incredible place. If you do choose Carcassonne, stay inside the walls. I think there is a Best Western inside.

Hi P,

I think that Carcassone is worth an overnight, maybe 2.

See my trip report for details:http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...p;tid=34676645

Photos at http://tinyurl.com/sjch4
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=...&y=-pla2au

((I))

Ira I just clicked on your trip report and notice that you rank Narbonne Plage as even "more tacky" than Carcassone. If these places are so tacky, why do you recommend them so often? I remember that when I inquired about Albi before my trip last month, you recommended that I spend the day driving from Albi to Narbonne to "see the Med"..???

You may have read my other post on Carcassone, but it bears repeating. We were disappointed and couldn't get out fast enough. So many tourist souvenir shops. Such crummy food.

I am sure that those who stay longer get to see much more than we did. I am sure that further research would yield better restarants than we found. I admit, we did not give the place a chance.

Don't miss Collioure on the drive up. If it were me (I am willing to stay two night in different places) I'd stop in Collioure and Uzes. Lucky you...no matter where you end up, it will be France and just wonderful! Have a great time!

Amy: I think if you had stayed in Carcassonne itself you would have discovered the charm of the city in spite of the tourist shops. I don't hear anyone complaining about the mushrooming tourist shops in St Paul de Vence so far. The commerce grows with the popularity of the place.

All the settings in Carcassone was almost too perfect that I felt compelled to check if the rocks and stones are real not props. There is gourmet food in the hotel de la Cite, but the large outdoor natural "food court" served decent food. We had a great time chatting for hours with a few wonderful French tourists in that open courtyard. They were super friendly and welcoming towards tourists that it almost felt like they were actors paid to act as friendly French tourists. That's just a silly thought. One of them was a local radio show host, the rest didn't tell.

Sorry for the multiple gramatical errors, I rephrased parts of the sentences to shorten them but didn't proofread the whole sentences till I have already posted all.

hi, Patricia -

here's another suggestion - perpignan - lovely town with a nice centre, lots of restaurants, nicely enroute to St. Remy.
It's easy to get in and out of.

we were in Collioure on a friday night in early sept. last year, and there wasn't a bed to be had.

and Carcassonne is well out of your way.

regards, ann

DAX, I agree with you absolutely. As I said, we did not give the place a chance. Glad you were able to scratch below the surface and find the beauty in the place and people.

I think that perhaps the only way to do so is to stay in the city. And maybe for two night, as Patricia has suggested she might like to do. I am certain that once all the tour busses pull away, the feeling shifts dramatically. And I know that when I stay over, I make a greater investment in digging around figuring out what to do beseides the usual touristy stuff.

Obviously you made that investment and enjoyed the pay off!

Patricia, I have been to both Uzès and Carcassone, the former for four weeks on three separate visits, the latter for about four hours.

While Carcassone is initially impressive, I couldn't imagine going a significant distance to spend two nights there; others might see that differently.

Uzès is not really a great distance off your route between Barcelona and St-Rémy-de-Provence. As you pass Nîmes, just stay on the A9 until you reach the exit for Remoulins, then follow D981 to Uzès. It will probably take you about 30 minutes or less from Nîmes.

Uzès is one of my favourite towns. There is ample parking in various lots around the perimeter and a very convenient concrete garage in the north-east corner of the town (just look for a sign saying "Parking Gide"). There are several restaurants to choose from, some interesting shops, and interesting architecture. Have a drink under the plane trees in Place aux Herbes, an experience that you will probably always remember.

If you haven't already seen it, take a look at this trip report by Cimbrone, in which he describes the market and the hotel where he stayed:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=35018990

Sorry, can't offer an opinion on Pezanas.

Anselm

Thanks all for your invaluable help. We have been to both Collioure and Perpignan before so were looking for somewhere new. Anyway I think we have decided to leave Carcassone for the future and have settled on two nights in Uzes, just need to sort a hotel or B & B now.