aka143

We are a family of four with 10 year old twin boys visiting the provence area in the first week of July as part of an extended trip to France. Our initial priorities were just visiting the lavender fields usually in bloom during that time but as I read more about the region in the forum, I realize I have planned too little time for provence! Thanks to Stu for sending me his detailed itineraries. Our current plans look like this

Wed - Drive from Carcassonne, afternoon in Pont du gard, evening- will I have time for Avignon ( worried about parking issues during the first week of July due to the theatre festival) or Orange or cote du rhone drive along with visit to seguret ? Planning to stay near Rousillon/ Gordes (2 nights)

Thu- Luberon drive

Fri - Lavender fields near Sault, bullfight( the camarguaise one) in Arles (1 night)

Sat - Arles market, Le Baux ( as it has some extra medieval demonstration and stuff on weekends and though it might interest the boys) and drive to Nice for 3 days

As you can see, I just have 2 full days and 2 half days in Provence. With that in mind, please advice if I am prioritizing right and if I am too ambitious?, which I guess I am!

jamikins

We were in Provence for the first week of July last year and LOVED it!

Not sure if you have seen my pics here:
https://flickr.com/photos/[email protected]

I think you are trying to be too ambitious (but I think you know that!). The drive on the autoroute to Provence I remember from another trip being quite challenging in that there is a lot of semi-truck traffic on the way to and from Spain. I would expect it to take about about 3+ hours to get to Pont du Gard, then you want to spend time there...and then about 1.5+ hours to get to Gordes. Trying to add Avignon or Orange would be way too long of a day for us, and you will have two 10 year olds in the car.

Your Thurs I would use to see the lavendar fields - ask at your hotel or the locals which fields are at their best so you don't waste time trying to find fields that are already harvested or not planted in 2016.

That frees up some time on Friday to visit Les Baux on the way to Arles. I don't think I would want to drive from Arles, to Les Baux, spend time there and then drive 3+ hours to Nice in one day.

Just some thoughts - I am sure others will chime in as well!

Enjoy your planning!

jamikins

Meant to add, perhaps you could use Friday to visit Avignon instead of Les Baux.

elizabethG

There is a beautiful abbey
Notre-Dame de Senanque is a Cistercian abbey near the village of Gordes
this is a great place to wander the labander fields and visit the abbey and its closer than Sault.
Sault is great too they have a nice market filled with lavander items but
I think the abbey is special and the town of Gordes is a wonderful place to walk around. - from there you are within striking distance to many wonderful hilltop villages

topeater

My husband and I rented canoes and rowed the river to the Pont du Gard. When we were within viewing distance, we pulled over to the side and had a lovely picnic (the canoe rental company has coolers). It was a great way to see the area and might be a fun way for your boys to blow off some energy.

Christina

the only thing that looks really bad to me is your last day, doing all that sightseeing and then driving to Nice the same day. True, the drive itself may only be about 3-3:30 hours, but then there is the issue of trying to figure out what to do, park, etc when you arrive at a big city like that. Maybe you know Nice well and know exactly where you are going there.

I don't understand your first day, it's only about a two hour drive from Carcassonne to Pont du Gard. I didn't spend half a day there, but I guess that depends what you intend to do there. I just looked at it, basically, and went into that small museum they have there. Probalby only took a couple hours. So you could easily get there about 10-10:30 am and after more than the evening in Avignon. Of course, I wasn't interested in canoeing or whatever at Pont du Gard.

I wouldn't personally ever go to a bullfight as I don't believe in them, but I wouldn't take children. Yes, I know the bulls aren't killed in that type of bullfight, just teased, taunted and made to fight, and it can be dangerous for the person, also. I woudln't go to one any more than I'd go to a dog fight.

aka143

Wow! Your photos are just mind blowing! This is what I am dreaming of seeing in Provence.
As per your advice, I think I will skip doing Avignon after Pont du Gard on Wednesday and just head to our accomodation in Gordes and if time, may be visit a few Luberon villages.

aka143

@ elizabethG. We were inspired to visit Provence after seeing calender pictures of Senanque and are planning to visit it, the first thing Thursday morning.

@ topeater Thanks for the headsup on the canoe ride in Pont du Gard. I am sure my boys would love that! We are already planning one in the Dordogne region as well.

@ Christina I had a different image of the bullfight after reading the guide books. Now I have to look more into it to see if it would be suitable for the family.
I initially wanted to visit Le baux on Wednesday after Pont du Gard but changed it to Saturday after reading about the medieval demonstrations that take place on summer weekends. If someone has visited them, please let me know if it is worth braving the crowds for it?

StCirq

The medieval demonstrations at Les (note: it's plural - baux means bauxite) Baux would probably enthrall your kids, but do get there early because the relatively small parking lot will be full, plus most of the spaces on the (steep) hillside, so if you don't get there in plenty of time, you'll have quite a hike.

Make up your own mind about the bullfights. Plenty of French families go, and I have too, a couple of times and didn't find it particularly offensive.

As an aside, kayaking is a lot easier than canoeing on the Dordogne, especially in July, when the river can be a parking lot full of canoês. But you can only fit two at most in a kayak, so you'd have to split up.

aka143

Thanks for those helpful insights. Hopefully we will be able to get out of Arles market and get to Les Baux at 10 AM on Saturday (which I hope will be early enough to secure a parking spot).

Is driving into Avignon in July, like driving in Paris? If it is feasible and the kids are upto it, I would like to have atleast an evening there, strolling with views of the papal palace as I have heard so much about its history. If not, is the theatre of Orange a good alternative?

joannyc

I spent 4 weeks in the south of France this past July and covered a lot of the same areas that you are planning to see.

On your way from Carcassonne to the Pont du Gard, your boys might enjoy seeing the Ecluses de Fonserannes. It is a series of 9 locks allowing boats to pass along the Canal du Midi.

It would be a shame, I think, to be so close to Avignon and not see it for at least a few hours. I'd think boys that age would really enjoy the Palais de Papes. I stayed in Avignon for a few nights during the theater festival and did have an issue trying to park in my hotel's lot (it was also a public parking lot) but always found a space very close by in the train station parking lot.

And, very close to Les Baux, is the Carrieres de Lumineres.

Hope you have better weather than I did... it was HOT, HOT, HOT!

Here's a link to my pictures from that trip, maybe you'll find something of interest:


http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...n-pictures.cfm

joannyc

aka143, we were apparently posting at the same time. ;-)

I am a woman who travels solo and didn't have any issue driving in Avignon with my GPS.

I think the kids would enjoy doing the tour of the Papal Palace. I didn't get to Orange so can't comment on that.

aka143

@ Joannyc Your pictures are fabulous and dreamy and make me plan my next few vacation in this region as well! Especially loved the pictures of eye-popping sunflower fields and the unique locks and barges.

Mimar

You don't need to drive in Avignon. Circle the wall and look for public parking. Then walk inside the wall.

jacolis

Hi,

We were just in Provence this summer with our two kids (9 + 11). We actually did a lot of the things you are talking about but spread over 5 days. One one day we drove to the Gard and did the Uzes market as well as spending about 4 hours at the Pont du gard but that was because we did the canoeing (8 km) with stops for the kids to jump out and swim. You are picked up by bus at the other end and taken back to Collias. If you just wanted to view it and see the museum it wouldn't take as long. At the least your kids might like to walk down and swim under the bridge - it is pretty cool to see it from the water! The Haribo candy factory is in Uzes if that is of interest. The lines were too long to visit so we just popped into the gift shop to buy Orangina flavoured candies which the kids thought was just fine!

Two years ago we did kayaking on the Dordogne -- I personally found the canoeing on the Gard a lot harder. I am not very fit though (we did have to split up and each take a kid). If I had to choose one, I would choose kayaking on the Dordogne over canoeing on the Gard (I think the scenery is more picturesque). My older daughter and husband actually did paddle boarding on the Dordogne which they loved:
http://sup-perigord.com.pagesperso-o...fr/Page_1.html

We also saw the show in the Arles arena - it included a variety of horseback riding tricks (with the beautiful white horses), Arlesien culture and a demonstration of the courses camarguaises. The kids really enjoyed it - like the poster above, we were not offended by it but everyone has their own views I guess! We also visited the arena during the day bc my husband is especially interested in Roman ruins. Make sure you bring a hat and pay extra for the seats in the shade. It was boiling hot in July even at 6 pm.

We did the medieval demos at Les Baux. Get there @ 930. The demos were really fun (crossbow, operating the trebuchet, etc). You will need at least 2 hours. There is also an audio tour with a special one for kids.

Even though Gordes and the Abbey (with the lavender field) are beautiful the traffic was so terrible in July that it put a bit of a damper on things. I would say go to Roussillon first thing and do the Sentiers des ochres with your kids. It is a cool and easy hiking trail. Just don't wear white.

It would be hard to choose - the Pont du gard is truly an amazing site. But my kids LOVED the medieval demos of Les Baux. If I had to skip one of the things it would be Arles.

Good luck!

aka143

@Jacolis, Thank you so much for sharing your personal opinions and experiences!

I am glad that you and your kids enjoyed the Arles courses camarguaises. I had originally planned the Arles visit on Friday, especially for this. We are staying the night in Le Calendal, which I think is closer to the arena and so if things do get a little scary for the kids, one of us can always return back to the hotel with them.

As we will be staying say 20 min from Rousillon, do you think it will be better to Visit Rousillon ocres trails, the evening of Wednesday to avoid the traffic?

We will be sure to pack our swimming stuff for Pont du Gard!

joannyc

Thanks for compliment, aka143!

I arrived at Senaque Abbey around 11:30 or so. Many people were parked along the road above the entrance making it a little bit of a hike to and fro. I drove down their driveway entrance and easily found a parking spot in the parking lot. There were quite a few available spots so don't feel like you have to park up on the road!

jacolis

Hi,

I think the trails are only open until 730 pm in July. I dont know what the parking situation is like -- we showed up early in Roussillon (@ 9 am) and got a spot in the closest lot. Maybe others have experience with coming @ 530 pm and doing the short hike?

The show we saw in the Arenes is on Mondays (just checked). The courses are on Wed & Fri. I don't think there would be anything that would scare your boys. i have been to an actual bullfight in Spain and the courses part of the show were nothing like that.

BTW we bought these delicious sandwiches at a shop in Arles called Fa'doli to eat at the show (saucisson de toro!). We also had delicious ice cream at place called Arelatis.

And one of our best lunches of the whole trip was a place near the Pont du Gard called Le Tracteur in Argilliers.

bon voyage!

jamikins

aka143, thank you for your kind words, I am sure you will also have a fabulous time!

We were there the first week of July and the only 'traffic' we encountered was around Senanque Abbey, so try to get there early in the day.

Enjoy!