msal

My family of 4 - 2 adults and 2 teens ages 16 and 13 will be in Provence (with a car) from July 27 - August 1. We will be coming from Nice and leaving on the 1st to Paris. It's our first time in France.

I would like our family to get a real feeling for the beauty and culture of Provence - see the sights and spend time in the villages. We love the little out of the way places!

I have read that Sunday/Monday is not a great time to be touring because some towns are "closed". We will be staying in the St. Remy area.

Should we split this time between St. Remy and Gordes area? I do have a hotel lined up for the 27 through the 29 in the Gordes area. Or should we just spend the whole time in St. Remy area?

Below is our preliminary itinerary. Please comment. Thanks

Thursday, July 27
Travel to St. Remy from Nice
Stop in Aix or another town

Friday, July 28
St. Remy
Les Baux
Eygaliers
Arles? Too ambitious?

Saturday July 29
Pont du Gard
Uzes
Nimes

Sunday July 30
Isle-sur-la-sorge market
Rousillion
Gordes
Senaque Abbey

Monday July 31
Stu Dudley's lavendar route
Something else?

Tuesday August 1
Avignon to Paris (am)

I do not have Avignon on the itinerary at this point. Is it a mistake?
Also, since I have the place in Gordes at the beginning of our time in Provence, can we switch any of the days so that we are in the Luberon on the 28th and 29th?

Thanks for your help!

Underhill

Your Friday schedule will have you collapsed on the floor in exhaustion by the end of the day...or night. Limit yourself to St-Rémy, Les Baux, and Egyalières. Arles needs a separate day, as there's quite a lot to see, including the Abbey de Montmajour on the way. You might also want to run up to Tarascon and Beaucaire that day.

rlbplf

Sunday is also ambitious, the market can consume at least a half a day. Gordes and Rousillion are small and can be seen in an hour or so each. However, we ran into a rehersal for a concert at the church in Gordes and sat there in amazement for an hour listening to it. Allow time for finding the unexpected and of course getting lost along the way. It doesn't hurt to plan to see something but don't feel like you have to stay on some schedule, you will miss the ability to relax and really enjoy Provence.

PBProvence

Okay... so my first reply wound up in cyberspace somewhere - it certainly didn't show up here.

Since you have a hotel near Gordes for the first couuple of nights, I'd say do that and go over to St. Rémy on Sunday after l'Isle sur la Sorgue. You can visit St. Rémy in the afternoon.

Your day trips look okay. I disagree with Underhill though. I'd visit Arles first thing in the morning, returning to Eygalières after lunch (it's small and doesn't take long to visit) and returning to Les Baux late in the day when the crowds have dispersed (like after 5:30 - 6 PM).

I don't think you're missing much by not going to Avignon. Your visit will be during one of the busiest weekends of the summer with everyone arriving on vacation from the rest of Europe and Paris... so it will be a zoo.

you can click on my name to see other posts if you're interested in restaurant recommendations and other info on this area. (the same for Underhill and Stu)

Patricia

PBProvence

Another thing... most of the shops and stores will be open on Sunday mornings (and many in the afternoon as well) and Monday, as it's vacation season.

Patricia

katzen

bookmarking

msal

Thanks so much for the recommendations.
If I book the inn outside of Gordes for the 2 days, my revised itinerary looks like this:

Friday 7/27
Rousillon
Gordes
Senanque Abbey
Oppede le Vieux


Saturday 7/28
Stu's Lavendar Route
Or - Small hill towns

Sunday 7/29
Isle sur la Sorge
St. Remy - afternoon

Monday 7/30
Pont du Gard
Uzes
Nimes

Tuesday 7/31
Arles
Eygalieres
Les Baux (pm)

I do have some concerns as I want to keep my kids engaged.
- Is the Sunday/Monday schedule okay? Hopefully everything will be open
-Although I don't want to miss the history in some of the larger towns, we do all love the small quaint towns.
I just want to make sure I have a good balance of areas and not just the "tourist sights" Any suggestions?

Again, thanks for your comments, they were very helpful.

rlbplf

We visited Arles for the market and walked around a bit. Didn't see much attraction for us there except for the market. Just wondering why you chose Arles for Tuesday? Check this site for market days: http://www.beyond.fr/a/calmarkets.html

Underhill

You must not have seen the splendid Roman arena and theater, or the excellent folk-lore museum, or the cloisters and church of St-Trophime, or the many other wonderful sights in Arles. The market is over on one side of the city--perhaps that's why you apparently didn't make it to the central area.

rlbplf

We did see some of what you mentioned but I guess Arles was "big city" relative to the rest of what we enjoyed about Provence and very touristy. I would take Gordes or Les Baux over Arles any day. But that is what makes traveling interesting and why it is so difficult for someone to make a decision on what to see based on other's observations. In the end you just need to visit a town, area or whatever and then decide for yourself.

By the way I have always appreciated and enjoyed your observations and recommendations. You have helped us in our trip planning in the past. Keep it up!

msal

rlbplf - thanks for the info -I might eliminate Arles - We do like to spend more time in the smaller towns - any suggestions?

I just found out that the hotel that was holding rooms for us in Gordes gave away the rooms for one night. I'm back to St. Remy for the whole 5 days unless I can find another place to stay. Hard to do last minute.

ms_go

Tough call. We just came back from that area two days ago, also traveling with a 13 YO who loved Arles (and Nice) but frankly was a little bored with places like Gordes and Les Baux.

I'd agree with those who said to be flexible and not overplan your days. It was very hot last week (90s during the day), and we found ourselves making more stops for drinks and to get out of the sun. Ultimately, we ended up cutting things from our planned agenda.

Get to the Isle-sur-la-Sorgue market early. We were a little slow getting out in the morning (also staying in St. Remy), arrived there about 10:15 and had to park about a mile away. It was a zoo by then.

Enjoy! It's a lovely area.

msal

ms_go - what area did you stay in?

ms_go

We stayed at Mas des Carassins in St. Remy.

msal

ms_go - that's where we have our reservations! Is it a good location for 5 nights?

rlbplf

We also stayed at Mas de Carassins last summer. They have a nice pool and we ended up eating dinner there several nights as the food was wonderful. The staff were very helpful. It is well located just outside of the village but very walkable into the center of town. We stayed at their sister hotel in Gordes one night, can't remember the name but if you ask someone at Mas de Carassin, they can help. I think I might stay in St Remy the entire time rather than pack up and move to Gordes which is not that far away. St Remy is larger and has more to do than Gordes.

As for Arles, don't base your decision on our experience. What one person likes or dislikes may not hold true for you. The only way to find out if you like Arles is to go. The market was very large and worth seeing. We had been to Provance before and seen the Roman ruins in Orange and other areas so we weren't that keen to visit that sort of thing in Arles even though I am a history buff. Your children might enjoy Arles more than the smaller towns as ms-go pointed out. We don't have children so I can't help with that issue.

I would second the recommendation to get to Isle sur la Sorque early. The market there was much like the one in Arles in fact we saw many of the same merchants in both places.

There is another small town we visited, Goult, near Gordes. We went there to try to buy tickets to the Mozart concert to be held in Gordes. As luck would have it the next day was Bastille day and Goult was having its celebration in the town square. Free wine, sausage, french bread and some really nice people. I met an older French gentleman who quickly realized I was an American. I speak no French other than the usualy phrases but he said in French, French and Americans, good friends and hugged me. One of those side trips that created a moment not to be forgotten.