For anyone who has stayed in either: We have made reservations for 4 nights at Presbytere St. Thomas in mid October. I just read a post by jd of Dallas who said the limits of Madame's might be an issue for some. I did book using the internet having attempted on the phone with little success. I do speak some French and certainly not proper French! We are fairly adventuresome and like to stumble upon places but also welcome recommendations. We struggled around Italy for three weeks with little or no Italian between us and had a ball. I am a little worried about the languageissue at Presbytere. Has this been a problem for anyone else? Also, if one is able..could you compare the properties. Many thanks..Merci.

Hi PamSF~

I am very much interested in the responses for exactly the same reasons. We leave on 3/31 and are booked at Presbytere St Thomas. Let's hope we get some replys. Also, do you have a way to contact Mas de Carassin- phone number or email address. Do they have a web-site that you know of? Here's hoping to hear something!

For those interested this is information on Mas des Carassins
phone 33 04 90 92 15 48
fax 33 04 90 92 63 47
www.hoteldescarassins.com
email- [email protected]

Madame is wonderful and gracious. If you speak just a little, I think you will be fine. She can tell you which towns to go visit, and you will understand that. I speak more French now than I did a year ago, and I was fine then. I was depending on French that I had learned 30 years prior in college, and Madame and I were able to coomunicate quite nicely. She is a great hostess, and you will feel quite welcomed.

Pam,I will be staying at Presbytere St. Thomas for 5 nights in May. Will post when I get back! I also had considered the Mas de Carassins. I have never stayed in a B&B, so decided to try it.
My French is pretty elementary, but I'm kind of looking forward to being able to try it out. I was able to make my initial reservation with Madame on the phone, then I called again to change the dates. It all worked out, and we have e-mailed back and forth a couple of times. She sounds absolutely lovely, and so helpful. I'm really looking forward to staying there.

I'm just hoping that I can find the place the first time! Someone posted here that they had trouble, and called Madame from the village, and she came and had them follow her. Wren, will I be able to find it?? I wasn't worried about that until I read that post!

Well, my husband insisted on taking his laptop w/ GPS so we did'nt get lost! But we basically just followed her directions, & it wasn't hard.
I know you will enjoy yourself!

We stayed at Mas des Carassins last June. 3 generations of us. It is absolutely gorgeous. A bit of a walk to town, but doable. The pool was wonderful. We didn't eat dinner there, so no report on that.

I'm the one who had trouble finding Presbytere St. Thomas, so let me clarify. You should be getting directions from your hostess, and if you follow them very carefully you shouldn't have a problem. If you approach Ste Etienne from the west (as from the Avignon-Arles highway), you will actually turn right before entering the village of Ste Etienne. I believe that our directions said the 1st or 2nd turn after leaving the Avignon-Arles highway, and that is literally true. The 1st turn is a one lane road that you could mistake for a driveway. If you reach the sign showing that you are entering Ste Etienne, you have gone too far east.

We found ourselves wandering around in the village, because we didn't turn soon enough.

Once you make the correct turn, you will come up upon the rear of the house (with a large carport), not the front view of the house that you see on the website.

Madame Gayte is extremely gracious and welcoming.

Thanks for the reply, Wren. And jd-dallas, thanks for the directions. There is also a little map on her website, with some directions, but I really appreciate your more explicit ones.