Provence- bed and breakfast or gite
 

Hi-
After using this forum extensively for a Spanish trip last fall, I thought I'd write and ask some questions from those of you who are familiar with Provence.

My husband and I are attending a language school in Roanne, near Lyon, in September. Any ideas on inns nearby that we can use before our stage and before flying home?

From Roanne, we are traveling south to Provence. We have been there before and stayed in Venasque and in Fontvielle- loved both B&Bs and are looking forward to returning. Now, we are thinking it might be fun to have a longer visit- maybe 7-10 days and are deciding between staying at a B&B or at a rented cottage. What area do you think is is the most central? Should we stay in the Luberon or the Alpilles? We have not visited the area north od Avignion and wonder if that might be interesting and beautiful as well.

We very much enjoy talking to other travelers and speak French (my French is decidly less fluent than my husbands, but it should be passable by the end of the stage)) and have enjoyed meals at those B&Bs that serve dinner. Does anyone have any suggestions on either B&Bs that would be good for a somewhat longer stay or cottages/ villas that would be enjoyable. I've looked on the web for rentals, but am having trouble evaluationg them.

Thanks so much in advance for your advise.

Margret

The area north of Avignon is marvelous for exploration: fewer crowds make for a very nice time. You could visit Orange, Vaison-la-Romaine, the wine villages around Gigondas, Nyons (great market; it's where Patricia Wells shops when she's in Provence), Montélimar, Dieulefit, the Aven d'Orgnac if caves interest you...it's a long list.

You could consider basing yourselves in Vénasque at the Auberge la Fontaine, which has good-sized rooms with kitchens and a/c and offers dinner.

Sorry--just noticed that you've already stayed in Vénasque. In that case, I'd really recommend our favorite hotel/restaurant anywhere, Les Hospitaliers. It's in the medieval village of Le Poët-Laval, not far from Dieulefit, and is a wonderfully relaxing place to stay. Ask for room 18 if you want lots of room.

Thanks for the suggestions, Underhill. Karen Brown recommends this hotel, and we find her lists consistently helpful. This area of the Luberon has always intreaged me. How far is this auberge from the southern end of the Luberon or from Avignon? Just trying to get an idea of distances. Do the guests at Les Hospitaliers tend to interact at all like at a B&B?

Any other suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks, Margret

I think we're not on the same page of the map--the Luberon is south of Vénasque, which is in the Vaucluse, while Dieulefit is north--in the area of the Drôme, about an hour from Nyons. I wouldn't say that the guests at Les Hospitaliers interact, except perhaps by the pool (which has a great view, BTW. When we've stayed there the other guests were mostly French, English, and German. The only time I remember much guest interaction was when a bike tour was staying at the hotel, all of them Americans. But if you choose to sit in the lounge before or after dinner, there might be opportunities for conversation. The hotel's rooms are in 3 different buildings, and you don't really see other guests except in passing.

P.S. I do hope you'll plan on dining at Troigros while in Roanne. The restaurant consistently gets extremely high ratings.

Underhill,

You are absolutely right- I got confused! Since I last wrote, I have been studying the map and books and think I now have it straight.

In any case, how long do you think it would it take us to get to the Luberon ( south of Venasque)? We would like to visit some places we missed on our first visit to Provence and are trying to figure out if we need to rethink our trip and arrange 2 bookings- one in the area you suggested and one south, say in the Alpilles.

While we are at the stage, we will be eating at the chateau that houses the school. ( 3 Ponts- it also has a cooking school as well) We are planning on booking at Troigros, hopefully the evening before we arrive at the school.

We will need to arrange for lodging closer to Lyon before our arrival into Lyon and before our departure back to the states. We think we might like to spend a few days in the area, but haven't gotten that far in our planning. Any suggestions

Thanks,

Margret



Thanks again,

Margret

I just recently returned from 2 weeks in Provence. I stayed in the Luberon at Lourmarin for a few days, then near St. Remy for 5 days, and then my last couple of days north in Vaison-la-Romaine. The north is really beautiful, but would be pretty far to drive for daytrips to the Luberon. From Vaison (which is further south than the place Underhill is talking about), I think it took me about an hour to drive to Avignon (with no stops whatever).

By the way, please let us know how you like the language school at Roanne - I've read about it, looked on their website, and it looks wonderful. I'm very tempted to do the same thing. Are you staying there only one week, or more?

Hi Sue,

Thanks so much for your feedback. I thought the distances would be quite long. We're still trying to sort it out. We'll be in Roanne for just a week. My husband is quite fluent in French and will be taking a much more advanced class than my rather weak intermediate one. I'm nervous, but excited as well. We thought we'd start with one week, and see how we like it.

Since we'll be based in the Lyon area for a week, and expect our flights to be in and out of Lyon, we've been trying to decide how to spend the next 8-10 days. Since we've been to the Luberon and the Alpilles before, maybe we'll head to a more northern area like Vaison. Where did you stay in the area and would you recommend it? Any suggestions on the part of France would be most welcome.

Maybe instead of traveling farther south to Provence, we'll head north to the Alps. We've never been there and it's back towards Lyon, though clearly, more east and south.

Send me your email, and I'll make sure to get in touch with you about the stage when we return.

Thanks again, Margret

You might want to consider Les Florets in Gigondas (Vaucluse). They require demi-pension.

We stayed at a nice B & B in the Haut Ville of Vaison (same one Sue stayed at, but I think we liked it more than she did) called L'Eveche. Not the type of B& B that serves dinner though. Just down the street is Le Beffroi, which may be a bit more small hotel than B & B but it does serve dinner.

I think that we have decided that once we leave the language school, we'll head first to the Alpilles for a couple of days and then north to the area all of you have talked about. I love the desription of Les Florets. It sounds lovely. Thank you.

We have previously stayed at Mas de la Tour in Fontvielle, and really loved it, so maybe we'll go back, though I'd love the names of other B&Bs in the Alpilles.

Thanks for all your suggestions.

It's hard to do better in a 3-star B&B in the Alpilles than Le Mas des Carassins (do a Google search for website), just outside St. Remy (5-10 minute walk to center of town). It's a converted 18th centurty farmhouse in a large garden with a pool. We stayed there for 5 nights last September. Rooms were commodious and baths also large and well-equipped. Staff was very friendly and helpful. Dinners each night (optional) were gourmet. From our balcony we looked straight out at the Alpilles, and with the car were able to tour not only in the immediate area but also extensively in the Luberon (Gordes, Rousillon, Ansouis, etc.), and west to the Pont du Gard. Hope to go back sometime in the next few years (too many other places to see in the meantime). Coincidentally, we ended this particular trip in Lyon before heading back to CDG (via the TGV) for trip home, and stayed in Vieux Lyon at La Tour Rose, with dinner down the street at "Notre Maison" - a great last night in France.

Margret, please do e-mail me about your experience at the language school. I would probably be at the intermediate stage also. What I need is a course of "intensive speaking"! My e-mail is [email protected].

Your idea of going to the Alpilles first for a few days, and then back up north is a good one. I stayed in Vaison-la-Romaine in the Medieval village. The area is lovely around there, and the town has alot to offer - Roman ruins, a great market (Tuesdays), plus the interesting little streets of the medieval village. But alot of walking up to the village! I think the place that Underhill talks about in Le Poet Lavel sounds really great, I would like to go there next time. Of course it's further north.