Westerleigh

This is my first post in this forum, so apologies in advance if I don't follow certain protocols.

After several trips to Paris, we are planning to stay in Provence for two weeks next summer. I am traveling with two other families and among the three families we will have four adults and six young people ages 11 to 17. My parents may join us for a few days as well.

Keeping in mind budgets and the complicated privacy needs of teenagers, I finally found a house that could accommodate all of us, with a pool. It is the village of Cabrieres D'Avignon and looks very lovely. The owner has been a pleasure to work with.

I am hoping to connect with others who have stayed in or visited the town because I am curious/hopeful/concerned about whether this is the right spot for us. I am hoping there is enough to get to on foot that we won't always need to get into a car to do some shopping, have a meal or get to a neighboring town.

I have looked at similar houses in other villages but they are either way outside our price range ($4500/week max) or don't have the multiple twin beds needed.

Long preamble to the question: what is it like to stay in the village? Are there cafes, restaurants or destinations that are in walking or biking distance that would be appealing to this crew?

StuDudley

We've spent a total of 4 weeks in a Gite in Cabrieres D'Avignon. It is a small village, but had an excellent small mom & pop market where we found everything we needed (including wine). This market was open on Sundays. There was also a meat market across the street. Both markets have excellent deli selections - which supplemented our dinners. One time I ordered a Bresse Chicken from the meat market, and I had them roast it for me on their rotisserie the next day for our dinner. There is also a patisserie in town (closed 1 day a week - maybe Wed). The restaurants came & went. One year there were two, and a few years later none. The last time were were there was in '03 - so things may have changed.

There is now a good grocery just south of Cabrieres D'Avignon - which was not there in '03. You are 20 mins from the fabulous outdoor market in l'Isle sur la Sorgue and 5-10 mins from Gordes (Tues farmer's market). Apt has a huge market on Saturdays.

Large groceries are usually closed on Sundays. However, there is one open Sunday just outside of l'Isle sur la Sorgue on the way to Pernes. It is open Sunday because the town's farmer's market is Sunday.

Stu Dudley

StuDudley

Since you are new to Fodors - I have a 27 page itinerary for the Cote d'Azur & Provence that I've sent to over 3,000 people on Fodors. It describes our favorite villages, scenic drives, markets, restaurants, and has a section on Provence fabric. If you would like a copy, e-mail me at [email protected] & I'll attach one to the reply e-mail.

Stu Dudley

GeoffreyL

I have a similar question to Westerleigh so have emailed you Stu if that's ok to get a copy of your itinerary.

Betty1

Hi, Westerleigh

I rented a house for a group of 11 in Cabrières in 2009. It was called the Mas de Cabrières and I dealt with "Paolo." I'm wondering if you are considering the same house. If so and you have specific questions about the house let me know. Generally speaking, we enjoyed the house and found the location pleasant. And it was convenient for visiting the Luberon villages, Avignon, Arles, Saint-Rémy, etc. The only slight difficulty was getting in and out of Cabrières (narrow streets) and parking our three cars.

I sympathize with your problem about finding a house with several single beds. I do group trips every year and that is often the most difficult thing in finding a house that suits my group. So I did particularly appreciate this house for all the single beds that could be arranged as doubles.

I don't recall all the details of the village that Stu mentions, but do remember a small grocery / bakery and one restaurant called le Vieux Bistrot where we ate once or twice. I also remember that there was not a café where you could just hang out and have a drink or a cup of coffee. I missed that.

Let me know if I can help further.

Westerleigh

Thank you all so much for your replies. StuDudley, I will e-mail you to get your itinerary. That sounds like it will be perfectly helpful.

I think Betty's comment about not having a cafe to simply have a cup of coffee in strikes at my biggest concern about the town. I've asked around a bit more and I do think that we'll rethink our location, especially given the age range of travelers.

Christina

I've been through it when I was staying nearby, it's very small, I don't think you understand that what you are looking for is mainly available in larger towns, not small villages (communes). The population is less than 2000, there aren't going to be stores, restaurants and cafes where people hang out in places like that. They are often just a turn in the road. If you stay in that area, it's just like being in the country, don't consider an experience of being in a town.

When I was in that area, I was staying in Pernes-les-Fontaines, which is small but a real town with some things in it (stores, restaurants, cafes, parks, some historic sights, even if only a couple). Even it didn't really have a lot of places like that, and it had a population of closer to 10,000.

StuDudley

We've spent 8 weeks in a gite near Bedoin - in addition to 10 weeks in gites in other locations of Provence. In Bedoin there are lots of cafes, "simple" restaurants, boulangeries, patisseries, boucheries, a very nice grocery, and an excellent Monday morning farmer's market. I suggest that you look there.

Stu Dudley

Betty1

Finding a house large enough for your group with several single beds at a reasonable price is already a difficult task. Finding such a place within walking distance of cafés, stores, etc. will be near impossible. In my experience (12 years of planning group trips) you just don't find a house that large in a town. I think you're going to have to compromise, i. e. choose a house within a 5-10 minute drive of a town or, possibly, rent two places in a town and split your group.

Here's a place I rented for 13 people several years ago a short distance from Ménerbes. It might work for you. You'll have to email for current prices. When we rented it in, I believe, 2006 it was around $3500 for the week. The owner is Swiss.

http://www.leschristines.ch/index.html


Good luck!

Westerleigh

You've all been so helpful. It's hard to make multiple generations happy, no matter what, and probably a losing battle to even try.

My goal is two weeks of relaxing and doing very little other than enjoying the area we're in and decompressing from significant work and life stress the best way I know how, which is with beautiful scenery, good food, good wine and nice people. That we will achieve no matter what.