Provence help - short itinerary
 

Something happened with my first thread and it disappeared on me, so I'm reposting...

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I am in the early stages of planning our first trip to France/Italy next year. We are only planning to spend 3 nights in Provence, and I am having a tough time gathering which days of the week would be ideal for being in Provence. At this point our dates are not set (early September) so I am pretty much willing to plan the dates around this part of the trip. Any opinions?

Also, with only 2 full days to really explore the area, are there any villages/stops I should focus on? Right now I'm thinking we'll base in St. Remy, based on the other recommendations on this board.

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Are you traveling by train, plane or car? And where will you be coming from and going to? Provence covers a large area. Do you have any place of thing in particular that you want to see?

Thanks for the tip, Ronda. We will travel by train from Venice to Avignon and then rent a car. After Provence, we'll be headed to Paris. I just can't seem to get a good grasp on the "must-see's" in Provence. I definitely want to see the Pont du Gard, but other than that I think we just really want to get a feel for the countryside and see some beautiful scenery. We're not that into art or museums. I would like to hit some of the good markets.

If you want beautiful classic Provence sceanery you could drive over to the Luberon area and see some hilltowns. Haven't been to Pont du Gard or that area but you might look into seeing it and maybe Uzes (Wed. and Sat. market) or Nimes or Arles (great Sat. market). One other day might be St. Remy and Le Baux. Isle sur la Sourge also has a wonderful Sunday market and it is a lovely little city as well.

There are others more knowledgeable than I about Provence so hope they aren't all on vacation.

As well as the Lubéron, visit the sights around St-Rémy: Les Baux, the Alpilles villages, Beaucaire/Tarascon, Arles. The Pont du Gard is a don't miss, in my book, and the scenery in that area is quite nice.

As for days of the week, try to avoid Monday.

These are musts and each takes half a day. I would not go to Arles

Pont du Gard
Avignon and the Popes Palace
Les Baux
St Remy

Plus
Chateauneuf du Pape for a wine tasting

The biggest markets in the area, without going too far afield, would be Arles on Saturday morning or St. Rémy on
Wednesday morning.
Because your time is short, I'd skip Avignon - and Châteauneuf would pretty much take an entire day.

With only two days, here are a few ideas... you can pick and choose.

Day One:
Drive to the Pont du Gard in the morning. This is about a 45 minute drive from St Rémy. Afterwards, drive another 15 minutes to Uzès. This is a charming town with a wonderful pedestrian center and many interesting shops, especially for pottery.
There is also a beautiful medieval garden which is open for visits.
Market day is Saturday - all day.
Restaurant recommendation for lunch:

Les Fontaines
Charming small restaurant in the center of town. Tiny indoor patio area among the ruined walls. Good eclectic mix of food... sometimes a Moroccan tahjine, sometimes provençal.
6, rue Entre les Tours Tel: 04 66 22 41 20

After lunch return to St Rémy via Tarascon - you might wish to visit the castle on the Rhône.
If you haven't dallied too long, the end of the day is the perfect time to visit Les Baux, just on the south side of the Alpilles from St.Rémy. The tour buses have left and it's a delightful time to wander the coblestone streets and visit.

Day Two:

Make a circuit of the Lubéron villages. From St. Rémy drive to Gordes (about 45 minutes), and then visit the Abbaye de Senanque.
I don't really recommend spending long in Gordes - for one you have to pay to park and the village is much more spectacular viewed from afar.

From Gordes or l'Abbaye, drive to Roussillon (about 20 minutes). Roussillon is built on red and yellow ochre cliffs and is home to many artists and galleries. It's a beautiful small village and the climb to the top is very interesting. There's a great pottery shop at the top that also sells packaged ochres, if you are an artist or have the urge to begin painting.

Near the clock tower there's a charming small outdoor restaurant called La Treille, which has good food at a reasonable price.

From Roussillon drive to Bonnieux through the vineyards. This is another perched village and the climb to the top is steep. If you've had enough climbing, I suggest going on Lacoste, home of the Marquis de Sade's château. It was purchased a couple of years ago by Pierre Cardin, but I think parts of it are still open to the public.

From Lacoste you can drive to Menerbes (you can park at the top of the village) where there are some charming shops and views. Or you can continue along to Oppede le Vieux, one of my favorites Not completely "redone" it's a small village with a ruined church and château (now closed) that is charming.

This is a full day.



Day Three:
If you're interested in the Camargue (the natural wildlife preserve - famous for the wild Camarguais horses, bulls and rice fields) I highly suggest a visit to Aigues Mortes.
South of Arles, it's a little over an hour's drive from St Remy.

A walled city, departure point for the crusades, it's one of my favorite places in the area. It hasn't really caught on with foreign tourists yet, although do I see more and more every year.

Famous for salt, you can see the mountains of it from the ramparts.

Returning from Aigues Mortes, you might want to visit Arles. The Roman coliseum and theater in town are well preserved and used today. There is also a Roman necropolis just on the edge of town and within walking distance from the center.
It's also a place that Van Gogh painted extensively, and the Tourist Office has a booklet (in English ) that gives various walking tours that are very interesting.

It's about a 30 minute drive back to St Rémy from Arles.

Chateauneuf does not have to be a full day. I did a wine tasting at a decent winery including driving back and forth from Avignon is 2 1/2 hrs.

A visit to the Palais du Pape and lunch at La Mirande is also a unique experience you won't find in the many small villages throughout France and Italy.

Probably a good idea to mix small villages with well know places on a first visit don't you think PB?

"Or you can continue along to Oppede le Vieux, one of my favorites Not completely "redone" it's a small village with a ruined church and château (now closed) that is charming."

pbprovence, do you mean the chateau ruins are now off-limits to tourists?? I sincerely hope not since it has always been one of my favorite places and I plan to go there on my upcoming trip.

This is sooo helpful! Keep it coming! :) So would it be good to arrive on Thursday? Then I'd have all day Friday and Saturday to explore and I'd get the Saturday markets. Would I have time Sunday morning to see anything before departing by train to Paris?

Vell, what time is your train and where are you staying?

I have just posted a message concerning the unreliability of US-issued credit cards in France. Many places accept the "Mag and swipe" card, but many do not. Our stay in the Aix region would have gone much more smoothly if we had known that we should produce cash at the peage (autoroute toll booths), restaurants, gas stations, hotel, pharmacies, phone booths at the airport (Base, Paris and Copenhagen) and various internet stations. I would speak to Sandra Chu (Visa Corporate) at 650-432-2154 to be prepared for what you need to do. Whatever you are told: TAKE LOTS OF CASH!

I'm planning to stay somewhere in St. Remy (no reservations yet) and we'll probably take a mid-afternoon train to Paris. Maybe 2ish?

We, on the other hand, have had no problems whatsoever with American credit cards except at self-service gasoline stations after hours. We've used our card at the autoroute toll stations without difficulty--has something new been put into place recently?

As for taking lots of cash--no way! It's very easy to get cash as needed from an ATM.

frenchified...

The last time I was over in Oppède I was told that the château was closed off..too much risk of falling "bits". I remember climbing to the top of it years ago with my sister and sitting for ages looking over the hills. Come to think of it, it was quite a challenge then !

asklarry:

because they have a short time in the area, I don't recommend Avignon or Châteauneuf on this trip... there are more interesting things to see in the time they have. Avignon isn't one of my big recommendations.. and lunch at La Mirande is certainly time consuming !

Patricia

From St. Remy you could certainly hit the market at Isle sur la Sourge on a Sunday if you started early and make it to Avignon to the train station in time. Have you checked the train schedule? If you are traveling on a Sunday, make sure you check the Sunday schedule as sometimes trains are less frequent than other days of the week.

I think Les Baux, Roussillon, Gordes are a must for the first timer and they won't be as busy in September. The Garden in Uzes was dried up when I was there last year. I hope it has recovered. A waste of time
for your short visit in any case.
These are in my humble opinion.

ttt

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