Provence is overrated
 

Just came back from a 3 week trip to France and I must say Provence was the most disappointing of my trip.

I spent my time around the Vacluse area which is supposed to be the most beautiful but I just couldnt find much to be amazed about. I've been to Tuscany and Andalucia and Provence has a similar feel tho not as beautiful. Even the towns dont compare to the Italian hilltowns. I stayed in Avignon which was fun and visited Gordes, Fontain de Vacluse, Sur d'Isle(?), Arles, Aix, St Remy and Sault; of which Aix was the most disappointing.

Maybe I had higher expectations of Provence from the paintings of Monet, Van Gogh and Cezanne but somehow something was missing. Maybe I didnt see other parts of Provence which are more beautiful. Does anyone feel the same way or is it only me and my overrated expectations?

I'm sure there are those who agree with you but I find Provence breathtaking and have seen some of the most beautiful scenery and most wonderful hill towns there. I love Tuscany equally as well but think Provence is more beautiful.

We enjoyed Provence--also touring the Vaucluse region--but were not blown away. We much prefer Tuscany and are going back in Oct.

How about cost of accomodation, transport, sightseeing, and food compared to Italy?
Linwein, where else did you go in France and how was it?
Mamc, what are the highlights of Provence in your opinion?

Different places do different things for different people. Provence was wonderful, though there were some towns we enjoyed more than others.

Aix is good for 2-days, but is too large. Only the "old towns" of Arles and Avignon are worth a visit. The smaller the town, the better - and best to visit at the begining or end of tourist time - early Spring or late Fall.

But the scenery throughout was absolutely breathtaking. And best as possible we found fields, vineyards and shorelines - and those wonderful plane-tree (all orange & red - appearing like gold) lined National Roads were the most beautiful.

It still all comes down to personal preferences - some folks like cruises, yet you'll never get me on a ship; and some return again and again to Paris, yet I never gave Paris a moments thought - it's a big big big world out there and yet everyone seems to be in Venice on the same day.

And think of those people who return to the same place year-in and year-out - like Paris. So many places to discover, not enough time. Well, they can have Paris, I'll take the rest of the world.

linwien:

I love Provence, but definitely do not find it "breathtaking." I think it's a matter of what kind of geography one prefers - give me the Dordogne any day.

Les Baux and Roussillon were my Provence favorites. Although I enjoyed Provence, there are many places in Europe I like much better. As for Aix, I concur. Trés disappointing.
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Karla,
The highlights,for me, are the scenery, the lavender, the olive trees, the wonderful markets, the delicious food, the lovely inns with beautiful flowers. It probably helps that each time we have been there, the weather has been beautiful. My favorite places are Avignon, Les Baux, Gordes, St. Remy, Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, Fontaine de Vauclause and Roussillon. I didn't care for Aix.

This thread reminds me of the Peggy Lee song "Is that all there is?" Can't imagine being disappointed with Provence, but - you can't please all the people all the time.

On the one hand I am not sure what the point of a post liek this is in the first place. To summarily announce that a place is "overrated" (which I don't think is any different from a lot of the posts we see here telling us we HAVE to go here or that somewhere else is a MUST DO) simply invites comments from others who feel the necessity of pointing out the original poster's "error"..reminds me a little of the "he said, no she said" kind of thing. And not being able to imagine anyone being disappointed by a place is,
I think, as descriptive of the mental capacity of the person making the comment to accept the fact that others have differing points of view and to demean them doesn't help, as it is to the narrow-mindedness of the poster.
Sorry to rant on but sometimes it helps to vent some frustration with what is otherwise for the most part a very helpful rather than a petty place.

I don't think anyone has said linwein has made an "error" in judgement. It seems everyone is just putting in their two cents worth about Provence. I believe linwein's comments about Provence were interesting. Plus anyone who does not like Aix, is ok in my book.
((H))

One thing I really love about Provence is the Roman ruins (coliseums, theaters, aquaducts, temples, etc.) that are IMO better preserved than those in Rome. Plus I don't have to constantly watch my purse, count my change, check restaurant bills, etc.

As far as natural beauty, I'm with St. Cirq.

LVSue, really? I have never read up on Provence (or visited)...I didn't know there were ruins there! (just food and "scenery") And being able to see ruins without fear of getting ripped off I'm sure is a delight. Thanks for the info.

I love Provence, but I agree about Aix but I love the old fountains. I notice you posted about the Dordogne on another thread.It is not the same so you can't compare.If you like Castles, and the food it's wonderful but for me, provence is sunny, sensuous, and colorful and I love the food.
But most important of all I have made many friends there.
Alsace is a beautiful area, flowers everywhere.
I like the Languedoc, Brittany, each area has a different thing about them as well as the cuisine.

Allovereurope, click on Arles, Saint Remy de Provence, Vaison-la-Romaine and Orange on the following site to see some of the examples: http://www.beyond.fr/villages/index.html

For Nimes, just outside Provence officially, click on bridge through the ages > Roman monuments on this site:http://www.ot-nimes.fr/english/visites.html

For a little info on the Pont du Gard: http://www.athenapub.com/pontdgd1.htm

I asked about prices in my earlier post and no one has mentioned it yet. Is a holiday in Provence fairly easy on the budget?

Lots of good tips here. I think I'll be putting Aix near the bottom of the list from what I've read on this thread.

Karla, we stayed for a couple of nights in Arles at Hotel D'Arlatan. It was a good place that has some old ruins beneath it. Room was fine and, looking at their web site, it looks like you can still get a room for about $100.

We ate at the Hotel Nord Pinus (please make your own jokes here), which we enjoyed (although some people who have been recently said the lobby staff have become "snooty").

I think if you look around, Provence, like most places, can be done on a reasonable budget (whatever that is these days). Have a great trip.
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We spent some time in Provence and the Dordogne this past May, with a stop at Carcassone in between. We loved Provence, and particularly enjoyed the smaller towns (which you apparently did not see) over some of the bigger places. Bonnieux, Joucas, Roussillon and Gordes were fantastic. I think you could call them "breathtaking." We also enjoyed St Remy (we stayed not far from there at an acceptional B&B for 68 euro per night) for the choice of charming restaurants available to us after a day of touring all over. Lourmarin was another interesting town. If you would like to see pictures, check out my pages on Virtual Tourist at www.virtualtourist.com/radiomom and click on my travel page for St Remy. There are several travelogues that cover the many daytrips we made (also some pics of ancient Roman ruins!). It was a totally different feeling than Tuscany, which we ALSO loved. I think to compare the two is impossible. For me, it is like trying to chose between NYC and San Francisco (my 2 fav big cities in the US) Or Paris vs. Rome. Now, we visited both Provence and Tuscany in the month of May, so tourism was not peaking and we enjoyed that part of both trips a great deal! We too, were disappointed in Aix...but then we had just spent a fantastic morning in Cassis (on the Mediterranean coast) visiting the calanques on a tourboat "cruise." After that cute waterfront vacation town, Aix seemed too much of a big city, so we drove on to a smaller town. But we have friends who love Aix, and I think it would be better to see it with someone who knows where to go. We did totally enjoy Arles, too, as we hit Saturday morning's market day-- which was fabulous.

We also spent a couple of nights in Dordogne --- which I have to admit really did take my breath away, and I know that is another area I want to visit again, as well. We generally stay in 2-3 star hotels on our trips, and were very pleased with all our accomodations on this trip. Our costs on this trip were comparable to our costs in Italy a couple years ago. The rental car was a good bit less...but we only had a car for 10 days in France as opposed to 15 in Italy. Oh yeah...those tree-lined roads so many places through Provence were pretty stunning.

"Oh yeah...those tree-lined roads so many places through Provence were pretty stunning."

Boy, I almost forgot about that aspect. Some of the drives in Provence are spectacular. I don't know if those tree lined roads are what took my wife's breath away, or the fear she had that I was going to hit one.
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Driving through Provence, I was reminded of the Texas hill country. I thought it was funny that I had traveled all that way and it felt like home. However, I really loved Provence and I enjoyed Aix. Maybe it was because I stayed at Villa Gallici and La Bastide de Marie which were both wonderful.

Hey Mait. the North penis was stuffy but the woman who owns it was very nice. It was too formal for me. Next time the Calendal would be my choice. Those alleé trees are "Planes." Close up,they have that "camoflage design. I once took a photo of one close up to show someone.
things I look for in Provence:
the lacy wrought iron camponiles designed for the mistral to pas through without damage.
The cadran du soleils, the wall, often painted, sun dials.
The pigeonniers, often built in the houses,
the wonderful fanciful fountaines,
The lavoirs, the ancient stone wash houses.
And the men, who are not afraid to show their love for there cat or dog, kissing it in public.
I LOVE PROVENCE!

It's not "overrated"; you simply didn't care for it that much, and there's nothing wrong with that. I don't know if having high expectations was a cause of your disappointment in this particular case, but having high expectatations certainly can cause disappointment when reality doesn't meet them.

I'm with Bob in that, while I've enjoyed my visits to Provence -- and would gladly go there again -- now that I finally got to see the Tuscan countryside, I'd say I prefer it.

Maitaitom, I'm curious why you dislike Aix so much, especially since we both seem to agree about Les Baux and Roussillon. I was there once, in May of 1994, and thought it was a beautiful town, with the Cours Mirabeau one of the most gorgeous main streets I've seen anywhere.

"Maitaitom, I'm curious why you dislike Aix so much..."

capo, I had seen the pictures of the Cours Mirabeau and thought this looked like a really quaint, romantic town. It took us almost two hours to get to our hotel in the incredible traffic from the offramp (made L.A. traffic seem like North Dakota traffic).

The vendors on the street sold some of the worst schlock (don't even know if that is a word), and the exhaust from autos as we sat at a cafe on the Cours Mirabeau made me wish that I smoked again.

The rest of Provence was fine, especially the aforementioned places in your post, but the happiest day of our vacation was leaving Aix for the beautiful waters of Cassis.

Maybe we were there on an "off" day, but it seems many people are disappointed with the Aix experience. That said, I would never tell anyone not to go there, because experiences (positive and negative) are what travel is all about. However, give me Les Baux, Roussillon and Cassis any day.
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I guess I was disappointed cos I had very high expectations of Provence.The images and impressions I got from movies, photos, Impressionist paintings and this forum didnt meet up to reality. Maybe I was there in the wrong season. The 40C heat didnt help- I remember comparing it to the Australian outback when I was driving down the highway from Lac Annecy.

If you asked if I liked Provence I'd say I did. But not as much as Tuscany or Andalucia. Maybe I never had any expectation of the latter. I'd say I was disappointed cos I'd expected more. Provence looked prettier in postcards than reality. It looked 10x better in Stealing Beauty and Passions of Mind. Whereas Dordogne, for eg, looked better in reality. It looked even more beautiful than in the movies Ever After and Joan of Arc. That is how I define "overratedness"- Reality vs my initial impression.

Some people found Cors Mirabeau in Aix beautiful. I thought it ordinary. Guess when I read fantastic raves about it I'd expected it to be much more.

A place like Venice is what I'd consider "beyond my expectation". No matter how many movies I've watched or postcards I'd, nothing compared to being there.I was overawed. But hen again, there are people who didnt like Venice.

The town in Provence which surpassed my expectation was Avignon and the hotel which surpassed my expectation was Chateau des Alpilles, which fitted my impression of a Provencal chateau.

I didn't have anything to add here really, except to say that given your experiences, Provence may have looked 10x better in Stealing Beauty because it wasn't Provence.

Stealing Beauty was set and filmed in Tuscany.

I agree with much of what people say here.

Gordes, Bonnieux and Rousillon were my favorites.

I would imagine that many factors figure into how well you enjoy a region. I visited in late April/ early May and it was indeed breathtaking.

Perhaps you were a bit too late in the season and are having to put up with the terrible summer crowds. I'd imagine spring to be the most beautiful season there because there is so much coming into bloom.

Gordes was astounding. We stayed at Le Bastide de Gordes, which was fantastic, and I would imagine that WHERE you stay has an impact on your experience too.

I also remember arriving to Bonnieux early in the morning...we wandered past a fountain, and followed our noses into a beautiful bakery...bought some pastries and bread and sat out by the fountain to eat in the early morning light. There was nobody else around. It was so romantic and beautiful.

I would imagine small, very specific experiences of stumbling on to great little shops is another thing that makes these places so wonderful.

I also seem to remember watching the young local children laughing and playing, kicking a ball around in an alley, while a cat sat on the front step of a house licking her paw.

Yes, perhaps it was too crowded with tourists when you were there to be "lovely" and "breathtaking.

Who knows?

Intriguing Title ! For me there's nothing easier and more relaxing than vacationing in Provence. We don't even have to think of what or where my wife & I would do/visit. It's great everywhere: the landscape,the people, the food, the towns and their history, even Aix! We like it better each time we return there.

The funny thing is we have a definite preference for Provence over Tuscany. After reading some of the messages above I realize why. The first time we went to Tuscany a hotel valet made a big dent on our rental car but wouldn't admit it plus we got ripped off a few times. The second time we went we got stuck in a long traffic jam driving between Florence & Sienna.

DAX, you make a very good point. Our perceptions of a place are often coloured by factors that are specific to us as individuals, such as whether we had the ill luck to run into a rude or unscrupulous person while in a specific area, or what kind of weather we had, or whatever. I also wonder how much our own background circumstances affects our enjoyment. I love the mountains on a sunny day, but no matter how beautiful they are, they have undeniably wintry aspects - lots of snow and ice, which quite frankly I get enough of at home. Whereas I'd forgive Provence almost anything, because in general the climate is mild.

And it's not damp and rainy as the Dordogne can be.Provence is not overrated, only over-written about.

Le bonheur en Provence, cést beaucoup
plus quécouter le chant des cigales.
scents, sounds, traditions-and so much more...

When you stay at the Villa Gallici, you will love Aix.

That is beautiful. Did you dine at the Clos de Violettes , a few yards away?

xnyxny & cigalechanta -

Stayed at the Villa Gallici and our room was probably one of the nicest and largest of many 5* we've enjoyed over the years, having been voted the Best Small Hotel in Europe back about 4 years ago. And well deserved.

And we naturally had dinner at Clos de Violettes which was excellent.

These are two stops one should make when visiting Aix - granted both are on the high end, but well worth the splurge.

Thank you Wandering Texan for the comment "Provence is like the Texas Hill Country". I couldn't put my finger on it before, but you are exactly correct! Enjoyed Provence greatly, though agree Aix (big university/exchange program) is too big for me. Looking forward to discovering the Dordogne more in depth in Sept. Brittany, however, will always be my first love.

Sorry linwein, but I had to laugh when Clifton pointed out that "Stealing Beauty" was actually filmed in Tuscany. No wonder Provence looked so good, oui? :) I agree with you about Venice, by the way; it's an incredible city.


Maitaitom, thanks for your reply about why you dislike Aix so much. Sounds, at least in part, like you were a victim of high expectations regarding Aix, especially if you pictured it as some quaint little town. My then-girlfriend & I found it very romantic, especially when we wandered the streets west of the Cours Mirabeau in the evening. Sorry you spent two hours in traffic getting to your hotel. We arrived by train and had a relatively short walk to the center of town where we found a great inexpensive hotel. Our room was huge and had French doors overlooking a courtyard.

Interesting that pictures of the Cours Mirabeau (apparently) was what prompted you to visit Aix. For me, it was a comment, not pictures. In "A Year in Provence", which I had finished just prior to our '94 trip, Peter Mayle says he thinks the Cours is the "finest main street in France" (or something to that effect) and that intrigued me so we decided to go there. While there are plenty of towns and main streets in France I have not seen, of those I have, I would have to agree with Mayle. I love the towering plane trees, the fountains, and the fact that the height of the buildings on both sides is roughly equal to the width of the street (no, I didn't measure them; I read that.)

Funny, I don't recall vendors on the street selling "the worst schlock", not do I recall the auto exhaust on the Cours being all that bad. (I'm not denying your experiences; I just don't recall having similar ones.)

By the way, Cassis is another Provencal town I like. We stopped there on our way from Aix to Nice because a waiter at a restaurant in Aix told us about it.

Capo, Mayles' comment was one of the reasons we went there, but we drove like maitaitom and Cours Mirabeau was under construction, so we had much the same impression as he did. Just glad to get out of there!

Sue, yes, I understand that the Cours Mirabeau was under construction for quite some time. I wonder if Maitaitom was there during that period? That would certainly make it look less appealing.

I was in Aix a second time, briefly, right after the majestic plane trees had been severely pruned and the Cours didn't look as wonderful then either.

capo, No, Cours Mirabeau was not under construction. Just under the influence of a lot of traffic. But it's good to know we agree on Cassis.
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Yea haha, Stealing Beauty was filmed in Tuscany-no wonder it looked so good. Chocolat was fimed in Provence no? Which town was it?

Maybe it was because when I went to Tuscany it was my first time in Europe. Subsequently I've been to Spain, UK, Scotland so Provence seemed "ordinary". Seeing a hilltown or a walled city is always more alluring the first time.And even simple Italian architecture(eg farmhouse) was nicer than a French one.

My photos have come back and they do look nice. Maybe Provence photos always look better than in real life! I remember when I was driving there, the 40C heat was unbearable and the scenery was like tree,tree,tree,factory,tree,tree,tree,farmhouse,tr ee,tree,tree,wheatfield,tree,tree,tree,factory and an occasional lavender field. No wonder Van Gogh's paintings had rays radiating from it. He was painting the HEAT! Either that or he was hallucinating. No wonderhe cut off his ear there. I'd hv gone mad myself hvg nothing to paint but wheatfield after wheatfield.

Having said that Provence IS beautiful. It's just not as beautiful as I thought it to be.

Factory?? Not where I go!And the humidity is nothing as horrible as here in Boston today. But I look forward to seeing your photos, As the late Barry White said, "Ï can't get enough of your love(provence) baby!"