Provence- need help
 

Hello eveyone,

I am in the early stages of planning a trip to Provence for our 10th wedding anniversary early next July. I want to make sure that I get my reservations made early. I must have spent hours the other night pouring over all my books and articles about Provence. It looks so overwhelming.

I want to concentrate on the Western part of Provence(does that make sense?) Let me begin: We are planning on about 8-9 day followed by a long weekend in Paris (our favorite). I can't decide if we should have one base or several? Where should we begin and how long do we need in each town or village? I don't want to be driving all day
nor do I want to be on the go all day and night. I promised my husband that this trip would be relaxing.

Can anybody recommend what towns and how long each deserves and how many should we do?

Thank you

You haven't mentioned your personal likes and dislikes to help us give you better guidance. There are as many answers to your questions as there are people reading this forum. Tell us a little about what you enjoy doing and seeing, how you prefer to travel, how much time per day you want to be going somewhere versus being somewhere, whether you like small villages or larger towns, what kind of places you like to spend the night, and so on. As for whether you should concentrate on western Provence, the answer should be a little more obvious when you provide some of the other information. Good luck.

I agree with Wayne. Although Provence doesn't seem &quot;urban&quot; in a big city sense - - there really are small cities, that are first and foremost <i>cities</i>. They're charming, but they're still concrete, sidewalks, cars and traffic, stores that butt up against each other, as opposed to &quot;un atelier&quot; scattered here and there over the countryside. That isn't meant to be an unflattering description. Cities that fit this description include, at a minimum, Aix en Provence, Arles, Avignon and Orange - - maybe Montpellier (arguably not in Provence), and I have never been to Nimes. The cities are, relatively speaking, more concentrated centers of &quot;attractions&quot;.

Then there is the Provence that Peter Mayle wrote about - - in the Luberon, but not just there, in much, much smaller towns - - or no towns at all.

You might elect to choose one base of 4-5 nights, and then divide the other 4-5 nights between one or two stops, in or near the cities, if you are so inclined.

Of course, even &quot;at&quot; each of the cities, you will find lodging choices not IN the city. On my list of &quot;interested in trying someday&quot;, for example, is http://www.campagne-jeanne.com - - it's &quot;at&quot; Aix en Provence, but not IN it. I have no idea if it's what you are seeking or not.

Search Luberon here and you will find a ton - - on Bonnieux, Lourmarin, Forcalquier, Apt, Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, Cavaillon and so many other places. And of course, there are a lot of self-catering choices in Provence, many not IN a town. Do you want to (be able to) cook?

The key to a relaxing trip, of course (and I'm not sure I really know anything about this) is knowing how to to &quot;unplan&quot; the way you will fill your days and nights.

I'm sure I could figure out how to do it - - if I had a year there - - and knew there could be another year after that, anytime I felt like it. ;)

Best wishes,

Rex

With 8-9 days you might want to split between 2 different bases. One perhaps in the Alpilles are (St. Remy to Arles) and another in the Luberon. This will allow you to do lots of very local sightseeing - therefore keeping your driving to a minimum. And at the same time, not have much of the unpacking/repacking hassle.

-Kevin

We split out trip between St. Remy, and Sarlat. We stayed at Mas Carassins in St.Remy and highly recommend it. We drove to a lot of small towns and visited intersting caves. In Sarlat we stayed at La Coulverine and enjoyed that also. We had a great rate of 107 euros that included breakfast and dinner for 2 people.

go to www.provenceweb.com,
beyondprovence.com

HI, I'M NOT SURE WHAT TOWNS YOU'RE LOOKING INTO,BUT,I'VE RECOMMENDED THIS BEFORE WITH GOOD RESULTS, TRY KAREN BROWN.COM AND CLICK ON THE TOWNS YOU'RE INTERESTED IN. TRY &quot;AIX EN PROVENCE&quot; AND CHECK OUT THE INNS OR B&amp;B'S. SHE ALSO HAS ITINERARIES. HOPE IT HELPS!!

Pick up a copy of the Michelin Green Guide to Provence and look at the driving/sightseeing itineraries. That's an excellent way to plan a trip taking into account how much driving you want to do in one day. The mappy.com web site can give you exact mileage from one spot to the next and approximate driving time as well. With that information you can begin the process of deciding where you want to go and what you want to see. And in 8 or 9 days in western Provence you can see a lot without hurrying--time for Arles, St-R&eacute;my, Uz&egrave;s, the Pont du Gard, Avignon, and some of the Luberon villages. I'd suggest basing yourselves part of the time around St-R&eacute;my and the rest in the Luberon area. You will have the luxury of taking your time--many people allow only 4 or 5 days.

You can never go wrong with one base for Provence. Why pack and upack multiple times. Rousissllon is a wonderful base for this.

We stayed in an apartment on an estate called Le Rocher Pointu in Aramon. it was a bit remote but very nice (no problem if you have a car). it is convenient for Luberon. i would not recommend moving around as you will waste more time packing/unpacking and settling in than you will driving. Provence is big so you obviously can't drive to cote d'azur and back from a base in luberon but for most of the countryside we were fine where we were. i do recommend an apartment of house. being able to cook some meals is great as the food is so fresh. it will also be cheaper for a stay of a week or more as compared to a hotel.

As many have suggested, split your time by staying in the Alpilles and the Luberon...St. Remy area and your choice of Bonnieux, Roussillon or whatever. You will be able to take day trips to Cassis..go on market day..charming. Nimes is preferred by many locals in the Alpilles area for shopping over Aix...nice shops..just don't go when there is a bull fight!!
The Luberon location will give you access to the Vaucluse area..do l'Isle-sur-la Sorgue on a Sunday.

Do get the green Michelin guide and do some reading..then get back to this site for added questions of hotels, restaurants etc.....

Enjoy.................

Hi,

I want to thank everybody for their suggestions. I think we've decided to base 4nights the Luberon town of Menerbes at La Bastide de Marie (sounds beautiful) and then 4 nights in Aix at Villa Gallici. I know a lot of you suggested staying is St Remy as one of my bases but Luberon sounds so beautiful and it doesn't look like it is too far away from St Remy. We could do day trips to St Remy and Les Baux. I'll have to check on mappy.com to see exactly the mileage.

Does this sound ok?

Thanks

Villa Gallici is a delightful place, as is the restaurant Clos de la Violette. Staying in Aix has one advantage....parking...it can be pure h... to find a spot!! You can do your day trips to the Alpilles areas, St. Remy, Les Baux, Uzes, Pont-du-Gard, Arles, Nimes etc.and on down to the coast to Cassis...from Menerbes you can take in the Luberon/Vaucluse areas.

Gracejoan, I hadn't given the parking situation any thought. I just assumed that parking was a non-issue. Is it hell?

les baux was our least favorite provence village (and we visited many). it is a nice site to see but there is absolutely no village life here. only a handful of residents live here and it's all about the tourism. more like a museum than a real village. we did have a nice drive in the surrending area however. if you only visit one or two villages I don't recommend this one as it is not a &quot;typical&quot; Provence village.

Les Baux isn't actually a village--it's a ruin. The collection of shops and restaurants below the entrance to the ruins sprang up to offer goods and services to visitors but by no means is a residential area. The ruins, however, are splendid and evocative of the time when Les Baux was the court and lair of the Wolves of Orange.

Stone1. We stayed a few days at The bastide de Marie. I wish we could have afforded a week. Every room is beautiful. We were in the &quot;Bleu de Nimes.&quot; The food is very good and the best breakfast we have ever had. I regret not buying their wonderful bath products.

Another example of 'different strokes for different folks'. My friend who returned in May said she absolutely loved Les Baux. That's why this forum is so good. On a long thread, you get the pros and cons of everything!

I like Les Baux, Three excellant restaurants there(away from the top:
La Riboto de Taven,
Ousteau de Baumaniere,
La Cabro DOr.
For those who have never been, here's a few photos I found on line.
http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/Eur...x-de-Provence/

&lt;&lt;We were in the &quot;Bleu de Nimes.&quot;&gt;&gt;

I've had many a good time in the &quot;Blue deNimes&quot;.

And the stone-washed ones.

And even out of 'em... ;)