Provence or Provence and Dorgogna
 

we will be in southern France the 2nd and 3rd weeks in June. I am torn between spending the entire 15 days in Provence includingVaison La Romaine, St Remy , Luberon and possibly Cassis or Traveling first to Dordogne ( about 6 days including the day to get there from Paris and the travel,day to St Remy) and then covering the same as above in Provence but not cassis. What are your thoughts on either covering both areas or just Provence.
thank you.

Do you have two full weeks on the ground, not including arrival and departure days? If so, you might consider both Provence and the Dordogne. However, I would probably prefer to choose only Provence and visit more of the area than you have indicated, including the Cote d'Azur. You may even be lucky enough to see the beginning of the lavender blooming in Provence.

We have been to Nice before but only 2 nights, what would you include if you did Cote d' Azur

It is all a matter of preference - how you like to "experience" an area. Both itineraries are fine. Fifteen days is enough to enjoy both Provence and the Dordogne - but 15 days in one area is fine too. We almost always spend 2 weeks in one area before we move on to the next.

If you like "down" days when all you do is have a leisurely lunch/"hang out" by the pool, or a long canoe ride on a river - you won't run out of stuff to do in either area. We've spent 10 weeks in the Dordogne and 20 in Provence - and we have plans to return to both regions in the future. There is a lot more to do in these areas than what you've listed above. I will e-mail you my Provence/Cote d'Azur itinerary and my Dordogne itinerary.

If you choose to spend 15 days in one area, I strongly suggest that you rent a gite so you can go to a farmer's market, purchase a rotisserie chicken or other stuff at the market, and have a "home" dinner - as a break from restaurant meals. There is much more room to "spread out" in a gite. Just about every gite we've rented in Provence had a private pool.

Stu Dudley

thank you Stu, I received your itineraries and will have a look at them. Below is my itinerary that I posted earlier if we only cover Provence. I want to keep St Remy where it is because the market is on Wednesday. It was suggested that we stay near Gordes or Apt instead of Sur la Sorgue so am looking at that as well. also suggested we stay in Aix and do a day trip to Cassis and that seems fine but I still would have an extra day or so, where would you put it? Looking at this itinerary where could we do some biking that is not too hilly. That will help me decide where to add a day.
Thank you
Option2
May 25th till June 2nd- Paris
Day8- Tuesday-Paris to Vaison la Romaine , public transportation, probably train to Avignon. We would rent a car then. Overnite there for 3 nights
Day 9 Wednesday- cooking class
Day 10 Thursday- visit wineries either on our own or with a tour
Day 11 Friday- to Luberon (maybe near Apt or Gordes) overnight 4 nights
Day 12 day trip to Gordes and Rousillon
Day 13 Sunday- market at Sur la Sorgue and afternoon canoe trip
Day 14 Monday-day trip to Menerbes, Bonnieux
Day 15 Tuesday-To Avignon and then St. Remy 4 nights
Day 16 WednesdaySt Remy market and then Les Baux
Day 17 Thursday-Van Gogh tour @10:00, and other things in town
Day 18 Friday-day trip to Lourmarin
Day 19 Saturday- Aix en Provence (2-4 nights, depending on what we do with day 21 and 22)
Day 20 Day trip to Cassis
Day 21 Monday-????
Day 22-.??????? Extra day to put some where
Day 23 Depart Marseille @ 10:40

Lots of biking opportunities in the Luberon. There are "bike only" trails all over the place. Many places to rent bikes in Apt. See the "beyond" link in my itinerary for details. Also, Bedoin near Vaison is a major bike center. There are 3-4 bike rental shops in town.

Lourmarin is very close to Gordes/Roussillon. Stay an extra day in the Luberon and visit Lourmarin and all the other villages & Abbeys in that area. See my itinerary for details.

Stu Dudley