Provence to Riviera
 

I will be traveling to Provence in September. We are taking the TGV from CDG to Avignon and spending a week (Sunday to Sunday) in a house outside Avignon with family. We plan to take several day trips while in the area. Then my husband and I will have 5 nights before flying back to Paris from Nice. We will have a rental car. We are thinking of spending a couple nights somewhere on the way to Nice and would appreciate any suggestions. We are interested in seeing the perched villages and possibly the Gorges du Verdon. After that, we thought we would spend 3 nights in Nice or somewhere close to Nice. Any suggestions would be most appreciated for the time around Avignon, the route along the way to Nice and Nice or surrounding villages. We are also thinking of turning in the rental car when we arrive in Nice. We would also like a day trip to Monaco. What is the best way to spend those last 5 nights (Sunday morning through Friday morming)? I have not booked the hotel or the flight from Nice yet.

How about a few nights in Moustiers near the Gorge du Verdon. Should be lovely and not too crowded that time of year. It's a pretty drive from Avignon over to Moustiers. Then you can spend a day exploring the Var, then have a great drive the next day through the Gorge and down to Nice. At that stage, drop your car off in Nice and use public transport to explore the Cote d'Azur a bit.

-Kevin

Thanks for the suggestion. It sounds great. I am looking into a hotel.

For ideas in Nice and daytrips, you may wish to check my phototravelogue at http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=...g&x=0&y=-run25. The trip to Entrevaux, and exploration of the village and fortification, were highlights for us.

bookmarking. I'm doing a similar trip in 3 weeks.

We stayed at La Bastide du Paradou in Moustiers and loved it. The breakfast was the best we had in France. There was only one other couple staying there at the time, so the owner let us check out all the other rooms and pick the one we wanted.

http://bastide.paradou.free.fr/gb/index.htm

I really liked Aix-en-Provence.

We love Aix and liked St. Remy very much. It's great on market day. We also stopped on at Juan Les Pins for a day -- had breakfast at one of the restaurants right on the beach and then went for a nice walk.

I like Kevin's idea of Moustiers. But perhaps one night there and then one night in St Paul de Vence before you turn your car in and settle in Nice. The drive from Moustiers to St Paul is nice, even after the gorge. You'd go through Tourettes sur Loup, a lovely village. Good taste of the hill towns of the Riviera before you head for the coast for the final three days.

We loved our stay at the Bastide Moustiers. It was expensive, but worth it. I'm not sure there was enough to do in the little town to warrant more than one night.

From there we went to Saint Paul de Vence as someone suggested above.

we loved the bastide du moustiers but not as much as the bastide de marie (in Menerbes) and our favorite,
The Colombe D'or in St Paul De Vence

If I were you I would do the Route Napoleon. We did and had the chance to see some amazing mountain perched villages. My favorites remain Castellane and Tanneron. The obvious one? Aix-en-Provence.

I would also suggest that you take one of those days and start early heading out to Montauroux, Callian, Seillans, Tourettes, etc...All these medieval hilltop villages are next to each other on the Esterel Mountain range and in the neighborhood of Lake St. Cassien. All of them listed at one point or another on the annual List of Most Beautiful French Villages. About an hour from Nice. Another MUST SEE? La Turbie, off the Upper Corniche road, past Eze. You will get the most impressive bird's-eye-view of Monaco you can get from the huge Monument that Augustus made to celebrate his victory over the Ligurian tribes of the area. Just spectacular, just do what I am telling you; you will not regret it (just drive carefully, which is true for all the French Riviera!). Have fun!! :-D

A good suggestion Viajero@ in spite of out car breaking down on the Route Napoleon, it was a beautiful trip.

The Verdon gorges startled me. I had not expected such vast and rugged scenery in southern France. Be prepared for the drive, though, as tight and dizzying as a high mountain road. Even with my mild vertigo, the experience is burned into my memory.

cigalenta-- please do tell more about the car mishap on the Route Napoleon. What happened? Where? How did you get back on the road? There are portions of the route by the Verdon Gourges that are a bit hair-raising.....

It's where the stone arch is where only one side can pass.
We were on our way to Tourettes-Sur-Loup when the car conked out dangerously near that arch. A French woman stopped her car and had a cell phone and asked if we would like her to call for help. She phoned the car rental who said they would send a tow, She stayed with us over an hour, called our Hotel to say we couldn't make our dinner reservation on time. Several other drivers stopped and a couple on a motor bike.
Two hours later the tow arrived, drove us to their place
and had another long wait for the taxi he called, asking us to phone the next day to see if the car was ready.
It was 11pm when we arrived at the hotel. They had dinner waiting for us and as we sat on the patio looking up at
Gourdon the Sirocco hit, almost as powerful as the Mistral,
knocking over umbrellas and glasses and through the night could hear pottery clashing. The next morning it was a calm beautiful day. Our host had a message for us, that Jerry was to go to Nice to pick up another car.

We loved the ride through the Verdon, there wasn't much traffic so it was not scary to me.