Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - Trip Report Provence Trip Report

Trip Report

Provence/ May 10 to May 21

I have never put together any kind of trip report, so this is a first. Please consider that when reading it. I hope someone on this forum can gain something from it. Also, you can actually see much of what I am about to describe in photos at www.pbase.com/shutterpug Click on My Provence (parts 1, 2 & 3)

My wife and I arrived in Paris in the morning, May 11th, and quickly went through customs (a first), got our shuttle and arrived at the Hotel La Familia around 1PM. While we waited for our room, I walked down to rue St. Michel to pick up our train tickets (I had paid and reserved them online prior to leaving). The boutique machine had trouble with my CC but the girl there was extremely helpful and printed out our tickets for me. When I arrived back at the hotel our room was ready, and we went up two flights to a small room overlooking what they called the courtyard. It was actually a very narrow opening among the local buildings but did have some artwork on the walls. While the room was typically small we at least had a large bathroom with modern shower, etc.. It started to rain in the afternoon and it was to continue into the next day.

On Tuesday, May 12, we had breakfast at the hotel, and then requested a taxi to get us to Gare Lyon. Because it was raining the girl at the desk said it would be difficult, and indeed she kept calling and getting recorded messages saying to call back. She finally took the bull by the horn, and called the main dispatcher number, and told them we must get to the train station. I suspect she said a little more than that, but in short order we had a taxi, and found ourselves at Gare Lyon. We had about an hour wait, and during that time my wife was part of a SNCF promotion and was able to actually enter the area where the engineer drives the train. Soon after we boarded our train to Avignon. We are always amazed at the trains in France (and for that matter...Europe). Why we can’t duplicate it here in the US is beyond me!! Our trip was smooth, quiet and enjoyable. Our lunch....two paninni’s, and a bottle of water. They actually tasted pretty good.

We arrived in Avignon at 2PM, walked to the Europcar counter, and discovered that our reserved automatic was not available. When I asked why I was told they were all given out. Needless to say I wasn’t a happy camper. I told them I paid for this vehicle four weeks ago, arrived right on time, and could not understand why there were none available. The response was “we’re sorry but that’s the way it is”....? I told them I wanted to speak with Auto Europe, and they called them. The girl on the other end kept me online for at least fifteen minutes, and when she came back online, told me that she was sorry, and would refund the extra money we had paid for the automatic. After accepting the situation we were hounded by the clerk about how we should take the insurance. I kept saying no, and she kept emphasizing about how much the car cost, and if I had any damage I would be liable for the entire cost....??? I left with an auto, and a very bitter taste in my mouth for Europcar.

Moving on....we headed to St. Remy, and checked in at the Hotel du Soleil. It was a five minute walk to town, and was located off the street, with private parking. The people there were extremely nice, and the room was more than adequate, and in fact very large. After settling in we walked into town, and took a few photos. Afterward we came back to our room, rested up, and looked forward to a meal at Bistrot Marie, which we had eaten at in 2001 (we were in St. Remy on 9/11). The meal was not as good as we remembered but then again things change over time, especially eight years.

The main reason we went to St. Remy was to take in the market on Wednesday, and we enjoyed it as much as we did way back when. This market is probably our favorite, and suspect it has to do with the layout and small town feel. We spent at least two hours walking it, and then headed to the Camargue where our game plan was to take a lot of photos....flamingoes, wild horses, etc.. At least that was our plan. We had reservations at Domaine Sainte Cecile, a B&B we had found on the web, and were looking forward to exploring that part of the country. We were asked to arrive between 2PM and 4PM, and we did, only to find out that no one was around. We finally found the caretaker who informed us that the owners were in Spain, and we were out of luck. After showing him the paperwork he said he was sorry, but there was nothing he could do. Happy we were not!

We headed out and eventually found an inexpensive room at Le Petit Mas des Barres, a small B&B, where they had horses for riding, etc.. Frankly, given the price (65 Euros including breakfast), and the location, it wasn’t bad at all. For the record...avoid the Domaine Sainte Cecile. Since coming home I have emailed them, but have not heard anything back. Suspect I won’t.

After finding Le Petit Mas des Barres, we headed to the Camargue Regional Nature Park to take photos of flamingoes. We spent about an hour and a half there, and thoroughly enjoyed it. The park offered a lot of different trails, and uninhibited views of wild flamingoes. Not sure how many photos we took but we took a lot. There were also opportunities to take photos of other wild fowl, as well as beavers, etc.. Highly recommend stopping here if you are a wildlife photographer. After a small snack in Stes Maries de-la-Mer we headed back to our room, very tired.

On Thursday we headed northeast to Lourmarin. We had reservations at the Mas de Foncaudette, and from what we had seen on the internet we were looking forward to it. We were not disappointed. It was without a doubt the nicest B&B we have ever stayed at in France. Check out http://www.foncaudette.com Aline and her husband Frank were the perfect hosts, sharing apertifs, a huge breakfast, and the B&B was out of a picture...just terrific!! On Friday we headed into Lourmarin for the Friday market, and were able to enjoy it just before it started to rain again, and it rained very hard. We left and headed to Saignon, a short distance of 19km, but a trip that eventually took us two hours. The road was steep and winding, and we wound up hitting two road blocks, with detours, both of which left us on gravel, narrow roads, and which we were very uncomfortable with. After looking at our options we chose another route and eventually found our way to Auberge du Presbytere.

Arriving in Saignon in a driving rain, we were welcomed royally by the staff at Auberge du Presbytere, a small, but very comfortable hotel on the square. Our room was on the third floor, but we found our luggage was awaiting us, having been taken from our car by the staff. The room was large, and had a nice patio overlooking the square and the mountains. Being exhausted, tired and hungry, we set off to look for something to eat, aware that we had reservations at the hotel for dinner in just a few hours. We turned left coming out of the hotel and found a tiny patisserie, and sat down to a large bowl of café au lait, and a couple hot lunch type pastries. We followed those with a dessert tart, and felt whole again.

My wife decided to stroll the streets in the rain, taking photos, and I elected for an afternoon nap, preparing for the evening meal. When she returned to the room she shared her impressions of this magical village and her walking companion “le chat”. She had explored the cemetery behind the church and the spetactular view from there.

We arrived downstairs at 7:30 for what was one of the best meals we’ve had in France. While I cannot remember all the details, the foie grass I had was “melt in your mouth” fantastic, as was the lamb chop that followed. Tender, superbly prepared with herbs and spices. A great bottle of Rose made the meal complete. Suspect my wife has photos of this meal on her Pbase site.

On Saturday following breakfast we headed to the market in Apt. A large town, and a larger market. We have been fans of French markets for sometime, and usually plan our trips around them. The Apt market was worth attending, but eventually the crowds became too much, and we left around noon, but not without picking up some sausage, cheese, bread, melon and wine. That wound up being our lunch on the patio at Auberge du Presbytere, and was everything we had anticipated, climaxed by the big nap that had to follow.

Our evening meal across the square was a light chicken dish, and was very tasty. We had the opportunity to meet with folks from Finland who were in Saignon taking a writing workshop.

On Sunday May 17 we headed out of Saignon on our way to Forcalquier. We chose this area because we wanted to take in the market in Forcalquier on Monday. We found a bed & breakfast on the internet in Noizelles, about 8km from Forcalquier, and had no idea what to expect except that we were going to have dinner in the evening. Funny as it sounds being sure we had dinner on a Sunday was important, having learned in the past that most restaurants close early on that day.

La Relais d’ Elle (http://relaisdelle.com) was an unexpected fun place to stay, and we would recommend it to anyone looking to feel part of a large family home. On that Sunday Relais d’Elle was hosting about ten others from Belgium, all there to spend a week and do some motor cross touring. The house was rustic, very French, and the setting was secluded. Catherine was the perfect host, and we wondered just what the evening meal would be like, given what we originally thought was the dining room. We couldn’t imagine that many people in so small a room.

When 7:30 came around we went downstairs and were directed toward the far end of the house. We entered a very large room, and were greeted with a roaring fire in the fireplace, and a room setting that blew us away. There was a long wooden table set to serve the 15 guests with carafes of wine & baskets of bread within easy reach. At the end of the table was a huge painting that hung on the wall. The rustic ambience made for a spectacular evening.

We all gathered in the sitting area and had aperitifs, followed by a four course meal that was out of this world. Catherine we learned did all the cooking, and originally had been a chef at a Paris restaurant before chucking it all for a home in the country. Two hours at the table, lots of talk and lots

of exchanging addresses and emails took care of Sunday night, and we went dragging our full bodies back to our room.

After Catherine fixed breakfast for us in the morning we said our goodbyes, and headed to the market in Forcalquier. It was indeed a good one, and is now one of our favorites. It’s large, but small compared to Apt. Apt again was just too much and too crowded for us. We spent about two hours at the market, and headed on to Roussillon. We arrived in Roussillon around 1PM, found a café on the square and had lunch. The special of the day was a beef dish and was very, very good and a bargain. Sorry again that I am not much on names of restaurants and dishes.

We then checked into the hotel Reves d’Ocres just down the street, and were pleased with our accommodations. Our room was on the third floor but had a large balcony, and an exceptional view of the countryside. After that we ventured to the park area in town, taking photos of the ochre cliffs and trails. We had been in Roussillon back in September of 2001 but hadn’t really taken much in given that it was two days after 9/11 and we we had a lot on our mind. This time we enjoyed the hike, and followed it with two large sundaes just outside the entrance to the park. That evening, still feeling full from the late day desserts we opted for pizza at a small bistro, and found it to be a simple but satisfying meal.

On Tuesday, May 19th we headed back to Avignon to return our car and take the TGV back to Paris. As usual the trip was smooth, quiet and I napped almost the whole way. We caught a taxi to our hotel, Hotel des Grandes Ecoles, and cannot tell you how pleased we were in choosing this hotel. Over the years we had considered a hotel in Paris nothing more than a place to spend 8-10 hours sleeping. We couldn’t afford the three or four star hotels, but were always content with the regulars (La Familia, Raspail, etc.). This time we actually looked forward to spending time at the hotel.

The hotel, as I am sure many of you know, is tucked back off the street, and features a garden setting where residents can enjoy breakfast, snacks and so on. Both days we were there were highlighted by sitting out in the garden area in the afternoon with a bottle of wine. The perfect prelude to a night out and dinner.

On the next day we opted to once again visit le Sacre Coeur, and explored Place du Tertre where the artists displayed their works of art.

Our evening meals both nights were taken in the area of Place de la Contrascarpe & Rue Blainville, a short walk from our hotel. It is a lively area loaded with restaurants and cafes. Suspect neither of the two restaurants we ate at would be considered exceptional by many of you, but we found them very good, reasonable and loved the activity in the area.

On our last day in Paris we met Jean-Pierre, a Pbase photographer who my wife has been in email communication with for some time. Some wine in the hotel courtyard and a nice evening meal made for a fitting end to our trip. Thursday, May 21st, we flew back home, feeling very satisfied with our trip, and knowing full well we would soon be planning our trip to France in 2010.

If you care to see many of the places I mention please take time to look at the photos at www.pbase.com/shutterpug and click on “My Provence”.
Should you be interested there are other galleries here of our previous trips.