Provence - trip report intro
 

I got so much good information from this board, I thought I'd drop a few tidbits from our trip into the forum.

We flew into Nice on 5/23, stayed 2 nights, picked up a car, drove to St Remy, stayed 4 nights, then to Bonnieux for 2 nights, then to Carpentras for 3 nights, then to Vence for 1 night before departing from Nice on 6/4. Overall, I was pretty pleased with our itinerary - I would have stayed one more night in the Luberon, I think. Carpentras was convenient as a location, but I didn't love the town.

The time of year worked pretty well, maybe a week or two later would have been better. We got hit by Mistral winds a few days, but only opened an umbrella once, and most of the time the weather was in upper 60s or low 70s during the day - perfect to my mind.

Hotels:
Nice - the Villa Victoria, very nice, good location.
St Remy - Le Castelet des Alpilles - great location, a 5 minute walk into town, quiet, nice size room, be sure to get a room with a terrace/balcony.
Bonnieux - Le Clos du Buis - this was our favorite, it was just lovely, the view from our room was magnificent, a nice breakfast is included, and there's a beautiful pool and garden in the back. I think Bonnieux is an excellent location to stay, convenient to all those beautiful Luberon towns.
Carpentras - Bastide St Agnes - very nice. Just outside of town, not walkable. The hosts were lovely, the room was spacious, again, a good breakfast, and a very large garden and pool. There is a lot of common space, living room, TV, etc. available for use.
Vence - La Colline de Vence - my second favorite, too bad we were only there one night. A little hard to find, but just lovely, wonderful host.

I'll post more as I get time.

Alice

Thanks! I'll be in Provence next Saturday staying in St. Remy and Avignon.

I'm thinking of a biking trip in the area next summer with my husband. Do you think Bonnieux and your hotel there would be a good base for such a trip?

Love Provence looking forwardto the report.

We saw quite a few bikers and hikers both when we were in Bonnieux. There a lot of sites that deal with biking and hiking routes in the area, you should check them out.

Bonnieux is very small, but has a nice number of good restaurants.

Alice

hi, alice,

nice report so far. i looked at the clos du buis web-site - have bookmarked for future reference. did you eat there at all?

regards, ann

Good info, Alice. I look forward to a longer account of your trip.

Looking forward to hearing more. We're scoping out destinations for our next trip in either May or October of 2008. Have been to St. Remy but not to the perched villages of the Luberon.