Provence trip report, Sept 2007
Oct 10th, 2007 | 03:38 PM
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Provence trip report, Sept 2007
Provence: trip report
We traveled to Provence in late September. I’m doing my trip report a little different: I don’t plan to go into great detail about the sights, there are good guide books for that. I want to mention a few things I learned while there that might help others! I’ll insert pronunciation guides here & there.
We’re a 50-something American couple traveling with another couple who I’ll abbreviate TOC (the other couple). Our views and experiences were a little different and that might help explain some of my comments!
We flew into Nice on September 15. We’d booked the Hotel Comte de Nice on Rue de Dijon ($179 US for 2 double rooms) for one night. The hotel is very basic - think Motel 6: clean but with few amenities. It has an underground parking garage (12E/day) that’s small and tight to navigate but safer than the public parking lot nearby. The only bad thing I can really say were that we wished we’d closed the window before bed as we got eaten by mosquitoes! The only ones we saw in France.
We weren’t very impressed with Nice, but then we saw little of it. Pretty much the old town and the beach (no sand, but the waves make a wonderful sound as they woosh over the pebbles). On Sunday morning there was a produce market on the street next to our hotel where we bought treats for the drive ahead.
We drove to St Remy (say saun re may, accent on may) via Gorge de Verdon. We didn’t realize that the drive would take all day! We followed Rick Steves recommended route and pull-outs and were suitably amazed. I’ve read other posts about driving in the gorge: I wouldn’t do it at night or in very bad weather, but on a nice day it wasn’t that scary.
Driving advice: figure out how long it will take to drive to your destination and double it! You’ll want to stop to take photos, shop, get lost, etc. Also, the French tend to take curves on the inside so watch out! And learn how to do roundabouts before you go. It’s not that hard, the best advice is keep going round until you find the correct exit. Road signs can be confusing. A highway may have 2 different number designations and only one is shown on the road sign. Also, the sign will probably only show the next big town not the little village you’re heading for so have your map ready.
In St Remy we stayed at Hotel de Gallerie (http://www.hotel-lagalerie.com, 80E/room/night). A fantastic place I highly recommend. Jean-Luc has 5 rooms on a wing off his house with a garden view for all rooms. There was a little morning traffic noise but I didn’t think it was too bad. One warning: if you’re really messy or like to party don’t stay there. Jean-Luc is a VERY tidy man who won’t put up with late-night racket or trash on the ground. He kept apologizing for his English but we understood him very well.
The first day we drove to Les Beaux (rhymes with sew). Jean-Luc recommended we take road D27 which is sort of a back way to Les Beaux. Stop at the crest of the hill and hike up either the left or right side perpendicular to the road. The left side’s view is better - a view of the valley and Les Beaux perched on the next rocky hill. A fabulous view! The castle visit was worth it, I don’t remember the cost but it wasn’t too much. The trebuchet demonstration is in French, but if you don’t understand the language the demo is still interesting to watch.
We had an outstanding dinner at La Pistou in St Remy. Jean-Luc knows the owner, and we had great food and service.
Next was Avignon. Visit Halles Marketplace. It’s an indoor market with booths selling produce, olives, spices, meat, and prepared food that you could buy and take out for a picnic lunch.
Next was Chateauneuf de Pape for wine tasting - a great experience. We’ve done a lot of tasting in other countries, but the “class” in tasting we received was interesting & fun.
Pont du Gard was amazing! We got there late in the day (around 4) and decided not to buy postcards until we left - bad idea, the shops were closed! On the other hand watching the stones turn the colors of the sunset was fantastic. Wear shoes for rough walking, you might want to walk up to one (or both) of the overlooks and the path is rocky.
Next day we drove to the Camargue (cam rhymes with pam, mar rhymes with tar, then stick a g at the end and swallow it!). We’re birders and seeing thousands of flamingoes was thrilling. The wild horses are fun as well. We wanted to do a horseback ride but TOC vetoed the idea, said it’d take too long. We’re on vacation! We have time!! Next stop was Saintes Maries de la Mer (say it like it looks). We had lunch at a mediocre café and walked around the small town. Finding a parking space was really tough!
The Roman colosseum had just closed when we reached Arles ( the s is silent), so we walked around town. Rick Steves’ book recommended eating at La Boheme but they were booked up with a large group. They suggested either Le Brinde Thyn or La Paillotte. We chose the second one and had another really fantastic meal. I recommend walking along the Rhone after dark - very romantic!
In St Remy they have a Van Gogh walk that takes you from Glanum (the site of ancient ruins) to St Remy explaining places where Van Gogh painted. TOC had Jean-Luc book and English tour for them, but when they arrived it was in French, so they followed along with the guidebook.
A word on the French people. We’ve heard that they can be cold and rude. We took the advice of many and learned some French phrases (see below) ahead of time. We were also advised to greet shopkeepers in French as we entered and say goodbye. I did that every time, and found people helpful and kind. I watched as others entered the store (including TOC) and if they didn’t greet the shopkeeper they frequently became invisible! The service they received was almost always inferior to what I experienced. I don’t feel that the French are rude as a rule. We Americans tend to be effusive and emotional while I think the French are more reserved and formal. Good manners are highly valued in France, imho.
There’s a lot we didn’t have time to see, we’ll just have to return.
The phrases I found most useful:
Bonjour - hello
Bonsoir - good afternoon or evening
Au revoir - goodbye
Excusez moi or pardon - excuse me
Parlez vous anglais? - do you speak english?
Je ne comprends pas - I don’t understand
D’accord - ok
Tres bien - very good
Merci - thank you (add beaucoup for very much)
and being able to say the number in your party in French is good! I took the Berlitz phrase book everywhere with me and was very glad I did. Especially the menu decoder!
Costs for items:
Child’s tee shirt: 15E
Most ala cart menu items 12-20E
Glass of house wine 3E
Internet café 1E for 15 minutes
To buy in Provence:
Lavender stuff
Joel Durand chocolate in St Remy (6E for 100g)
Table linens
Fabric
Soaps
Wine
Quilts
Pottery
Lavender honey
Crepes
One last tip: take TP & hand wipes everywhere with you, public (and some private) toilets have no toilet paper or paper towels.
I’d be happy to answer any questions I can!
We traveled to Provence in late September. I’m doing my trip report a little different: I don’t plan to go into great detail about the sights, there are good guide books for that. I want to mention a few things I learned while there that might help others! I’ll insert pronunciation guides here & there.
We’re a 50-something American couple traveling with another couple who I’ll abbreviate TOC (the other couple). Our views and experiences were a little different and that might help explain some of my comments!
We flew into Nice on September 15. We’d booked the Hotel Comte de Nice on Rue de Dijon ($179 US for 2 double rooms) for one night. The hotel is very basic - think Motel 6: clean but with few amenities. It has an underground parking garage (12E/day) that’s small and tight to navigate but safer than the public parking lot nearby. The only bad thing I can really say were that we wished we’d closed the window before bed as we got eaten by mosquitoes! The only ones we saw in France.
We weren’t very impressed with Nice, but then we saw little of it. Pretty much the old town and the beach (no sand, but the waves make a wonderful sound as they woosh over the pebbles). On Sunday morning there was a produce market on the street next to our hotel where we bought treats for the drive ahead.
We drove to St Remy (say saun re may, accent on may) via Gorge de Verdon. We didn’t realize that the drive would take all day! We followed Rick Steves recommended route and pull-outs and were suitably amazed. I’ve read other posts about driving in the gorge: I wouldn’t do it at night or in very bad weather, but on a nice day it wasn’t that scary.
Driving advice: figure out how long it will take to drive to your destination and double it! You’ll want to stop to take photos, shop, get lost, etc. Also, the French tend to take curves on the inside so watch out! And learn how to do roundabouts before you go. It’s not that hard, the best advice is keep going round until you find the correct exit. Road signs can be confusing. A highway may have 2 different number designations and only one is shown on the road sign. Also, the sign will probably only show the next big town not the little village you’re heading for so have your map ready.
In St Remy we stayed at Hotel de Gallerie (http://www.hotel-lagalerie.com, 80E/room/night). A fantastic place I highly recommend. Jean-Luc has 5 rooms on a wing off his house with a garden view for all rooms. There was a little morning traffic noise but I didn’t think it was too bad. One warning: if you’re really messy or like to party don’t stay there. Jean-Luc is a VERY tidy man who won’t put up with late-night racket or trash on the ground. He kept apologizing for his English but we understood him very well.
The first day we drove to Les Beaux (rhymes with sew). Jean-Luc recommended we take road D27 which is sort of a back way to Les Beaux. Stop at the crest of the hill and hike up either the left or right side perpendicular to the road. The left side’s view is better - a view of the valley and Les Beaux perched on the next rocky hill. A fabulous view! The castle visit was worth it, I don’t remember the cost but it wasn’t too much. The trebuchet demonstration is in French, but if you don’t understand the language the demo is still interesting to watch.
We had an outstanding dinner at La Pistou in St Remy. Jean-Luc knows the owner, and we had great food and service.
Next was Avignon. Visit Halles Marketplace. It’s an indoor market with booths selling produce, olives, spices, meat, and prepared food that you could buy and take out for a picnic lunch.
Next was Chateauneuf de Pape for wine tasting - a great experience. We’ve done a lot of tasting in other countries, but the “class” in tasting we received was interesting & fun.
Pont du Gard was amazing! We got there late in the day (around 4) and decided not to buy postcards until we left - bad idea, the shops were closed! On the other hand watching the stones turn the colors of the sunset was fantastic. Wear shoes for rough walking, you might want to walk up to one (or both) of the overlooks and the path is rocky.
Next day we drove to the Camargue (cam rhymes with pam, mar rhymes with tar, then stick a g at the end and swallow it!). We’re birders and seeing thousands of flamingoes was thrilling. The wild horses are fun as well. We wanted to do a horseback ride but TOC vetoed the idea, said it’d take too long. We’re on vacation! We have time!! Next stop was Saintes Maries de la Mer (say it like it looks). We had lunch at a mediocre café and walked around the small town. Finding a parking space was really tough!
The Roman colosseum had just closed when we reached Arles ( the s is silent), so we walked around town. Rick Steves’ book recommended eating at La Boheme but they were booked up with a large group. They suggested either Le Brinde Thyn or La Paillotte. We chose the second one and had another really fantastic meal. I recommend walking along the Rhone after dark - very romantic!
In St Remy they have a Van Gogh walk that takes you from Glanum (the site of ancient ruins) to St Remy explaining places where Van Gogh painted. TOC had Jean-Luc book and English tour for them, but when they arrived it was in French, so they followed along with the guidebook.
A word on the French people. We’ve heard that they can be cold and rude. We took the advice of many and learned some French phrases (see below) ahead of time. We were also advised to greet shopkeepers in French as we entered and say goodbye. I did that every time, and found people helpful and kind. I watched as others entered the store (including TOC) and if they didn’t greet the shopkeeper they frequently became invisible! The service they received was almost always inferior to what I experienced. I don’t feel that the French are rude as a rule. We Americans tend to be effusive and emotional while I think the French are more reserved and formal. Good manners are highly valued in France, imho.
There’s a lot we didn’t have time to see, we’ll just have to return.
The phrases I found most useful:
Bonjour - hello
Bonsoir - good afternoon or evening
Au revoir - goodbye
Excusez moi or pardon - excuse me
Parlez vous anglais? - do you speak english?
Je ne comprends pas - I don’t understand
D’accord - ok
Tres bien - very good
Merci - thank you (add beaucoup for very much)
and being able to say the number in your party in French is good! I took the Berlitz phrase book everywhere with me and was very glad I did. Especially the menu decoder!
Costs for items:
Child’s tee shirt: 15E
Most ala cart menu items 12-20E
Glass of house wine 3E
Internet café 1E for 15 minutes
To buy in Provence:
Lavender stuff
Joel Durand chocolate in St Remy (6E for 100g)
Table linens
Fabric
Soaps
Wine
Quilts
Pottery
Lavender honey
Crepes
One last tip: take TP & hand wipes everywhere with you, public (and some private) toilets have no toilet paper or paper towels.
I’d be happy to answer any questions I can!
Oct 13th, 2007 | 09:34 AM
#7
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 85
Likes: 0
One thing I forgot to mention. Others have posted warnings about watching where you step as there's dog poop everywhere - it's true! I love dogs, and enjoyed greeting the dogs we met, but I wish others would pick up after their dogs! It was pretty disgusting in some places.
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Oct 13th, 2007 | 10:13 AM
#8
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 3,410
Likes: 0
As an American tourist currently starting his third (and last) week in Provence (in the town of Bonnieux), I enjoyed this report. I found most of the advice to be excellent, and in agreement with my own observations on this and earlier trips.
Let me point people to an earlier thread I posted (three years ago) on driving in France:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34533995
I'd also recommend the free Patricia Wells food dictionary to help decipher menus:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34534230
My one quibble: I don't agree with your pronunciation of St. Rémy. It's not <i>re may</i>, but more like <i>ray mee</i>. There are actually half a dozen or more towns in France named St. Rémy, but in Provence, that name always means Saint-Rémy-de-Provence.
I'll post a trip report after I return.
Larry
Let me point people to an earlier thread I posted (three years ago) on driving in France:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34533995
I'd also recommend the free Patricia Wells food dictionary to help decipher menus:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34534230
My one quibble: I don't agree with your pronunciation of St. Rémy. It's not <i>re may</i>, but more like <i>ray mee</i>. There are actually half a dozen or more towns in France named St. Rémy, but in Provence, that name always means Saint-Rémy-de-Provence.
I'll post a trip report after I return.
Larry
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