My husband and I are looking for a romantic, relatively small chateau or small hotel to stay at this August for a night. We'll be staying near Avignon for the remainder of our trip, and would like to drive no more than 2 hours for our overnight stay. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

We enjoyed our two nights in April at Chateau des Alpilles just outside St. Remy de Provence.

A perfect place, an easy drive northeast of Orange on , is a wonderful place formerly known as the Chateau Rochegude, now called Hostellerie du Vieux Chateau. It's wonderfully romantic, has a gourmet restaurant, beautiful grounds in a small village, and is the most restful place I've ever visited. Driving from Orange, go north on N7 to D976, then northeast about 6-7 miles to the chateau. You will love it. Good luck.

I'm sorry--I misinformed you about the Chateau Rochegude. It is still there, and is still as lovely as ever. I had confused it with another chateau, the Hostellerie du Vieux Chateau, that I recommended. I have stayed at the Chateau Rochegude. You drive a bit farther to get there, but it is only about 9-10 miles from Orange. Take D976 northeast out of Orange, then D11 and D117 to the village of Rochegude. On the way, you will see signs. This place is absolutely my favorite in all of southern France, for its restfulness, romantic ambience, and great food. Sorry for the confusion; ignore my previous post. Their website is [email protected]. Good luck.

Last week my wife and I were in Provence and stayed at two gorgeous properties. Hostellerie De Crillon le Brave, located in Crillon le Brave, a tiny village near Carpentras; and La Bastide de Marie, located near Menerbes. Crillon is on a mountaintop with beautiful vistas and Bastide is surrounded by hills and vineyards. Gourmet meals are included at Bastide. Both would fit your criteria of small and romantic. I wish we were still there! Check out their web sites and tripadvisor.com.