Seeking scenic Provence villages
 

We will travel to St. Remy in July, our 11th straight trip. We enjoy visiting new villages in Provence while we are there. We look for scenery, shopping, good dining experiences. Last year we visited Lourmarin and Saignon for the first time and enjoyed the experience.<BR><BR>We have been to Gordes, Bonnieux,Roussilon. Village suggestions within a 75km radius of St.Remy would be great.Personal experiences, no websites please.<BR>Thanks!

Have you been to Moustiers Ste Marie? Charming town, known for faience. Shops galore. The place for lunch is Les Santons [reservation advised].

Menerbes is quite near Gordes. It is a small village but has a couple of excellent restaurants. Read the book &quot;A Year In Provence&quot; by Peter Mayle. It is a story of an Englisman's emigration to France and is based in Menerbes. The Cafe Du Progress mentioned in the book is exactly as described.<BR><BR>Carol

May I suggest Isle sur la Sorque, Fontaine-de-Vaucluse, Oppede le Vieux, Les Baux, Uzes, and the Pont du Gard. And although it is larger, Arles is a delight.<BR><BR>Regards,<BR><BR>Jinx Hoover

Have you explored the Camargue? I think Aigues-Mortes has one of the prettiest town squares in all of Europe, plus it has wonderful little shops and, when I was there in September, I was amazed at the fact that there were hardly any other tourists who weren't French and that the prices were so low compared to elsewhere in Provence. Plus, the scenery of the Camargue is just stunning. Other villages I've enjoyed include Tarascon, Fontveille, Maussane-les-Alpilles, and Beaucaire.

Anthony, one of my favorite villages is Eygalieres. Stroll thru the old village and climb up a small hill to the church with it's lovely campanile.<BR>In the heart of the village are three very good restaurants and a friendly &quot;local&quot; cafe, a small boutique run by a nice lady/painter.<BR>From there an easy ride to Fontveille(good dining) and Maussane. The Alpilles is my favorite area.

Just another afterthought - if you are interested in Roman civilization be sure to take a trip up to Orange for the Roman amphitheatre - the only one remaining in the world with its &quot;scene&quot; wall intact , and the best preserved Roman &quot;Arc de Triomphe&quot; - plus iots a very pretty, intersting town - not too far from the Pont du Gard, which now has a wonderful Roman museum attached.<BR>While in St Remy you also have the Roman<BR>ruins of Glanum (?) literraly a few kilometres south of the town on the orad to les Alpilles and le Baux.<BR>Bon Voyage !<BR><BR>++=

Hi<BR><BR>just an observation..........<BR><BR>I live in Languedoc, about 35 kms from Provence.<BR><BR>I find that once you cross the Rhone into Languedoc prices for property, restaurants, hotels, brocante etc. drop off sharply.<BR><BR>Could be worth looking over the river ?<BR><BR>Peter<BR>http://tlp.netfirms.com<BR><BR>

Hey Peter, by all means recommend away-- I first noticed the entire Languedoc region a couple of years ago when Wine Spectator ran a gorgeous article on the area...<BR><BR>I'm kibitzing on this thread making notes for our trip in May ;^)

Hi<BR><BR>many of the proclaimed &quot;gems&quot; of Provence are already in Languedoc !<BR><BR>So Uzes, Nimes, Aigues Mortes, Camargue are actually over the river.<BR><BR>I'm not sure where your interests lie, but here is a start for your research : <BR>http://tlp.netfirms.com/tour5.htm<BR><BR>Bon chance<BR><BR>Peter<BR>http://tlp.netfirms.com<BR><BR>

Anthony:<BR><BR>For things Provencal check out:<BR><BR>http://groups.yahoo.com/group/provence<BR><BR>ps. Peter has some photos posted there as well.<BR><BR>

<BR>Agree with Peter that there are lots of nice villages just west of the Rh&ocirc;ne. Vers and Collias for instance, just minutes from Pont du Gard.<BR>In the Vaucluse, I like some of the towns on the S. side of the Mont Ventoux, like B&eacute;doin (market on Monday morning) and Caromb. B&eacute;doin is only 60 km from St R&eacute;my.

also try pernes-les-fontaines and seguret. while pernes didn't have that hilltop charm, we thought the self-tour the tourist office put together was great. the town is full of wonderful buildings and trompe l'oeil facades.

Try this<BR><BR>http://www.provenceweb.fr/e/provpil.htm

Please, Please, Please drive west and visit the area around Sarlat. Everything there is awesome. Email me for more info.

I agree Sarlat is interesting. <BR>So is St Emillion, and for that matter many places in Iceland.<BR><BR>But they are not within 75 kms ?<BR><BR>Peter<BR><BR>