OhioDi

My husband & I will be staying at a B&b in Menerbes this September for a total of four nights. We arrive on a Saturday and depart for Nice on Wednesday.

I would appreciate your "Top 10" Don't Miss!!!

Our interests are Good Food, Good Red Wine, Natural Beauty,

Thanks

SFtravlr

Go to Le Beax. Also there's a winery off the roadd approaching from the west that is very cool, but don't remeber the name. It's off a vista point, looking to Le Beax, and it is inside a limestone quarry. Wines good too. Nobody but us were there. Gotta see it.

Also, I thought Aix-en Provence was lovely. Lot's of college kids which give it an upbeat feel.

Underhill

Les Baux would definitely be on my top-ten list, as would the Pont du Gard, Arles, St-Rémy, and Avignon.

goddesstogo

We loved Aix-en-Provence and the markets there, also market day in St. Remy.

flsd

We recently visited the winery Mas Ste.-Berthe near Les Baux. You can take a self-guided tour of the fields. We really enjoyed it for both the wine and the natural beauty.
The website is
http://www.mas-sainte-berthe.com/sit...?LangueSite=en

StCirq

I would put Uzès on the list too.

caroltis

Rousillon, Apt market, Les Baux, Isle Sur La Sorgue.

We stayed in Menerbes last year and I often draw on the memories of serenity and peace that lovely village offered us. We stayed in the "La Forteresse" at the end of the road by the church and cemetery. Sweet village. Enjoy!

TuckH

Going at the time you are, you'll unfortunately miss one of my Top Ten: The Lavender Fields.

caroltis

Some day I hope to be brave enough to go to Provence when the lavendar is in bloom...I just do not do well with the heat!!

TuckH

Top Ten Villages/Towns...

Brantes
Crestet
Cucuron
Joucas
Lacoste
Oppède Le Vieux
Saignon
Séguret
Vaison-la-Romaine
Venasque

Vttraveler

With only four nights in Menerbes you are going to have to set some limits. I would explore Oppède Le Vieux and Abbaye Notre-Dame de Sénanque near Gordes, Pont du Gard and Uzès Sénanque, St Remy and Les Baux. Because of your interest in good red wine maybe Châteauneuf-du-Pape plus Avignon or Orange one day.

luvparee

Roussillon for sure! One of the most beautiful places I've seen .... the colors and textures are wonderful!

Cowboy1968

I like the Pays de Sault a lot.
Due to its higher elevation of appr. 800 meters it does not get really hot, not even during lavender bloom in July. And I found way less tourists in that area than around the "usual suspects" of Aix, Avignon, Pont du Gard, etc.

http://www.saultenprovence.com/

crazyfortravel

We just returned from Provence and only scratched the surface in 8 days. Here are some of our favorite places:

St Remy
Les Baux
Uzes
Pont du Gard
Cucuron
Lourmarin
Saignon
Roussillon
Oppede le Vieux
Seguret

OhioDi

crazyfortravel

where did you stay during your 8 days in provence?

Any restaurants that you can recommend?

I would really appreciate any info you might care to share


Di

crazyfortravel

We stayed 2 nights in St Remy at the Hotel du Soliel, 1 night at Hotel Liautaud in Cassis and 5 nights in Bonnieux at the Hotel Le Clos du Buis.

I am hoping to do a trip report but I have not been well so it may take a while.

We ate more picnic meals, light lunches and bought supplies at local markets to make some of our own meals on this trip. Our B&B in Bonnieux was great as we had a small kitchen in our room as well as access to a fully equipped kitchen downstairs. We ate out several nights but I can't say any of the meals were particularly memorable.

There's no shortage of natural beauty in this area with the vineyards, mountains and perched villages. There's some industrial sprawl around several towns but when you get out into the countryside lovely drives abound.

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. Stu Dudley's driving directions were an invaluable tool for us when planning our drives in this region.

Odin

I can recommend the restaurant Saveurs de Provence in St Remy, address 51 rue Carnot. We had a very good lunch there recently, cost about EUR80 with wine.

cigalechanta

Everything is subjective. Some will say stay away from Les Baux and Roussillon, they are crowded. Trus but there is nothing like them, a must-see to me.
My favorite places are for various personal reasons, Eygalieres, Maussane, St remy, Lourmarin, Bonnieux, Saignon,Seguret, Avignon, Arles but let's face it. We've been going every year to this place I love, Like Paris, you never see it all. My cigales must be due there.

stevelyon

crazyfortravel, is your list in favourites order? I am in the area in 4 weeks for 10 days and need to manage my time.
Many thanks for your advice

crazyfortravel

Hi stevelyon,

No..I kind of grouped it by the area we visited them.

We stayed in St Remy first. It was our second time there but the last time we visited years ago we did it as a day trip from Avignon. This time we made it our home base and for us it was a good choice. It was every bit as charming to us as we had remembered. Even more so early in the morning and later at night when we seemed to have the town to ourselves.

Les Baux...even though very busy with tourists was much more interesting than I had expected. It far exceded my expectations. The views were incredible and its hard to imagine 6000 once lived within these walls.

My list if by order of preference would go something like this although we enjoyed them all:

Saignon
Cucuron
Oppede le Vieux
Les Baux
Roussillon
Seguret
St Remy
Pont du Gard
Uzes
Lourmarin

There are some other notable towns that we very much enjoyed as well:

Brantes
Crestet
Bonnieux - our base
Goult
Simone de la Rotonde
Gordes
L'Isle sur la Sorge Sunday Market