stevelyon

Thanks crazyfortravel, any reason for your choice? I was comparing your list with that of DK Eyewitness Travel's Top 10 Provence Villages which are:
1 Moustiers-Ste-Marie
2 Les-Baux-de-Provence
3 St Paul de Vence
4 Fontaine de Vaucluse
5 Bormes les Mimosas
6 Rouissillon
7 Seguret
8 Cassis
9 Sisteron
10 Roquebrune Cap Martin

crazyfortravel

Hi stevelyon,

I think it depends on where you base yourself. We were no where near some of those towns on the list you mention. I think with any trip you make choices based on things you read both online and in print. You can't see it all so you promise yourself that you'll be back again one day.

My list is based on the places we visited on this trip and a previous trip we took to Provence some years ago. I'm sure many of the towns you mention are on someone's list..no ours because we didn't visit them.

Hope that helps

crazyfortravel

Actually, we did visit Cassis on this trip for 1 night and very much enjoyed our stay. I didn't mention it as the OP was looking for points of interest near Menerbes...but I do see it's on the list you posted.

crazyfortravel

My photos are now posted at

www.kodakgallery.com/crazy4travel

You're welcome to have a look.

stevelyon

Fabulous photos - cant wait to visit some of these places. It was interesting noting your original post to Fodors (prior to your actual visit) and whether places you were looking forward to visiting disapointed and vice versa - would you (with hindsight) leave some out?

crazyfortravel

That's a good question. Reflecting back, I would have left out Villeneuve les Avignon. We had not researched it and it was a last minute choice to go. We wandered around looking for the entrance to the castle...walked for what seemed like miles from where we parked our car and never did find the entrance. Ended up getting stung by a plant..just like a bee sting x 10 as I had approx 10 welts that hurt so much I thought I was going to pass out. Luckily the pain subsided rather quickly..within a few hours.

I would also have left out Pernes les Fontaines...didn't find the town particularly interesting or attractive.

Our last day we decided to do a drive to the Dentelles. I wish I had taken that last day to just chill at the B&B and soak up the atmosphere in our home town of Bonnieux. It was a hot day and I was feeling rather tired. I started the trip with a foot ailment that came out of the blue. A unilateral edema..my foot had been swollen for 3 weeks with no real explanation. I had one pair of shoes that would fit. The day started out with Pernes les Fontaines which as I mentioned I did not care for.

Crestet is a sweet little town with wonderful views but the climb is straight up...and it was hot.

Seguret..another picture perfect town but you always feel the need to get to the top of town and see all corners of it.

There was constuction on the road between Seguret and Sablet so we had to go out to the main road and go around. Sablet has little interest outside of wine in my opinion but made a very good lunch stop...we were hot and exhausted by this time.

We did a drive thru of Gigondas and from the car could not see the immediate charm so moved on...you can see by this point that I have lost all enthusiasm as I'm sure the last two towns on our list were likely wonderful little towns. We stopped at Beaume de Venise at the Winery outside of town and bought several bottles of wine as well as some pottery. Looking back it was not a day well spent but we sometimes don't know when to just stop the madness and take a break.

The other town that had no charm for me was Sault. I could see that in Lavender season it would be in its glory but other than the drive to and beyond it, the town itself was rather bland.

We got to Brantes in the most fantastic rain and lightening storm and there was a great flood while we were there. We would have loved to have driven through the Gorge de Nesques on the way back but the weather did not cooperate. We'll have a nice little memory of Brantes as we ducked into the little chapel to get out of the rain. We didn't see one person in town while we were there...a truly remote village and we had it all to ourselves.

Overall, we were happy with our choices.

cobbie

Wonderful photos - thanks for sharing.

mauigal

Crazyfortravel: fantastic photos! May I ask what kind of camera you used? We are leaving for a 3-week trip to the South of France (Grasse) and the Luberon (Menerabes) this Friday (I'm doing the happy dance!)and I now think our CoolPix won't do the area justice. Too late to get an SLR which I'm thinking you have. Please share! Thanks so much for sharing your photos - I'm all reved up and can't wait!

cigalechanta

I LOVED Villeneauve-Lez_avignon, enough to spend almost three weeks there and able to walk into Avignon. There'a famous Provençal garden there besides La Chartreuse and Fort St-André and an excellent Saturday Flea Market.

St Paul de Vence: We stayed there several times either as a birthday or anniversary present at the famous Colombe D'Or. Sitting at the café that overlooks the pentanque(boules) court where Yves Montand often played is fun. Yves and Signoret married at the Columbe D'Or
Upstairs in the post office are photos of all the celebs who hung out in town. A not to miss is the fabulous Maeght Foundation. A wealth of art indoors and o the grounds.
If one goes to Moustiers, noted for it's faience, dine at Les Santons and visit the nearby Gorge Du Verdon. Climb the path of the 12th century chapel. The view across the Verdon is magnificent

crazyfortravel

We have a kodak DX7590. It's not an SLR but it has a 10X optical zoon which comes in really handy. We've been very happy with the photos it turns out.

cigalechanta...I'm sorry we didn't connect with Villeneauve-Lez_avignon. It was a last minute decision to go there and we had no literature on the town. We really botched our visit by treking around without any real plan. We had heard good things about it so we wanted to see it but things did not turn out for us I'm afraid. Maybe next time.

mauigal

Crazyfortravel: Thanks for the camera info. I feel a little better about our cameras. My husband has a 10X optical on his camera so between the two of us we hopefully will be fine. 3 more days!

PalenQ

Les Beaux, St Remy, Pont du Gard, Avignon, Arles, Aix, Uzes, Camargue Horse treks.

crazyfortravel

mauigal...I look forward to seeing your photos when you return. Bonvoyage and safe travels.

Cathinjoetown

crazyfortravel, Your photos are fantastic. Thank you for sharing. This September we're only in Provence for three nights (sigh) so will focus on just a few things and hope to be able to stay longer next time. We're staying in Tavel, about 15 minutes from Avignon and not technically Provence but near enough. Tavel is noted for its rose so I plan to post a report on it (the wine and the village) if I remember anything. All: I have toured the palais du Papes in Avignon and don't really want to do it again--am I being unfair to my husband and best friend by steering them away? It was interesting but..... Opinions??

crazyfortravel

Cathinjoetown...I am intimately aquainted with Tavel rose. I love it and can't get it here in Nova Scotia. In fact, we can't get any really good rose wines here. Provence is the best place on the planet to get rose wines. They have such a wide selection at great prices!! I would likely be pickled and not go anywhere if I stayed in Tavel.

I don't think you're being selfish at all. We found the Palais du Papes interesting but not the highlight of our visit to Avignon.
My favorite side trip while I stayed in Avignon my first time was St Remy. This time we stayed in St Remy for two nights and visited Les Baux (loved it)..the Pont du Gard and Uzes. These all rate very high on my list for the area.

cigalechanta

The best Provence Rosé is from Bandol, the Domaine de Templier

The owner of the vineyard has a wonderful cookbook, LULU's Provençal Table.

cigalechanta

OOPS! Tempier
http://hubpages.com/hub/Domaine-Tempier-Bandol-Review

Cathinjoetown

Thanks, cigalechanta, I'll do a comparison tasting for you! Tavel technically doesn't qualify as a Provencal rose but they claim that their standard is very high. We'll see--am no expert but am a willing consumer!

crazyfortravel

I'll have to try that one next time. I certainly sampled a good variety this time around.

TDudette

Bookmarking. We are based in Aix in September.
By the way, crazyfortravel, where were you standing when you took that beautiful shot of the town of Rousillon?
Also, in high school French in the 60's, we were taught to say Aze en provence-now I hear it's X en provence? What's correct???
TD