SuzG

What a fantastic trip you will have. I spent two weeks in Provence two years ago. Absolutely beautiful:

Les Baux
Roussillon
Aix en Provance
Gourdes

We also did a "lavendar drive" one day and spent the whole day driving through lavendar country, but I think you will miss that.
Have a wonderful time,
Susan

Enjoy it!

knoxvillecouple

Top 10? Not an easy task. We stayed a week in Isle sur la Sorgue (in town, actually a "block" from the church) and loved it. Not just the Sunday market, but the entire week, including glasses of pastis or wine at the cafe across the square from the church in the late afternoon.

Outside of Isle sur la Sorge? We really enjoyed the Dentelles Loop (including particularly a couple of degustations at local winereies in Gigondas and Seguret). The Fontaine de Vaucluse was really cool, but we were there when the water was REALLY flowing. Roussillon of course, and Gordes. Oppède le Vieux was kind of magical, and the ruins of the Marquis de Sade's castle in Lacoste were neat (with spectacular views of the Luberon). Lourmain remains one of my favorites - the market was unexpectedly great, and the chateau was certainly worth an hour or two.

But my absolute favorite? A lazy 4-hour lunch with friends at their house in Gordes overlooking the Luberon. I thought about asking them to adopt us.

Photos of our time in Provence (as well as week in Paris and on the Côte d'Azur) are at: http://tinyurl.com/5bofte.
They are not nearly as cool as those posted by crazyfortravel, but still pretty inviting.

You can probably tell I'd be willing to go back.

Sam

nametaken

Crazy for travel. Your photos are wonderful beyond belief. My husband and I are taking my daughter and her husband to Provence in September 2008. I can't wait to show them your pics--in addition to the ones we took a few years ago. I am trying to refine the two week trip so that we don't bore them with too much Roman stuff or small cute towns. We have reservations in Uzes for the first week and in Lourmarin for the second. I hope this will allow us to see Cassis and perhaps Marseile. We will go to Tavel and Lirac for the rose. If you can make suggestions beyond what you have already shared, please let me know. I too tend to do too much and I think the other travelers will have a better time (and me too) if I can slow down the pace at least a little. Thanks again for your very helpful review and pics.

sweetannie

Bookmarking, (Lulu's Provencal Table, reminder to pick up tomorrow!)

We really loved St. Remy, Les Baux, Orange, Pont du Gard. We drove to the sea on day. We went to Monaco, which wouldn't have been my first choice, but I did absolutely love the opportunity to see the sea (so to speak!).

annie

Cathinjoetown

tuduette: My niece studied in Aix for a year. She pronounced it, more or less, as X en Provence. There was some vowel sound before the X but I can't duplicate it phonetically.

ExplorerB

Ohio,

I had the good fortune of visiting Provence last summer, using the towns of Vaison la Romaine and St. Remy as springboards for a five-day exploration. The countryside around Vaison was particularly attractive, with many charming villages yearning for exploration.. Quality red wine is in abundance, so get ready to be spoiled.

Some highlights included:

-Roussillon, arrive early or late in the day to avoid the touristic crush; have a lovely meal at Le Bistro de Rousillon with a table overlooking the strangely beautiful ochre cliffs. What a lovely way to spend your holiday.

-Les Baux is impressively situated, not far from St. Remy. Like Roussillon, it's very popular, but should you arrive late in the day, a walk among the 12th century ruins is most atmospheric, and the views of the surrounding countryside are terrific.

-Lastly, make a point of seeing Pont du Gard, the remarkable remains of a Roman aqueduct that spans the River Rhone. Here you can walk through an area where water once flowed, and it's a dark, mysterious, experience. Another glass of good Provencal red wine is surely n order.

Best of luck.

crazyfortravel

Thank you nametaken. We had visited Avignon, Arles and St Remy on a previous trip. We arrived in Arles on a Monday and literally nothing was open so I would say that we didn't have the best visit. Apparently it is quite common to take an extended weekend for no reason other than they can.
You may want to keep that in mind when you are planning an outing on a Sunday or Monday.

We very much enjoyed St Remy so knew we would like to base ourselves there for a few days. Uzes is a lovely town..one of my husbands favorite towns with a nice central square. Similar layout to St Remy where most everything is located inside the ring road...only there seemed to be lots of great shops in Uzes.

The first part of our trip seemed more leisurely and overall we enjoyed it more. When I reflect back, I wish we had taken things down to an even slower pace. Our time in the Luberon was exhausting. It could be that the perched towns got the best of me since I had an issue with my foot.

We really enjoyed our visit to Lourmarin and Cucuron. We seemed to have Cucuron to ourselves...very untouristic and lovely. We felt the same about Saignon and Goult. I think you'll really enjoy Lourmarin.

If you have any specific questions, please feel free to ask.

cigalechanta

For those of you who don't know Cucuron, there's a scene in A VERY GOOD YEAR when russell crowe and the star of La Mome, who looks so goreous in this film(shows what a great actress she is)
Th scene takes place when they are watching an outdoor fil around the pool where they have the weekly market,

susan001

bookmarking

JuneBug70

I will be in Provence for 5 days in August. Would I be better off spending a Monday touring Luberon hill towns or visiting the Pont du Gard and Uzes? I know a lot of things are closed on Sundays and Mondays.

Thanks for your input.

Pendarb

We just returned from Provence and were very taken with the small town markets. We did Isles-sur-la-Sorgue on Sunday, but our favorite was the Monday market in Bedoin, near Carpentras. It was small enough to see everything before the noon heat set in, but very lively and colorful - and something to do on a Monday!

kevin_widrow

June -

Either choice would be fine. The more touristy villages in the Luberon will have just about everything open as you are coming right in the heart of the season. If it is a really hot day, and you decide to go to the Pont du Gard, don't forget your bathing suit !

-Kevin

plufmud

If you visit Cucuron you MUST dine at La Petite maison- fabulous dinner and decor is so French country.

arbolton

We just got back, stayed in a tiny town called Montjustin, ventured out every day to explore small towns.

Our favorites were:
Joucas (lunch at Hostellerie des Commandeurs)
Loumarin (market day)
Goult (just stopped for a beer, stroll, but would go back in a heartbeat--so small, non-touristy, charming)
Cucuron (market day)
Oppede le Vieux (wear hiking/sturdy shoes if you want to climb all the way up--a very nice climb!)

Unlike others on this board, we did not really enjoy Aix...after all our time in small towns, Aix just seemed too crowded, hot, busy! We enjoyed smaller, more pastoral atmospheres.

cigalechanta

Petite Maison in Cucuron has been closed for over a year.
It was WAY-Y too pricey.

Judyrem

I read this thread, and realized how wvery much we loved Provence. We went 2 years ago and it was fabulous. I have to say knowing just enough French to get by, we had a magificent time in St Remy, Gordes, Arles, and Aix with all the day trips from them. I can not think of a more perfect place . The list is well covered IMO.

caroltis

I too did not enjoy Aix as I thought i would.

flygirl

bookmark

monicapileggi

bookmarking!

Monica

kiki6917

I guess that you would have some time to pay a visit to Avignon

I suggest that you have a dinner at a wonderful and astonishing restaurant "New ground" in the old city (29 rue de la Saraillerie Tel 0490852183); Provencale cuisine mingled with exotic flavors and a lot of creative ideas; the decoration and "ambiance" is great; be surprised ! and the prices are very reasonable