My DH and I will have 2 weeks in early October and would love to see Provence and include a bit of time in Spain. Would love to see areas surrounding Barcelona in Spain and Provence in France. Any suggestions on how to lay this trip out would be helpful.

We are into food, wine, countryside and lovely architecture as well as castles and or walled cities.

If you limit yourself to Barcelona and Languedoc-Roussillon, you will be able to pick up a car in Barcelona and loop back to return it there. I'd spend 4 nights in Barcelona, then pick up a car and head for France, stopping in Figueras on the way (Dali museum) and basing in Collioure for a couple nights to tour Cathar country (also WONDERFUL food and wine country), then head to Montpellier for a "city break" for a night and then go on to Uzes for 3 nights. From there you can visit Pont du Gard, as well as some Provencial sites. Uzes is a wonderful town. From there you can head back toward Spain -- ambling along with a night in Beziers or Pezenas, and then another in Ceret (which is nearly back to Barcelona...only a couple hour drive.)

Just a thought. We spent the month of November last year just outside Perpignan (another cool little city) and there is a great deal to see in the region. Wine and jagged mountains, sandy ocean beaches, castles, music, art... We've been to Provence twice and actually found better food and wine just to the slightly to the West. In fact, next time we head to France, we're going to spend a month in Uzes or Pezenas.

My husband and I just returned 2 weeks ago from a month split between Spain and Provence/French Riviera. After 2 weeks in Spain, including 4 nights in Barcelona, we took a train from Barcelona to Avignon (booked ahead of time online), leaving Barcelona @ 9 am and arriving 2 changes later in Avignon @ 3- very easy and smooth. If you don't want to rent a car for the entire time taking the train into France is easy from Barcelona (we looked for flights and found nothing...).
In Avignon we picked up a car the day after we arrived, and used it to go to Uzes (which we too loved) and the Pont du Gard, before moving on to St. Remy which we used as a base for 4 days to visit Les Baux, Arles, Gordes, Roussillon, etc. Drove to Aix-en-Provence for a night and then onto the Riviera for a week.
There are so many interesting places to visit, you really need to read some guidebooks and narrow down what you think looks most interesting. We loved Barcelona proper and certainly filled our 4 days there with sights just in the city (the Gaudi sights took a full day, the City History Museum of Barcelona is fabulous, the Joan Miro Fundacion, the Picasso Museum, the Boqueria market, Las Ramblas, etc.)
We spent ten days going from Madrid to Seville to the white hill towns of southern Spain to Granada before arriving in Barcelona and there are loads of walled cities, castles, forts, etc. throughout, although you may not want to venture beyond Barcelona in that direction.
In Provence we loved St. Remy, Les Baux, Roussillon etc. for their architecture as well. Very easy to drive around- but get a small car as many of these villages have VERY narrow streets. You can visit several villages in a day, but do know that short distances often involve more time than you'd think due to hills, 2 lane roads, etc.
Have a great trip- it's a beautiful part of the world!

There are many exciting things you can do in Spain. Spain gives you an opportunity to visit some of the famous tourist places - The Alhambra, Guggenheim Museum, Prado Museum and many more...Don't forget to take part in the activities of the La Tomatina Festival in Spain..American airways letter brought luck to me as i got a job there as an air hostess.. Share your trip experiences when you return..