HI! My husband and I are staying in Provence 7/8-7/12 (4 days). We are planning on spending 2 days exploring lavender fields by car and by bike, one day in cassis, and one day exploring aix en Provence (maybe st remy too) to check out some markets. If this is our plan which area do you recommend that we stay and if you have any suggestions as to where we would greatly appreciate it. We're a young couple that likes adventure but also enjoys leisurely days sipping rose wine!

Stay in the Luberon near Bonnieux if you want to be close to lavender fields that you can bike to. Lots of wonderful bike-only paths there. Good access to Aix also.

Stu Dudley

St Remy and Aix are far apart, not doable in 1 day.

You could do Aix and Cassis in one very long day. Cassis is lovely but a full days ins't necessary. You can take a boat ride of the Calanques and maybe dinner in Cassis after the morning in Aix.

You could do the Sunday market at L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue and then hit St. Remy, another long day.

http://www.beyond.fr/a/markets-by-day-all.html

Do you need a place to stay??

I meant - do you need/want a town or specific accommodation?

I agree with Stu, The Luberon is the area you want. Not sure I'd opt for Bonnieux, but there so many small villages that would work.

I suggested Bonnieux because, as I recall, there are several lavender fields in the area, and also quick access to Aix.

Stu Dudley

Discounting that our car was broken in to there, Bonnieux is a tad removed for me. It is closer to Aix, agreed. But further from St Remy and L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue.

OP will need to provide some feedback.

If you have a car, you can easily do Aix and Saint Remy in one day, they are only about an hour drive apart. I wouldn't do that to explore markets, though, that's for sure (I'm not clear what that means, if it means weekly roving market).

The problem is markets are best in the morning, so you can't go to both in the morning. They aren't the same day, anyway, St Remy is Wednesday. Aix has the brocant and artisan market on Tu and Th and Sat.

So you could go to St Remy market in the morning and then do Les Baux in the afternoon that day.

We enjoyed our base in Bonnieux, plus we had three fantastic dinners.

Chapters Five - Seven have some info on them

<B>http://travelswithmaitaitom.com/france-2016/</B>

We've been spending time in Provence for almost 15 years and base in the village of Bonnieux, where we now have an apartment and live part-time.

You need to decide whether you want to move around for your overnight stays and whether you prefer to base in towns and small cities vs. villages. I enjoy visiting bigger places, but I love the lifestyle of a small village in the beautiful countryside.

There would be many wonderful places to stay in Provence, but I think Bonnieux is ideal. It sits on a hillside, where the Petit Luberon and Grand Luberon mountains come together. There's a narrow pass between the two, and you can take a road through the pass to reach the southern Luberon (villages like Lourmarin or Cucuron). Aix is one hour and Cassis about an hour and a half. To the north is the beautiful Luberon valley. L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue is less than 30 minutes drive for the Sunday morning market.

There are an increasing number of lavender fields in the plain below Bonnieux and also on the Claparedes Plateau above the village. Or you can drive an hour or so north to Sault to see one of the major lavender-growing areas of Provence.

It will be warm at the time of your stay, so biking may be more difficult. There's a bike rental place in Bonnieux and you can also rent electric bikes there. The bike rental people can suggest routes depending on your interests.

There are big markets in L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, St. Remy (one hour away), Aix, Apt. But at this time of year the smaller village markets are also very special. The market in Lourmarin is now quite large, and we love our village market in Bonnieux (both on Friday mornings).

Bonnieux offers at least 10 eating places, two boulangeries, a small grocery store, a butcher shop... everything you'd need if you rent an apartment for your entire stay.

Enjoy your time in Provence. We originally visited for just one week and fell in love with the area.

Kathy