starrs

"GV to Provence (city TBD based on itinerary plan)"
We did this to Avignon. Spend the night inside the walled city. Later returned to the station to pick up a rental car. Very easy. Wandered the area, drove down to Cannes and flew out of Nice. It was a wonderful, relaxing trip.
I would love to spend more time in Roussillon. Sunset dnner overlooking the red rocks is one of my favorite travel memories.
I would also like to stay in Gordes.

mjs

Provence is a rather large area with much to see and 10-12 days only gives you a glimpse so you will have to prioritize your exploration. You should probably spend a little time in Avignon as the TGV from Paris deposits you there if you wish to use St Remy as a base for this part of Provence. St Remy geographically is a good choice and is large enough to have a fair amount of restaurants for your evening meals and a decent size grocery store. Its also small enough so that driving in and out is easy. It is a bit touristy but we are not talking Venice or Dubrovnik.

kja

I was in the area in mid-to-late May, and found the traffic in and around St. Remy very heavy. Maybe it was a fluke.

iregeo2

Here is a sort of first draft:

Sept. 27, 28, 29 - Train to Avignon. Base in Avignon to see Avignon, Uzes and Pont du Gard. (Is 2 days in Avignon too much?)
Sept. 30, Oct. 1, 2 - Base in St. Remy to see it, Arles and Les Baux.
Oct. 3, 4 - Base in a Luberon hill town to visit the area. (Take one away from St. Remy and put here?)
Oct. 5, 6 - Base in Aix to spend time there.
Oct. 7, 8 - Travel to and stay in Nice. (Haven't researched this at all yet.)
Oct. 9 - Fly home

I feel like this is too much moving around. Is there a way to fine tune other than cutting out some areas altogether?



Thanks.

kja

I didn't think 2 days in Avignon too much, but I suspect many people would find it so.
Your time in Nice seems exceedingly short.

iregeo2

Thanks kja. I haven't even started to look at getting to or seeing Nice. How much time would you spend both getting there and visiting?

kja

I had about 3.5 days in Nice with one day trip (the Villas Ephrussi and Kerylos -- both magnificent); I did not see everything I wanted to see in Nice, and I kept very, very busy.

StCirq

I would find it hard to be so close to the Camargue and not pay it a visit.

iregeo2

Hello St Cirq. How would you suggest I structure this trip?

Thanks.

jpie

We stayed in a couple of nice hotels in that area a few years back. There is a hotel/restaurant that is just at the foot of 9the pretty touristy) city of Les Baux called Les le Mas d'Aigret (we used booking.com to book). The restaurant is terrific and the property is family owned and run. They have some cool “Troglodyte rooms” built into the stone.

https://www.masdaigret.com/en/

In St. Remy we have stayed at a property that is kind of like a "time share" about 6 minutes walk along a path into St Remy-so it keeps you out of the noise and bustle of the town itself-plus it has a pool which is nice. It is called Résidence Le Mas de Valrugues by Popinns

https://valrugues.popinns.com/

And few years back we stayed in a lovely property in Avignon in the walled city area called Le Cloitre Saint Louis. It is an old convent and half of the rooms are in the old section and half the rooms are in the new section (which is also lovely-we were traveling with friends so booked a room in each area to check it out)

https://www.hotel-cloitre-saintlouis-avignon.fr/en/

If you want to split your time then I would split it by basing part of kind of "east and south around Aix and then maybe the second half more west and north like either Avignon or even Nimes or Uzes. The distances aren't very big so you won't find it hard to drive I don't think.

TDudette

Hi, iregeo2, I hope you have a wonderful trip! We "sandwiched" Provence in between a Paris trip and based in Aix. It was in September and tours were ending their seasons so we were lucky to get one. Hope it gives you some ideas:

Trip Report: A Provence Sandwich

You will have to skip through the Paris part...sorry! Please share what you end up doing.

iregeo2

Thanks so much jpie. I will have a look at all those properties.
And thanks TDudette. I will happily read through the Paris part! It's Paris!

TDudette

Oui, c'est vraiment Paris!

gooster

You might consider collapsing one of your bases in Western Provence -- you may end up losing time shifting and dealing with checkin/checkout when the distances between some of the branches aren't so great. For example, you could base in Lourmarin and head into Aix as a day trip, and climb the hill through Bonnieux into the Luberon. Note getting into/out of Aix can take some time due to traffic at rush hour.

Given your interest in art, in Nice you may want to check out the Musee Chagall and the Musee Matisse, plus the Fondation Maeght in St. Paul de Vence. There are museums dedicated to various artists throughout the region; some focus more on their life than solely their works (noteable exception is the Chagall). The Villa Ephrussi, Villefranche-sur-Mer and the views from Eze may hold interest. (I have a place in Nice)

iregeo2

Gooster, I totally agree on collapsing bases. In fact, I suspect much will have to be cut as I would hate the aggressive pace we would have to keep. So, back to the drawing board.

I am reading and researching all of your suggestions. Please keep them coming.

Appreciate your time.

maitaitom

Bonnieux. Great town to explore the area, and it also has numerous great restaurants. Check out Chapters Five - Seven of our 2016 trip report to France for more (lots of photos, too). Our b&b was top notch, Les Terrasses du Luberon (still gets rave reviews)

https://travelswithmaitaitom.com/france-2016/

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Re...te_d_Azur.html

View of countryside as we walked to dinner one night in Bonnieux ....

TDudette

gooster makes a good point about traffic in Aix. There was a garage steps from our hotel though.

jpie

Sorry- 9the pretty touristy) was supposed to be this (the pretty touristy) ...

I agree about " check out the Musee Chagall and the Musee Matisse, plus the Fondation Maeght in St. Paul de Vence." They are all amazing and St Paul de Vence is another "les Baux-like" village.

If you do decide to go more west to stay in Uzès we have stayed at 2 places (both booked on booking.com)

La Taverne small hotel-it does not have an elevator just fyi

and a "fancier" hotel with elevator and pool (rare in Uzès ) called Hôtel Entraigues

And just FYI since you will have a car, in Uzès (like many towns of its size in Provence and Languedoc, parking is hard because the historical center is usually pedestrian only, so they have a nice covered pay lot for the city that many of the hotels offer a discount for. So we just park our car and only use it when we are out exploring.

iregeo2

Wow Tom! That's some photo!

Sassafrass