Annecy, France to Spain

Oct. 21: The medieval town of Entrevaux is worth a stop. It's on the rail line between Digne and Nice, so I assume it's not far from your driving route.

Nice has a good Museum of Asian Art and a very interesting Museum of Naive Art. They're both on the west side of town not too far from the airport. I was told there's a good garden near the Asian Art Museum but didn't have time to check it out.

Perhaps, while in Nimes, visit the new Roman World Museum. We have not been there yet, but Rick seemed to be excited about it on a recent stop there. If you are into Roman-y things...

1 -- Thanks for the info on museums. I hope to take in at least one if not both. Have added Entrevaux as a possible stop.

2 -- Have added the Roman World Museum to our list. Google it and it does appear interesting. We have learned a lot about Roman history/culture from our time in Italy and Tunisia. Have fallen in love with the mosaic art form.

3 -- FYI, I usually include items like UNESCO, Best Museums in World/BMW (a list I complied three years ago before leaving to go along with Best Gardens, Best Birding Places, Best Archeology Sites, Best Architecture, Best ...., etc. I don't always remember why I chose a place to visit (especially after 3 years ago research) and include it in my itinerary so I know why we want to visit rather than skipping it and going on to something else.

Watch out for the clearance in the parking garages on the Riviera. My sister-in-law, who lives next to Monaco, couldn't clear in all the garages with her old Range Rover 4 X 4. I would still drive because you don't want to miss La Trophée.

Day trip to the Massif des Maures has you half way to Aix. Why don't you push on up through the Gorges du Verdon and stay in the spectacular Moustiers-Sainte-Marie, or just go from the Massif to Aix. You could take a day trip to Moustiers and the Gorges from Aix or Avignon

Aix, you have Cézanne next to the Musée Granet. Thèse are two different places: the fine local museum and Cézanne's house.

A couple of days weather may factor in as you move away from the coast, and go up in elevation--just so you are prepared-- Nov 1, 3. I was in Les Cévennes last fall, and it's a magnificent, forested area with twisty little roads in the mountains.

You have yourself driving to Carcassonne for a couple of days. It's worth a night and then move on. Interesting that Carcassonne goes back to Néolithique period and it was built to protect France from Spain, whose border was much closer. Louis XIV acquired the land to the present border through marriage.

I would go to the incredible Abby and village of St. Guilhem-le-Desert rather than Peyrepertuse and other so-called Cathar Castle ruins. The "Cathar" driving tour is a recent creation of the departmental tourist office--Cathars never lived in these castles; nobles who supported them against the French did. OTOH, I remember stunning carvings and iconography at St. Guilhem-le-Desert.

Also, look at Cordes-sur-Ciel.
Now Andrew who lives on the French/Spanish border hopefully will come along.

Wow, what an incredible journey.

Your day on the 28th may be too ambitious -- especially since you plan to do a bunch of stuff in Arles as well. That's a lot of territory in one day, on some slow going roads. You might consider the route suggested above, with a stay in Moustiers St. Marie and then continue on to the Luberon to Rousillon/Gordes, and then drop through to Aix and then Arles/Camargue. You have a lot of criss-crossing back and forth. For your Cote d'Azur portion, I'd consolidate your stay in one place so you can day trip from there and consolidate dates into an apartment -- everything is reachable from Villefranche-sur-mer (although getting up to the A8 is a bit more time consuming than from some other bases). For Nice, I highly recommend going to the top of Castle Hill (via elevator) at the very least and a brief cut through through Old Town as part of your day. (After the visit up to Cimiez, park once and walk to these destinations -- just be warned, as noted above, that some of these lots like the Cours Saleya one are pretty tight).

Pay attention to maximum flexibility in your route from Milan through the tunnel and past Chamonix (with a side branch to Yvoire -- a lovely village, btw). I used to live near the Lac and the weather can be highly variable in late October, make some of the high altitude plans kind of hit and miss. You are already doing quite a circular route, and some optimization might be needed (the lowland portions of this loop are pretty unremarkable).

Bets & Gooster -- Thanks for all the great information. I am keeping all your comments and mapping them out to view exactly how they will effect our travels. More than once the weather hasn't been on our side and therefore we try to stay flexible.

Day trip to the Massif des Maures has you half way to Aix. Why don't you push on up through the Gorges du Verdon and stay in the spectacular Moustiers-Sainte-Marie, or just go from the Massif to Aix. You could take a day trip to Moustiers and the Gorges from Aix or Avignon. I like your idea of spectacular Moustiers-Sainte-Maures if for no other reason than your description spectacular.

I would go to the incredible Abby and village of St. Guilhem-le-Desert rather than Peyrepertuse and other so-called Cathar Castle ruins. Seeing foundations of a castle's ruins isn't at the top of our list so we appreciate the option you have provided.

For your Cote d'Azur portion, I'd consolidate your stay in one place so you can day trip from there and consolidate dates into an apartment -- everything is reachable from Villefranche-sur-mer (although getting up to the A8 is a bit more time consuming than from some other bases). We definitely have learned that having a base city in Europe (vs. Australia or India) is better than moving to a new place every or every other day.

Gooster, do you have a fall back route to recommend -- You are already doing quite a circular route, and some optimization might be needed (the lowland portions of this loop are pretty unremarkable).

Again, thank you.