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Just 2 days in Provence - where to stay?

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Hello. We are a middle-aged husband and wife going to France together for the first time. We are spending a week in Paris, and then taking the TGV to Avignon for just two nights. We'll arrive at 5pm on a Monday and leave at 3pm on Wednesday. We'll be in town in mid August. When we originally booked the TGV my thought was to go to see the lavender fields, but now I've been led to believe that we will be a few weeks too late, and the lavender will have been harvested.

So where to stay? What to visit? I'm more interested in the slower pace of Provence, after Paris, so thinking that we would rather stay in a smaller village than Avignon. We do plan to rent a car. My romantic ideals of Provence are lush fields of farmlands, markets where you pick up fabulous produce and have a picnic on a hill overlooking stunning scenery. The landscapes and people that inspired Van Gogh. We are both gardeners and hikers. I'm a fabric artist, so purchasing some of the wonderful Provencal prints is high on my list (maybe at a market, or if local factories have shops), my husband is an avid photographer, so getting some terrific shots is high on his list. The Roman ruins are a nice to see, but not a highlight for either of us.

We have lots of things that we are interested in seeing, but nothing that I'd say we'd fall on a sword not to miss. My initial thought it to book a B&B somewhere, maybe in or near either St. Remy or Gordes? Any other ideas? Where would be the best markets to catch?

Many thanks everyone for the help!

Posted by
26 posts

We stayed in Hotel LeGlacier in Orange and loved it! Orange has a great Roman ampitheater and was just a cute little town. They had a great market on the street right out the front door of the hotel but I don't remember which day it is. We had a car and drove to the Pont du Gard one day and drove around to some little villages in the hills.

www.le-glacier.com

Posted by
653 posts

Crowds will likely be an issue and may make the perception of a 'slower pace' difficult to achieve. Provence landscapes are like Van Gogh's - oil trees, sunflowers, cloudless skies, grapes, and lavender. I found the east of the Rhone to be much prettier than the west of the Rhone. I liked Joucas a lot, as it was quiet and beautiful. The RS Provence guide covers it and does the region justice.

-Matt

Posted by
33 posts

The plan above is good if you are interested in the cities. And, if you are an efficient tourist you can do it (we just did Avignon and Arles in one day which worked great). You can see all of Nimes and Orange in a full day as well. This includes time for sitting in cafes or having meals. Of course, you could spend an extra day in any of these fascinating places. You can't go wrong with these four towns. I would change the plan above and take the TGV into Nimes and rent a car there, then work your way up to Avignon which also has a TGV station outside of town. Or the reverse.

Be wary - the rail strike shows no sign of ending. You may end up renting a car from Paris and making the 6 hour drive down and back.

However, If you want to see the countryside then pick up your rental car in Avignon, stay in Orange and drive through the Luberon. If you are looking for a more quiet town that still has a lot to offer then consider St. Remy. We just stayed there and loved it.

From St. Remy you can get in your car and drive to the Luberon villages in about 30 minutes. Then spend a full day driving from village to village.

I agree with the other poster - if you are looking for a very small place then stay in Joucas. Very quiet and lovely. I would not stay in Gordes - it seems like a hassle.

Posted by
509 posts

L'Isle sur la Sorgue worked fine for us as a base (we had a rental car; GPS a great help in Provence), in particular for visiting the nearby hill towns. The town that most impressed us on all counts was St. Remy -- we would probably put that at the top of our list for lodging on a return trip...you will enjoy the Van Gogh Walk of vistas (with helpful information boards) that inspired many of his paintings. My wife was also interested in fabrics and somewhere in our research (likely a RS Forum) we stumbled on this post: “…Tissus Gregoire in St. Saturnin de Avignon is a fabulous place ....They have the most spectacular fabrics on bolts in the back of the store also along with tassels, curtain panels, etc., etc. Prices are very reasonable.” Easy to find, 10 miles east of Avignon, but outside the sprawl. See: http://www.tissus-gregoire.fr/en/ (a button will convert text to English.)

Posted by
689 posts

I highly recommend going to a local market. They are a photographer's delight -- the foods, displays, colors, people and faces! And I know at least one market I went to sold fabric (but the pottery was my favorite). I went to markets on Bedoin and Bonnieux last summer, but neither was a Tuesday. As they rotate which days in which cities, I encourage you to see which city/town has a market on Tuesday and make that your base. From my brief (6 days) experience last summer, I think you can find something interesting in any part of Provence, and if you are more interested in the slower pace, then do just that -- go more slowly.

Posted by
7161 posts

I would stay somewhere central to the towns of Vaison-la-Romaine, Sault, Gordes. I found that area wonderfully scenic and there may still be a chance of seeing some late lavender (depending on the summer weather so hard to predict exactly when they'll be done harvesting). Vaison-la-Romaine has their huge market on Tuesday (one of the best in France) so don't miss that, get there early so you don't have to walk a mile from where you park. Sault has a big lavender festival around mid-August (google it). Driving one of the lavender routes (google it) is a very scenic day - I drove the one from Gordes through Sault to Vaison-la-Romaine and it was gorgeous but that was in July before the harvest started.

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