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One week in Provence

Posted by (Canada) on

I am still finessing the details, but am looking for some feedback on my proposed plan for my husband and I to to visit Provence for 7 days during the last week of May (24-31). I am not attached to the when of the plans, so will shift things around as needed. We will be there for our anniversary, so would like to do something on the 28th that won't leave us a dishevelled mess unable to have dinner in a nicer place.

Tues May 24: We will be arriving in Avignon by TGV from Paris around 6:30 pm and after picking up our rental car at the station, will drive to our hotel in St Remy. The only plan for that evening will be settling in and having dinner.

Day 1 ( Wed May 25): Market day in St Remy, so after breakfast at the hotel will do that in the morning, then drive to Glanum. Next we plan to drive to les Baux via the scenic route suggested in the guidebook, check out the castle ruins then get lunch in the town below. I am considering the carriers des lumiers, but we have something similar in Toronto and if we do we do, but if we don't it's no big deal. Seeing the castle ruins castle lit up after dark would be nice though, so we may want to kill some time there until then.

Day 2 ( Thurs May 26): drive to Nimes in the morning to tour the arena and see the maison carree. If there is time, see temple of Diana and jardin de la Fontaine). Lunch on place du marches then drive to Pont du Gard. Would like to see the light show that evening, so maybe diner in Uzes.

Day 3 (Fri May 27) : drive to Isle sur la Sorgue to see antique shops, waterwheels, Notre dame des anges, lunch there then drive to fontaine de Valcluse to canoe back down along the river. Drive back to St Remy for dinner.

Day 4 (Sat May 28): Anniversary. Drive to Rousillon to walk les sentiers des ochres, then drive to a few of the Luberon towns. None really call me aside from seeing Gordes at dusk, so would appreciate suggestions here. Thinking maybe Lacoste and ?? Maybe stop at village des bories and/or st panatelon necrolpolis.

Day 5 (Sun May 29): drive to the Camargue, rent bikes in Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer and bike to and around the Camargue,either the tour of the etang de vaccares, or gacholle lighthouse route, then drive to hotel in Aix.

Day 6 (Mon May 30): Drive or train to Marseilles with a loose plan to visit le panier, cathedral de la major, the basilique Notre-Dame de la Garde and either a boat trip to Chateau D’If or the one to pointe rouge beach.

Day 7 (Tues May 31): Drive to Cassis to see the the calanques, ideally by kayak, drive la route des cretes, then drive to hotel in Nice,

A few questions that I have are:

  • arena in Arles or Nimes? The one in Nimes has the audioguide tour, which appeals to me and just seems more impressive.

  • was really hoping to see a bullgame, either in Arles or the Camargue, but don't see anything listed. Maybe it's too early in the season, but does anyone here know of plans for spring 2022?

  • Provencal markets: I don't get the appeal, so must be missing something. The look like big flea/farmer's markets and since we are not likely to want a bushel of tomatoes or a metre of fabric, I can't see devoting much time to this activity aside from avoiding towns hosting them in terms of crowds and parking.

  • Rick warns not to leave valuables in the car in either the Camargue or Cassis, but both of those places are jumping off points for our next destination, so we will have to bring it with us. Do you think the risk is as great as he says? if so, any ideas about luggage storage in either place?

Thank you in advance for your thoughts.

Posted by
3643 posts

I’m with you on the markets. I think their origin was to bring goods to people living in places without good access to large shops. The only possible appeal to me would be to pick up some picnic meal fixings.
On leaving valuables. . . We bring a chain and lock. We string the chain through the suitcase handles and some part of the car trunk. Since speed is essential to the thieves, they’d be slowed down, and perhaps, find an easier target. Maybe we’ve just been lucky, but we haven’t suffered a loss of baggage.

Posted by
17 posts

Hi bxrlover-

Looks like you really did your homework--you're going to have a great trip!

The markets, for me, are a great place to see the locals in action and to get a few items for a fresh picnic lunch. Some cheese. Maybe some kind of meat. A few pieces of fruit. And of course, a bagette. As you go from town to town, you've got a snack with you, and you'll surely find some great places to eat a picnic lunch.

Either arena would be good to tour. The arena in Arles, though, (if I remember correctly) is on a hillside, so we got some interesting perspectives of it just by walking the perimeter--might be a reason to tour the one in Nimes, and just see the Arles arena on a walking tour of the city?

Speaking of Arles, I see you're staying there one night. Not sure how long you plan to spend there before leaving the next day, but my wife and I found it was easily worth a half day.

And you can't see everything, but we used Aix as our homebase and really enjoyed this small city. Might be worth a stop. Or you can put it on your itinerary for your next trip!!

Posted by
542 posts

The trip sounds fun! It also sounds like a lot of driving and whirlwind visits into towns. Your day 2 itinerary looks like you will spend most of your time driving and not really enjoying. Pont du Gard is quite wonderful, a good half day to get there, wander around, etc.

Both the arenas in Arles and Nimes are nice. We stayed in Arles (highly recommend for a few days) and then used that as our base for day trips to St Remy, Les Baux. Parking in Les Baux is a challenge.

We really didn't do the markets. I'm not a huge shopper and there are so many other things to see. In Arles you can do the Van Gogh walk, for example.

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