we have tentatively decided on St Remy (have not booked it yet) as our base with a car. Need help in deciding if we should visit these towns on certain days.
We would like to do a day trip to Avignon, Arles, Pont du Gard. I have been known to overbook my days. I would like to add a winery visit, and open to another village on our drive to and from the above sites. We love food (did you make reservations and how far in advance), wine, housewares shopping, short walks -husband has a bad knee. Somewhat of a last minute trip for a wedding in Cannes. Has anyone booked a half day ebike wine trip from St. Remy? We thought we could do that in the morning and then drive to Pont du Gard.
arrive Saturday June 7 from Cannes-enjoy St Remy and Van Gogh sites
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday-visit market in St Remy before we drive to Lyon-appreciate places to stop and see on the way
Posted by
San Diego, California, USA
1388 posts
St Remy is a very charming little town. The van Gogh asylum is just outside and the Glanum Gaulic/Greek/Roman ruins are right next to that. Also Les Baux-de-Provence tniy town and ruined mountainside castle and the projected light show in the old mine are close nearby.
Both Avignon and Arles are within 40 minutes driving from St Remy and I did a similar tour but traveled by trains stayed in each of the towns only renting a car for Saint Remy and Les Baux. Pont du Gard is the furtherest away destination you list but is still reachable. Arles has many van Gogh sites with metal easels showing his work from where they are painted.
You have enough listed here without adding any more things like wine tasting but maybe after visiting Pont du Gard early you'll have an afternoon free. Be careful of tasting and driving as Europe has very strict laws and zero tolerance about that. Maybe look into an arranged visit.
If you're interested in Roman stuff the theater in Orange is pretty amazing and Vaison-la-Romaine has many Roman ruins and a still in use Roman bridge over the river with an interesting old town that runs up the hill. Both of these are on the road to Lyon and while theater is a probably an hour or two and maybe a stop for lunch VlR is a longer stop depending on how much you want to explore.
I heading back to Provence several years after the above trip and I'm looking forward to it.
Have a great trip,
=Tod
Posted by
San Diego, California, USA
1388 posts
For what it's worth a list of wineries around Saint Remy created by a "local":
https://www.myfrenchlife.org/2022/06/24/secrets-of-st-remy-3-favorite-wineries/
=Tod
Posted by
OP
32 posts
thank you so much for the information
We are booking a place to stay today in St Remy! decisions, decisions, apartment vs hotel
Posted by
202 posts
We are staying in St. Remy in May for four nights. We are staying at Maison de line. We also considered a property called Les estrelles which is an apartment and had very good ratings on booking.com. also Mas des Carassins is another place I heard good things about.
Posted by
Massachusetts, USA
1901 posts
If you have the time, I recommend the lovely town of Eygalieres, about 20 minutes from St. Remy. It would be great if you could visit on a Friday when they have their market but it looks like you won't be in Provence on a Friday. Eygalieres is still a nice village to visit any day of the week. I love it because it is not touristy at all. You most likely won't hear any English; you might hear a few other European languages, but you will mostly hear French. There are some nice restaurants where you could have lunch. And take a walk to the ruins of an old church up on a hill with gorgeous views. IIRC, there are signs you can follow.
There is also a petanque court by the parking lot so you might be lucky enough to watch locals play petanque.
https://www.provenceweb.fr/e/bouches/eygalieres/eygalieres.htm#