I am planning my 60th birthday trip with friends and we are renting a beautiful house in either of these towns. Is there any difference between selecting the dates of October 17-24 versus October 29 through November 5 with regards to shops being open, weather patterns, restaurants, being open, etc. At what point do things really thin out? The woman from the house Rental was rather negative and told me I should change my trip to September. That is not when my birthday falls so I’m not planning on doing that. Do you think these towns will still be Lively from mid to late October?
Posted by
Seattle
39 posts
It has been a while, but we stayed in Arles and L'isle-sur-la-Sorgue in early November, 2018. Some of the restaurants were closed, but we found plenty to do and enjoyed our stay. The markets in both towns were in full swing with locals and since there were very few tourists, we often had historical sites to ourselves. So, in some ways it was an advantage to be there later.
Have a fantastic time and enjoy your birthday!
Posted by
Chicago, IL, USA
677 posts
One thing you might look into further as to what week is the possible effect of November 1 holiday. It might be a good thing (special events, school holidays, more people coming from Paris so things are lively, I don't know) or it might be a bad thing (closure of shops, restaurants, sights, again I don't know). Just something to consider
Posted by
Long Beach, Ca, usa
3124 posts
I try to remember that markets in towns are not there just to entertain the tourists. The people who live in a place do their shopping at these markets, so most all are open year-round. The hours may vary somewhat by the season, or the frequency, but you will find markets, especially for food! (Maybe not so many tchotchkes.)
Enjoy your time!
Posted by
Massachusetts, USA
2298 posts
I really think both places will be fine in October and early November. Shops, markets, and restaurants will be open.
We visited Provence many times when our daughter lived there. One visit was in December. We visited St. Remy and L'Isle Sur La Sorgue at that time. Everything was open in St. Remy. It's possible a few restaurants were closed in Sur La Sorgue, but the majority were open. One day it was warm enough so that we were able to dine outside for lunch. We visited L'Isle Sur La Sorgue on a Thursday for the market. The market was open but on a much smaller scale than during the warm weather months.
During that same visit, we also visited Aix en Provence and Bonnieux. Aix was lively, of course, with everything open. It's larger than the other places and is also a university town. Bonnieux was the quietest of all the villages we visited on this trip. But there were still a few restaurants open.
In short, there should be plenty of restaurants, shops, etc. open during your visit. I think it's a much better time to visit than during the very crowded summer months.
Posted by
Paris
7878 posts
17-24 October corresponds to French school holidays and should be a bit livelier than the early November dates. Also, the later in fall, the higher the risk of rain.