My wife and I will spending our 23rd anniversary in Paris (1 week in a Paris apartment, TGV to Avignon for 2 days and 1 week in a Villefranche-sur-Mer apartment near Nice). We'll have a car rental from Avignon until the end of our trip when we fly out of Nice to head back home to a small town on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. Our quandary is we have four days (June 8-11) to try and decide where to go and stay before we essentially have to return to Nice to fly out of the country. We've thought of "winging-it" but are apprehensive about wasting too much time in trying to find accommodation. For this final stage of the trip we're more interested in finding a smaller town/village within a 4 hour drive of Nice where there's not a lot of tourists, somewhere we can essentially "visit-with-the-locals", with the option to explore up to 1 hour by car the surrounding countryside. Do we head east into Italy or stay in France? Any and all suggestions will be greatly appreciated
Posted by
roswell, ga, usa
1501 posts
Hi Rick -- Your trip sounds wonderful but you're on the "To the Boot (Italy) page. You need to get back to the Travelers Helpline and "To the West) for questions re France! :-)
Posted by
Toledo, Ohio, US
11613 posts
Rick, you can semi-wing it by checking booking.com for available places in the town of your choice a day or two in advance. While you are driving you may see a place that you want to return to for a longer visit - happens to me all the time (although I travel by train).
Posted by
Long Beach, California, USA
3398 posts
Hi Rick, Just to throw in my two cents...our family spent 5 weeks in a town about 3 1/2 hours west of Nice called Pezenas a few summers ago. It is an ancient "village circulade" where Moliere lived and that is still very French and not extremely touristy. Entirely built of stone with small, winding streets, beautiful shops, hidden courtyards, and very friendly people by French standards! There is a weekend market, excellent small restaurants, and frequent village gatherings. The town is surrounded by vineyards and small, family run wineries for miles around. You are also close to the Cevennes and you can go up the gorges to old towns such as St. Guilhem le Desert, part of an old pilgramage route. Four days in this area would be perfect! We met wonderful people while we were there and really went home feeling like we had experienced the real France. Enjoy your trip!
Anita