Planning

Avigion? Please clarify. I cannot find a French location by that name through Google. Perhaps you mean Avignon? If so, I am curious what your cruise might be. A little extra info will, I hope, draw out more response to your inquiry.

Yes it is Avignon south an. Thank you. I will expand. My daughters are flying to Paris July 14th or 15th. Just confirmed those dates with them. Three days in Paris then down to the south. Problem Avignon for a week. I want to take the Viking river cruise for the 14 days from Paris to Avignon or I can reverse it from Avignon to Paris.i have a big credit with Viking that I have to use by the end of 2013. I was hoping to start the cruise in Paris ending in Avognon then do a post extension with with Viking to Spain. I need to set my dates to make sure I see Lots of Lavender fields and I am trying to figure out how to arrange this so I can be with my daughters for the 10 days plus do the cruise with out a lot of backtracking. Not able to get my daughters to reserve there plans as one wants to meet her husband in Italy after Avignon so she wants to end up there. I really want to fly home from Spain. Just finishes a vacation where I had to backtrack to fly home and really do not want to do that again. Thanks for any help. I know this is a good problem to have but I need to book cruise by sat. Dorothea PS
I can do the cruise before or after meeting my girls but want to make sure Lavender is blooming when I do.

I just went to Google.com and put in "When do lavender fields bloom in France?" and many sites answering the question came up. Google is great for getting info. And very easy. The answer is late June and first few weeks of July. It seems doing the cruise before meeting your daughters would be best for seeing lavender in bloom. (If I understand your question correctly).

I would say do the cruise first. Lavender blooms usually the last week or so of June and the first part of July in that area.

Thanks Nancy and Susan that helps a lot. I have been on google and other sites and have seen answers from end of June to end of July and also middle of August. I know it depends on weather but wanted to get as close as I can. As a Gardener I have wanted to see this for a long time and I am looking at Vikings site and they have one starting June 3rd from Avignon so looks like that will be it.
Dorothea

I am enthusiastic about Avignon, but if you are staying a week you will probably want to take excursions visiting other points. Southern France has an array of government offices promoting tourism by region, locality, municipality; they really want visitors. Avignon's municipal tourism authority has proved very helpful in the past and can help with assist with destinations out of town too. http://www.avignon-tourisme.com/menu/discover-35-2.html
Its main office is 41, cours Jean Jaures, about half way between the centre of the walled city and the gate leading to the city rail station (not the TGV high-speed train station on the edge of town.)

The famous Avignon arts festival is from July 7-28 in 2013. The town is filled with hundreds and hundreds of performances and thousands and thousands of tourists during that period. Book early if you are going to stay in Avignon.