Help with Van Gogh/Sezanne Provence and More

You seem to be focusing on Van Gogh and Cezanne, who are also key painters of interest to me. The St Remy monastery/asylum a mile south of St Remy is where Van Gogh spent a year of his life, the year prior to his final months north of Paris before his suicide, and it was fascinating: you can stand in his room, contemplate, and look out the barred windows at views similar to those he saw, esp. in the inner garden; and can see reproductions of the paintings he did which are set in a location that gives you the same view he had, more or less.

Complete answers to the questions you ask will probably take more time than any of us volunteers, here, have. I'll answer the questions I can, and perhaps others will be able to answer other of your questions.

To answer your overall question, which is: Is your proposed itinerary too much to see in 6.5 days?, I suggest that the best way is for you to closely study the travel times you can derive from this site for car travel http://maps.google.com/

and this site for train travel
http://www.bahn.de/international/view/en/index.shtml

The cycling will slow you down--you either take longer to see the things on your list, or don't cycle, you probably can't have it both ways as to that.

To get from Avignon to Aix takes a while, you'll have to figure out the travel times from the site links given above.

Add to all travel times the time to see the art in the museums, which is why you're going there.

Other things I saw in your post that you may want to work on and refine: "Van Gogh Avignon St Remy", you can reach St Remy by car from Avignon but it takes time, as St Remy is some distance away from Avignon, between Avignon and Arles.

So, I sugggest you study the maps, which will help you to refine your itinerary, and then perhaps you can come back to us with follow up questions?

This is the area where we have traveled extensively. We normally rent a house. The past two years it has been near Travaillan and Cairanne. This is a pretty central location for all of the places you mention. We always do the market at Isle-Sur-le-Sorgue on Sunday and also never miss Tuesdays in Vaison la Romaine.
Your schedule is pretty ambitious. Though things look close on the map travel times are not like here in the US. It just seems to take longer to get from one place to another due to smaller, windy roads and lots of small villages. All of the places you mention are definitely worth visiting but I'm not sure you will have the time to really explore them. Also, Aix is kind of on the far edge and will take some time to get to if you decide to stay closer to the Avignon area. Maybe a night in Aix would be a good idea and then you could establish a base closer to Avignon for the other nights. I can guarantee you will fall in love with this area so maybe the things you miss on this trip you can pick up on the next one.
Also, don't know if you are a wine drinker (I see you are going to Burgundy so I assume you are) but there are some excellent wineries in this part of France also so you might want to allow a little time for some degustation.

I agree with Kent, that you need to study a map and group your destinations together. My guess is you won't make it to all the places on your list. Also be sure to allow time for people watching at cafes and surprises. You don't want to be too tied down to your itinerary.

We did a similar trip last fall without the biking and rented a house in Lourmarin from France Homestyle. We did drive a lot but loved having the house. Consider grouping: Sunday: Isle sur la Sorgue market, Gordes, Roussillon. Monday: Arles. Tuesday: Vaison la Romaine market, Carpentras. Wednesday: Uzes market day, Pont du Gard, St Remy. Thursday: Aix en Provence market day, Cassis. Friday: Lourmarin market, Bonnieux, Lacoste. Saturday: Avignon. Or you can switch the days around as you wish. Have a great time!

Probably is too much, but you can still see a lot. Travel between these destinations by car, bus, bike, train, however, can be delightful but will take time ("short" distances notwithstanding). A car is very helpful for a busy itinerary.

I'd sleep in one (or more) of your destinations--Arles or St. Remy, for instance. One of these can be a base for trips throughout the Rhone and Vacluse. More than a day in the Luberon probably wants a base there too.

Aix is an outlier on your trip but can certainly be a day trip from either base, in particular Cezanne's studio is probably only an hour or so.

Are you returning to Paris to fly home? It is a bit ambitious only because of the Burgundy part. This is a very nice length for a tour of Provence, however. I've been to all of the places that you have listed here and they are pretty much an easy drive from Arles. Aix is the farthest away. All you have to do is bunch them into logical circular drives, visiting 2-3 places per day. Arles is my favorite place to stay for two reasons: they have the best restaurants and prices in France and the hotels are very reasonable. Plus they have some major sites besides the Van Gough connection: the Roman Arena & the Hippodrome museum. It's a working man town, not touristy at all, but right on the train line, an easy trip from Avignon. Since Avignon is very beautiful and must be toured itself, I would recommend you spend your first two nights there, then take a train to Arles and pick up your rental car there for your daytrips. Arles has a slew of car rentals right on the main boulevard, though it's always advisable and cheaper to rent in advance. I can arrange it for you if you like. It will be an easy return back to Paris from Arles via Avignon and the TGV. I also sell rail passes & make TGV reservations if you are interested. There's a delightful hotel right on the river in Arles with airconditioning, which is really important, and they are very nice and reasonable. I have to look it up because it's been awhile since I stayed there but I sent clients also and they loved it. There's even free parking. If you like, I can also find and book it for you. All my services, except designing independent tours of Europe, are free.

Thank you all for your advice.
Katherine, we are returning to paris via Burgundy for 3 days by TGV for 3.5 days in Paris.

Considering every ones suggestions and itineraries and because we arrive on Sat, and would like to get to Ile-sur-la-Sorgue Sunday market. This is my Final Draft:

1. We will start with a central location for Lubéron villages, Cote du Rhone, Vaison-la-Romaine and Aix and stay at that central location for 3-4 nights (out of 7).

2. Any recommendations for a town and B&B?

3. Then we will probably move to St. Remy and stay there for 2-3 (out of 7) nights and visit Arles, Nimes, Les Baux,Maussane, Pont du Gard and Avignon.

4. On the way to Dijon/Burgundy we will visit Chateauneuf du Pape and Orange.

5. Also as we arrive to Avignon, we may consider visiting Palace des Papes (is it worth it?) if we feel up to it.

How many Lubéron villages can we leisurely see in a day?

Is this duable in 7 nights?

We're staying in Arles just few days after you.

The delightful hotel with a river view and air conditioning?...
already sold out as of mid-June.

As we try to sleep in our dusky, UN-air-conditioned corner of the increasingly tourist-packed Arles,
we'll be thinking of Katherine.

Just to speak to the "how many villages" question. . .We just returned from a month-long house exchange in France. Each day we started off with a plan, usually to see two or more villages that were near each other. Rarely did we get to more than one. In fact, a couple of times we returned to a town because there was more of interest than we had expected. If you go to Fontaine-de-Vaucluse, I highly recommend the Musee d'Histoire 1939-1945. It's one of the best I've seen for that period. Celebrates the authentic local heroism, but doesn't flinch at exposing the extent of French collaboration with the Nazis. The area is full of delicious-sounding b&b's. I was sorry we had a free place and couldn't justify trying one of them. With your budget and going after the main vacation season, you shouldn't have a problem.