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
Dallas, Texas, USA
501 posts
Have you considered Chamonix? What about Cinque Terre?
Posted by
OP
Chemainus, BC, Canada
5 posts
Jim, Cinque de Terre had some "mother-nature" issues such as flooding and there's lots of paths and roads which are shut down while they rebuild. Haven't checked out Chamonix yet but I will. Thanks for the help.
Rick
Posted by
Lake Oswego, Oregon
1329 posts
How about one of the Luberon towns such as Lourmarin?
Posted by
Decorah, Iowa, USA
345 posts
I agree about the Luberon towns. There are a lot from which to choose...Gordes is very popular with lots of people. There is a nice market there. However, it can be more expensive because it has become a destination. Joucas, Murs, Apt (a little bigger city), Sault, Bedoin (a great market on Mondays), Roussillon (again lots of people), Bonnieux, Menerbes, etc. we live to stay on the east side of the A four lane. In my opinion, going to the Cinque Terre would be too far. If you want to go into Italy. We stayed at a Logis hotel over looking the water in Imperia. I hated to leave even if I was going to France. Even Ventiglamia in Italy is nice.
These towns are larger than the villages I listed above for the Luberon. Of course, everything depends on when you are going.
Posted by
L'Occitanie, France
10622 posts
How about west of the Rhone, in the Languedoc.
Posted by
Toronto, Canada
415 posts
Another vote for a small town in the Luberon for the kind of experience you are describing. The Languedoc is lovely too but is more than a one hour drive from Nice.
Posted by
L'Occitanie, France
10622 posts
He said 4 hour drive.
Posted by
OP
Chemainus, BC, Canada
5 posts
Thanks for the list of towns folks. It's going to take a day or so to check into your suggestions. I have no problem driving 4 hours pretty much anywhere. Our week in Villefranche du Mer (near Nice) will be comprising of at least 3 days of road trips with at least 1 of those days heading into Italy. I guess it would make more sense to maybe do a circle trip from Villefranche into Provence and back to Nice to fly home. Our biggest concern is accommodation. We would prefer to stay in smaller towns and visiting the larger towns/cities? during the day to do the touristy/picture taking stuff. We've stayed in Pensiones in Turkey and they were great, I'm not sure what the equivalent would be in France, B + B? I'll check into the list of towns and await any more suggestions as far as accomodations are concerned. We're pretty flexible and don't see a need for any 5 star hotels, just something clean, honest and lots of locals to talk to and blend in with.
Posted by
L'Occitanie, France
10622 posts
Try the chambres d'hotes listing under Gites de France for local B&B. Their English language site even uses the term Bed and Breakfast.
Posted by
Norman, OK, USA
10 posts
We stayed in Arles for a week at Hotel Calendal (a Rick Steves suggestion) and took wonderful day trips - Les Baux, Roussillon, Gordes, Pont due Gard, Nimes, and many others. Visited several wineries.
Posted by
bethesda, md, us
212 posts
if you are interested in art, especially impressionists/post-impressionists, you are in the best possible place. in nice, there is a matisse museum. but not too far away, there are the homes/studios of renoir (cagnes sur mer) and incredible sights associated with cezanne, including two homes/studios with tours (aix en provence), as well as the great picasso museum in antibes. and in st. remy, the amazingly beautiful asylum where van gogh spent most of his final year (they have "easels" set up to show you the exact vistas he painted there). and for more contemporary sculpture and painting, the incredibly beautiful outdoor mountain setting in st. paul de vence of the foundation maeght.
Posted by
Long Beach, California, USA
3398 posts
Head west to the Languedoc-Rousillion region - we stayed in the town of Pezenas for 5 weeks a couple of summer ago. Amazing 1000 year old town surrounded by small vineyards, the beautiful beaches, and lots of small "village circulade" that sit on hilltops and bake in the summer sun. Gorgeous area!
Posted by
OP
Chemainus, BC, Canada
5 posts
Sorry folks been away at work for the last couple of weeks. Thank you all very much for all the input, my better half has been working hard at checking out all your suggestions and it looks like we're going to hang out in Provence for the last few days of our trip in Reilhanette for a couple of days and a night in a roulette (gypsy caravan) and a nite outside of St. Remy in a beautiful setting with a balcony and in a position to go and see a few nearby sights. Ahhh.... bottom line is we just can't be everywhere and do everything. Thanks everyone again. Happy trails. Rick and Louise