Hank - Riviera Recommendations please

[Cruise Junky]

Just wondered if you have any small towns to recommend for our land trip. We've done Monaco, Menton, Eze, Antibe, Cannes, Villefrance, Grasse, Gourdon and we're staying in St. Paul again. I was thinking of going to Biot, any other recommendations?

 

Thanks

[Hlitner]

We are currently away from home (we like to spend winter where it's warm) so I do not have access to my detailed notes. But, it does sound like you have already spent some time exploring the southwestern part of Provence. We do not know your circumstances as far as time, but have you considered spending time further west in Provence and exploring a different sub-region? Another area we really love is in proximity to Avignon. This gives you access to many interesting parts of the south of France ranging from the wine country of Provence (Chateauneuf de Pape, Gigondas, Orange, etc) down to Arles and even all the way to the coast. I had previously posted (heaven knows where) that after a long cruise last spring we drove from Italy up to St Remy de Provence (about 15 miles outside of Avignon) where we spent 2 weeks in a rented apartment. This part of Provence has a totally different atmosphere than the area near Nice. We try very hard not to get into a rut where we always stay in the same place (or even region) and force ourselves to explore new places.

 

Hank

[Cruise Junky]

We are currently away from home (we like to spend winter where it's warm) so I do not have access to my detailed notes. But, it does sound like you have already spent some time exploring the southwestern part of Provence. We do not know your circumstances as far as time, but have you considered spending time further west in Provence and exploring a different sub-region? Another area we really love is in proximity to Avignon. This gives you access to many interesting parts of the south of France ranging from the wine country of Provence (Chateauneuf de Pape, Gigondas, Orange, etc) down to Arles and even all the way to the coast. I had previously posted (heaven knows where) that after a long cruise last spring we drove from Italy up to St Remy de Provence (about 15 miles outside of Avignon) where we spent 2 weeks in a rented apartment. This part of Provence has a totally different atmosphere than the area near Nice. We try very hard not to get into a rut where we always stay in the same place (or even region) and force ourselves to explore new places.

 

Hank

 

Don't blame you on the weather. We're actually heading back to Lourmarin for 7 days after the 3 in St. Paul de Vence :)

[woofer]

Arles is wonderful and loaded with pithy and interesting history- go to the bullfights and have Paella in the square. When we went to the Picasso museum there, there were practically no Picassos', but rather an exhibit on Robert Rauschenberg !!!!! Camargue is interesting too...maybe you will see the running of the bulls down the main street by the cowboys on their native white mustangs !:D

[Hlitner]

Have to admit we were shocked to see this post pop up on the forum today. The original post is more than a year old :). It was fun re-reading my old comments and thinking it still reflects our opinion. When one has explored a region in depth its just kind of fun to move to a different region and start a new adventure. We will often return to places we really like (such as Provence) but normally it will be after a significant lapse in time (such as 5 - 10 years). Its just such a big world and there are so many interesting places.

 

Hank