Experienced southern France travelers

[vjmatty]

Next year we are planning to take a transatlantic from NY to Southampton and then spend a week touring the south of France before spending a couple of nights in Paris and then flying home. Here is an itinerary I am thinking of, most towns are two hours apart or less-

 

Fly Southampton to Nice, getting in about 5 pm

Pick up rental at airport

Spend two nights in St. Paul De Vence

Drive to Les Baux en Provence, spend one night

Drive to Aigues Mortes, spend one night

Drive to Carcassone, spend one night

Drive to Toulouse airport, drop off car, fly to Paris.

Two nights in Paris (we have been there many times) then fly home.

 

The one way rental with Avis will cost about $220 for an automatic.

 

Flights to Paris are each under $100 per person. Not sure about flights to Nice yet since Flybe schedule isn't out yet.

 

Does anyone see this as impractical, overpriced or recommend different villages for spending the night? I tried to choose what seemed to be the highlights of the area.

[Hlitner]

Pretty good plan if you enjoy all the 1 night stands. We would suggest making a change. Reduce your St Paul de Vence visit (we love this city) to a single night. Then choose a place within 15miles of Avignon (i,e, Avignon, Les Baux, St Remy, etc) and spend 2 nights. In this area there is a lot to see and you can to places like Arles, Pont du Gard, Avignon, Arles, the Luberon (made famous by the book "Year in Provence"), or even the Rhone Valley wine area around Chateaunef du Pape or Gigondas (really cute village). A couple of years ago we rented an apartment in St Remy for 2 weeks (we had previously been to the region several times) and never got bored. In fact, we have since thought about going back for a month :). Have never stayed in Aigues Mortes but the idea of spending a night within Carcassone is wonderful. The city is nice during the day....but after all the day tourists are gone its more of our kind of place.

 

Hank

[vjmatty]

I considered spending only one night in St. Paul since we have been there before, but it was in December and much was closed, plus we are going to be getting in a bit late. However, I see what you mean about so much to do in the Arles and Avignon areas. I will have to look up some of the villages and locations you posted about, and see what looks most intriguing. I am particularly drawn to Les Baux so I wouldn't mind spending two days there.

[Hlitner]

Agree with you about Les Baux. Although we have stayed there we did visit several times when we had that place in nearby St Remy. It might be a lot of fun to be in St Remy at night (have never been there after dark).

 

Hank

[vjmatty]

My goodness.....the Luberon alone could take a week :eek:

 

http://www.theluberon.com/places

 

This might require several return trips in the future ;)

[Hlitner]

My goodness.....the Luberon alone could take a week :eek:

 

http://www.theluberon.com/places

 

This might require several return trips in the future ;)

 

You brought back a reminder of someone on CC who once asked, "how can I see Provence in one day?" We still see those kind of posts here. Personally, we have still not solved the mystery of travel. Cruises are fun for quick snapshots and the days at sea. Land tours try to take you so many places (in a short period of time) you cannot really remember what you have seen (or where you have been). When we do long driving trips our old 1 day stops have gradually changed to 2 night, 3 night and finally 2 week. And that is not enough. So we really admire dedicated cruisers (of which we are one) that think they see the entire world from a cruise ship. Delusion might be delusion....but ignorance is bliss. Hmmm. That is an original line:)

 

Hank

[vjmatty]

I can certainly see that happening on many return trips in the future... the problem is that the places we have already seen start to compete with new places we have yet to visit. As a result, for me the best is to combine new and return visits, which is what we are trying to do here.

 

Thanks so much for the additional information and ideas. :)

[cruisemom42]

I really like Avignon as a base for exploring, if you like a bit larger city to explore in the evenings (I do).

 

I also really enjoyed spending 3 days in Arles (Hotel Jules Cesar, quintessential old style Provence hotel, great chef in the restaurant, definitely not for the crowd that wants a cookie cutter, modern hotel)-- there is lots in the vicinity to see and the town is a joy for walking at night.

[vjmatty]

Oh I agree, I am totally not the cookie-cutter hotel type.... this is what I am looking at for Les Baux:

 

http://www.leprincenoir.com/maison/pour_une_nuit_ou_pour_une%20semaine_eng.htm

 

Don't get me wrong, there are times to stay at the Hilton and enjoy the benefits of loyalty points.... this isn't one of them ;)

[buggins0402]

Oh I agree, I am totally not the cookie-cutter hotel type.... this is what I am looking at for Les Baux:

 

http://www.leprincenoir.com/maison/pour_une_nuit_ou_pour_une%20semaine_eng.htm

 

Don't get me wrong, there are times to stay at the Hilton and enjoy the benefits of loyalty points.... this isn't one of them ;)

 

I remember seeing that hotel when we were in Les Baux. But, Les Baux is really really tiny and very few people actually live there. It's wonderful to visit - but St. Remy is just down the road which is a true slice of Provence, so Hank is really steering you in the right direction with two days in that area - or any of the towns in that area (google B&B 's in that area and you'll find some real stunners). Arles is also great as Cruisemom suggested (even more of a real town) and is on a great north/south road that can take you to Avignon in no time. If you want even bigger - look to Avignon. Really the distances between them all are pretty short to use any as a base.

 

Aigues Mortes is also charming - but don't know if it's worth a night. It has all your standard Provence tourist shops (cookie, perfume etc) - so inside the wall it didn't seem to have a "soul". I'd spend two nights in Carcassone, seeing Aigues Mortes on the way and then using Carcassone as a base (less packing and unpacking) for things west. But, that's coming from someone who never made it to Carcassone, but really wanted to.

 

When we retire we really want to spend a whole early spring in the area - finding the perfect town to check out the area more. Everything is within distance for a great daytrip!

[Hlitner]

........

I remember seeing that hotel when we were in Les Baux.

Aigues Mortes is also charming - but don't know if it's worth a night. It has all your standard Provence tourist shops (cookie, perfume etc) - so inside the wall it didn't seem to have a "soul". ......................

When we retire we really want to spend a whole early spring in the area - finding the perfect town to check out the area more. Everything is within distance for a great daytrip!

 

Your post made me smile as we rarely find someone who thinks the way we do with travel. We really love the town without a "soul" comment. DW finally reminded me that we did drive to Aigues Mortes for a few hours (and lunch) and loved the town until we got inside the walls. Some towns got it (like St Paul de Vence) and others do not! When we retired ( a few years ago) we did spend a few weeks in St Remy (it just seemed like the perfect town for us) and loved the experience. We are now thinking of a future 6 week driving trip (starting in Marseille and ending in Hamburg, Germany) and are wrestling with the issue of where to go and how long. Of course we are looking for places with "soul" which is a challenge. Life is indeed good :)

 

Hank

P.S. It might be fun to start a thread about "towns with soul."

[vjmatty]

I know what you mean..... the first time I got the concept of a town having a soul was in Lindos on the island of Rhodes, Greece. A lot of it was about the people though, as compared to Oia in Santorini which I found to be beautiful but in many ways cold.

 

I'll keep looking at the Provence area... we have 5 nights to work with and I agree with buggins, it is definitely easier to spend two days in the areas with more to see.

[buggins0402]

Your post made me smile as we rarely find someone who thinks the way we do with travel. We really love the town without a "soul" comment. DW finally reminded me that we did drive to Aigues Mortes for a few hours (and lunch) and loved the town until we got inside the walls. Some towns got it (like St Paul de Vence) and others do not! When we retired ( a few years ago) we did spend a few weeks in St Remy (it just seemed like the perfect town for us) and loved the experience. We are now thinking of a future 6 week driving trip (starting in Marseille and ending in Hamburg, Germany) and are wrestling with the issue of where to go and how long. Of course we are looking for places with "soul" which is a challenge. Life is indeed good :)

 

Hank

P.S. It might be fun to start a thread about "towns with soul."

 

When you see a town with a "soul" you know it immediately. Les Baux and Eze are beautiful towns - but are kind of Disneyland in that no one lives there. But, they're definitely worth visiting for the little artist shops. Aiges Morte just had all the touristy stuff with none of the other stuff - and people did live there, but it was just missing something. Actually, we liked Stes Maries de la Mars even more for it's quirkiness. Just a hodgepodge of French, American West, Gypsy with a little Spain thrown in. But we're weird...:).

 

Actually Hank, I think we both have a favorite that I've seen you mention on this board (not often because it's not really doable for a cruise excursion) - L'Isle sur la Sorgue on market day. If the OP can spend a night there around market day, see a couple towns in the Luberon in the afternoon and spend the rest of the time in the St. Remy/Arles/Avignon area that seems like it would be optimal.

[Hlitner]

You are certainly right about the Sunday market at L'Isle sur la Sorgue. If we are staying anywhere within 1 1/2 hours drive we go over to that market on Sunday mornings. It is arguably the best outdoor market in all of France and we keep recommending that cruisers who happen to be in Marseille or Toulon (although that is pushing the distance) on get themselves to that market. Of course the cruise line excursions never do that kind of thing so folks must either arrange for a private tour or rent a car (difficult to do on Sundays).

 

Hank

[vjmatty]

Unfortunately we are getting in to Nice late on Sunday afternoon and will be in Paris by the following Sunday.... oh well as I said there will be all the more reason to come back :D

[buggins0402]

I know what you mean..... the first time I got the concept of a town having a soul was in Lindos on the island of Rhodes, Greece. A lot of it was about the people though, as compared to Oia in Santorini which I found to be beautiful but in many ways cold.

 

I'll keep looking at the Provence area... we have 5 nights to work with and I agree with buggins, it is definitely easier to spend two days in the areas with more to see.

 

Once you have settled on your Point A's and Point B's just look at potential routes. There are some great towns in between that really don't take too much time to browse around. On our last day we were coming from Graveson (near St. Remy) to spend the night at the Marsaille airport. We must have checked out at least 4 Luberon towns and Aix that day.

[vjmatty]

That is good to know.... I didn't expect being able to see so much in a day. Is it because everything is closer than it looks on the map, or are the towns themselves just easy to navigate and find what you are looking for?

[buggins0402]

That is good to know.... I didn't expect being able to see so much in a day. Is it because everything is closer than it looks on the map, or are the towns themselves just easy to navigate and find what you are looking for?

 

Or it might be that DH and I are tour till you drop type. :)

 

Many of smaller little towns in the Luberon can be done in less than an hour. When you pick your major towns to stay in and determine your route - look at what's on the way. Or determine a route by what little towns are along the way. We could have taken the motorways to get to Marseille that day - but opted for the slow route and hit some "Year in Provence" area towns.

[vjmatty]

We are the same type... I figure as long as we are young enough to "tour till we drop" and have limited time due to still being working stiffs, we may as well get the most out of every vacation. We will have time to stroll at our leisure when we retire and/or our bodies can't handle anything more intense.