A Couple of Weeks in Provence

I am going to be spending two weeks in Provence this Fall. We will be in Avignon for a week and then either Arles or Aix. Does anyone have any reccomendations for retaurants or wineries to vist? We will be travelling by bicycle most of the days but will also have a car. Thank you.

Hello Chris

Welcome to the forum ... it's hard to know where to start with recommendations because there are so many.

You say you are going in the fall - just to advise, harvest time could be any time from mid-August through all of September or even early October depending how the season is and exactly where you are. This means roads full of trucks of grapes, lots of activity and not all wineries geared up to welcoming visitors as they will be too busy picking and processing grapes, however, it could also be lots of fun.

From Avignon, you could (and probably should) head off to the legendary hilltop village of Châteauneuf du Pape - not too far by bicycle. The very well-known domaines need advance appointments, but there are several good ones you can just visit anyway e.g. Château Mont-Redon, but even here you would need an appointment to get a tour (you can just turn up for a tasting 7 days a week). Website is http://www.chateaumontredon.com. There are also tasting shops in the village.

You could also go to Tavel or Lirac or go southwest from Avignon towards Nîmes, and visit the more modest domaines of Costières du Nîmes. Try Mas Carlot in Bellegarde.

Both Arles and Aix are fine cities, but if it's wine you are after, I would head to Aix and perhaps Les Baux (here Le Riboto de Taven seems a pretty legendary restaurant - http://www.riboto-de-taven.fr).

Hope this gives you a start for further research.

While in Avignon, try the wine tasting at the Palais du Pap (Palace of the Pope.) The growers from the southern Rhone do a tasting every year to choose the wines presented at the Palais. The Palais is at the heart of the old city, right near the famous old bridge.

My favorite restaurant in the world is near Avignon in a town called Sablet. Les Abeilles (The Bees) is a small place with a dining room and two guest rooms. The chef, Johannes Sailer, is a driven genius with an obvious warm heart and love of cooking for his guests. If you can't stay overnight, eat early and then walk up the hill to the church before you drive back to Avignon. Sablet is a five minute drive from Gigondas. In Gigondas, there is a cooperative tasting room. When we were there a couple years ago, you could try 58 wines - I believe every producer in the appelation is represented.

Contact info:

Les Abeilles
4, route de Vaison
84110 Sablet
Telephone: 04 90 12 38 98
Fax: 04 90 12 12 70
email: js@abeilles-sablet.com
web: http://www.Abeilles-sablet.com

I have eaten in some of the finest places in Paris and Lyon. Every time I am in Europe, I will go to Abeilles...

I agree with Jim's suggestion on the wine tasting at the basement of the Palais des Papes in Avignon. The pourer that attended to us was very friendly, generous and very knowledgeable about the Rhone wines that she kept pouring for us.

There is a very good bistro right in the middle of the town of Chateauneuf du Pape called La Mere Germaine. The bistro offers a healthy number of good CdPs, by the glass and by the bottle, both reds and whites. The dishes are predominantly Provencal and are terrific, too.

Thank you for your responses. I hope to have enough time to try all your suggestions.
Best regards.

a great restaurant just south of avignon is auberge de noves. you can also stay there. very fine.

just occurred to me that the greatest olive oil i have ever tasted is from a small producer near ch. du pape. look for or try to visit moulin des bederrides - not certain of the spelling but it is a hamlet near where vieux telegraph is located.