Provence in April

Looks like we'll be heading to Provence soon. We fly into Marseilles on April 1 and leave on the 9th. At this point, we're looking at staying in Aix-en-Provence, maybe going to Nimes for a day or two, but otherwise have a very open itinerary. Anyone have any suggestions of good places to try food and wine?

Thanks much!

I liked Avignon much better than Aix. And Avignon is very close to Chateauneuf-du-Pape and the other S. Rhone villages, making for a nice day trip. I enjoyed visiting Domaine Durban in Beaumes, picnicking on their vineyard garden patio. Old town Nice is very attractive, though Nice is a big city.

Thanks, Bernard. The recommendations are much appreciated.

So many, many things to do and places to see.

Cruise the Ventoux and Luberon in your car.

Visit the villages perche. Roussillon is way cool and still pretty funky. Gordes.

L'Abbaye de Senanque is worth it, just for the scenery.

Les Baux!

If you haven't been, you gotta go to Arles.

La Isle-sur-la-Sorgue--busy, but French antique heaven. Go on a market day for maximum fun.

Car tour the villages of the CdR. Stop in Gigondas for lunch; just outside the town in a tiny little valley smack underneath the Dentelles de Montmirail is a gorgeous little hotel called "Les Fleurs". Have lunch there!!!

Again, make sure you visit some of the town/villages on market days. They are wonderful. And you get some fantastic street food too.

Cool Mike!

Are you locked into staying in Aix? My travel companions and I did not care for it at all. Like Bernard, we prefered Avignon.

Over the weekend I will look for my travel notes so I can recommend some specifics.

Cool Mike!

Are you locked into staying in Aix? My travel companions and I did not care for it at all. Like Bernard, we prefered Avignon.

Over the weekend I will look for my travel notes so I can recommend some specifics.

I don't think we're too set on any particular place at this point. About all we know for sure is that we're flying into Marseilles and not staying there for more than a day or so.

Thanks for the help, Dave!

Aix is more hustle-bustle, young college town kind of place, with heavy traffic and busy streets. It has its charms, but it is certainly not bucolic and quiet and peaceful. Great museums; lots of young, lively people; most excellent strolling down the Cours Mirabeau ('southern France's Champs Elysees"). For me Aix is virtually at the bottom end of the Provence and too close to Marseille and the Cote d'Azur.

Avignon is more reserved, more dignified. Great scenery, what with the Palais des Papes and such; easy to get in and out of. Great, absolutely great central location for doing the vineyards (if that's what you're there for primarily). Some excellent restaurants. Good location if you're wanting a centralized place where you can radiate out from to do easy day trips in almost any given direction.

The most scenically resplendent part of Provence/Rhone, to me, is the combination of the Luberon and the Ventoux, or that stretch of Ventoux/Var/Vaucluse/Luberon. So when we went we stayed in the Ventoux (go east from Avignon to Carpentras, trace west to Mormoiron). Think small village. Incredibly scenic valley at the foot of Mont Ventoux (the Giant of Provence), but within easy distance of Avignon/Orange to the west, the Luberon to the south, the lovely, lovely central Provencal of Sorgue and Cavaillon (where the melons come from), the historic area of Arles, the Camargue (which can be fascinating), even Aigues-Mortes, also historically fascinating, and over to Les Baux and the cubistic delights of Cezanne's Provence.

Thanks for both of those posts, Hoke. We'll be balancing some competing interests - my interest in trying the wines, my wife's interest in going to places with some history to them, and my daughter's interest in seeing everything she can possibly see. (Of course, all of us will want to eat well!) We're planning on doing at least some driving, so the Ventoux/Vaucluse area sounds great.

I have been on an art history trip to Provence where we visited Arles, Aix, Avignon, Orange, etc. Very enjoyable. There are Van Gogh associations in Arles.
My trip last summer was concentrated on the French Riviera (Cote d'Azur) area and Monaco/Monte Carlo although our hotel was inland in Grasse. We flew in and out of Nice. One of my favorite days was spent at Chateau de Berne which produces Provencal wines but it is in the Var countryside and somewhat out of the way. I would like to go back there sometime and stay for two or three nights. http://www.chateauberne.com/aubergeus/ Our fanciest lunch was at Alain Ducasse's Louis XV restaurant in Hotel de Paris Monte Carlo, with a Michelin three-star rating ( http://www.alain-ducasse.com/public_us/ ... sphere.htm) but two of my favorite lunches were at Moulin du Mougins (in an old mill converted into an art-filled restaurant with extensive garden with additional sculptures), Michelin two-star,
http://www.moulindemougins.com/ and Restaurant La Bastide de Saint Antoine (chef Jacques Chibois) also a Michelin two-star . http://www.gourmetvoyageurs.com/country ... -rest.html
Our main complaint of the trip in late July-early August was being too hot--you shouldn't have that problem in April.
The restaurants mentioned are all expensive high-end restaurants (although courtyard or terrace dining has a more casual aspect) and you may prefer to frequent more typical bistros or small family-run places. It depends on what you are seeking.

Thanks, JC! The two- and three-star places are probably going to be a bit outside of our budget but you never know. My daughter is a big fan of Van Gogh, so we'll probably try to get to Arles.

Hoke mentioned the perched villages. We went to Gourdon, seeing a dramatic waterfall on the way. The town has a 12th Century church, breathtaking view of the countryside, and a number of restaurants and shops with Provencal pottery and linens. The drive up might be a little hairy if you don't like mountain roads. http://www.gourdon-france.com Some of the prettiest scenery we saw was on the way back from St. Tropez towards Grasse taking in some of the Corniche coast. (I don't recommend driving to St. Tropez itself--only one road into and out of town and it gets very congested. We arrived by boat and left by bus but next time the tour will use boat transportation both ways from Saint Maxine.)

Thanks, JC! The two- and three-star places are probably going to be a bit outside of our budget but you never know. My daughter is a big fan of Van Gogh, so we'll probably try to get to Arles.

Yes. You can take wife and daughter and self to the very same cafe he painted in Arles and have lunch or coffee under the awning (they make sure it looks the same as the painting), then you can walk across a small plaza and into the garden of the local church and see the exact same flower garden he painted.

Also, rent the movie Ronin before you go. One of the great action scenes takes place in Arles, right in front of and in the middle of, the old Roman arena/bull fighting stadium. There's one scene where DeNiro is looking from the arena to this quaint looking little bistro right across from the arena. On another day, you might have seen me there.

And Arles is a very manageable town to walk, Mike. Your daughter will be thrilled and charmed by it.