Provence

Provence Travel Guide

Even the cattle and flamingos wallowing in the salty coastal marshes of the Camargue enjoy the sun-drenched good life that Provence provides so generously. In this smiling landscape and in soft-hue, elegant cities, where life still proceeds at an old-fashioned pace, you'll find no end of pleasures. Favored hangout of the French café-squatting, people-watching, and boutique-shopping yuppie, elegant Aix-en-Provence has museums, fountains, and the gracious Cours Mirabeau boulevard. Charming and laid-back Arles and crowded Avignon (get off the main streets to see Avignonnais leading their daily lives) have bewitched Roman legionnaires, popes, and Vincent van Gogh. The tarnished, exotic, and newly chic port of Marseille continues to intrigue sailors and travelers with its hint of mystery (note: you should have some big-city smarts to cope with its colorful, almost defiant spirit). And dusty Nîmes headlines the ancient Roman splendors of the Pont du Gard aqueduct and the Maison Carrée temple.

But the region works its charms most potently in rural places, aided in no small part by cypress trees, vineyards, and a cooling glass of pastis. And let's not forget the heavenly lavender fields at the foot of Mont Ventoux or Provence's ocher-color villages, few more enticing than pretty St-Rémy-de-Provence, birthplace of Nostradamus and retreat of Van Gogh, where sunlight really does dapple lanes of plane trees. Other delights include the magnificent Romanesque abbey of Montmajour, the craggy towns of Les-Baux-de-Provence (home to the famed L'Oustau de la Baumanière hotel) and Le Barroux, and the scenic hill-town splendors of Roussillon and Gordes. Another treat is getting to know the refreshingly friendly Provençaux. You'll get to know them hiking the white-cliffed calanques or exploring the rich landscape of the Route des Vignobles (Vineyard Route) through the region.