Another Paris and Provence itineray question
Feb 2nd, 2007, 06:33 AM
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Another Paris and Provence itineray question
My wife and I are starting to plan a trip to France for May 2008 with another couple. So far I'm thinking a week in Paris (with day trips to Giverny and Versailles) and a week in Provence. We've been to Paris (and love it) but the other couple has never been there. I'm thinking a second week in Provence and possibly a day or two down to the Riviera. We spent one whole day on the Riviera (via a cruise ship stop in Villefranche), but the other couple has never seen the Riviera (or Provence). I know virtually nothing about Provence other than what I've seen others post here about it. I'm sure we'd rent a car for Provence/Riviera (we've driven in Italy), but just take the TGV to Provence and back to Paris (if we can't get a decent open-jaw ticket back from Nice).
Do you think this basic plan makes sense (i.e, enough time in both places). Do you have any particular advice regarding a good/great town to serve as a home base for Provence, and if so, particular hotels/B&Bs - our price range is on the order of 150 € per night per couple.
Thanks for any early help you can give us on this.
KC
Do you think this basic plan makes sense (i.e, enough time in both places). Do you have any particular advice regarding a good/great town to serve as a home base for Provence, and if so, particular hotels/B&Bs - our price range is on the order of 150 € per night per couple.
Thanks for any early help you can give us on this.
KC
Feb 2nd, 2007, 10:07 AM
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My girlfriends and I spent 8 nights in Provence (based in Pernes les Fontaines) at a guesthouse/B&B (www.lelavandinprovence.com) that was just fabulous!! We did day trips from Pernes which we figured was a pretty good mid-point in the Luberon/Vaucluse area, traveling to L'Isle sur la Sorgue (fabulous market on Sunday mornings!), Bonnieux, Roussillon, Gordes, Menerbes (to the east), St. Remy (market on Wednesday) and Pont du Gard (to the west), Vaison-la-Romaine (market on Tuesdays) (to the north) stopping at a wine village (Gigondas) and a perched village (Seguret) on our way home, and Cassis to the south.
We flew into CDG and took the TGV from the airport to Avignon. We rented an 8 passenger van so we could all be together in our day trips. It worked out extremely well!
We then took the TGV to Paris from Avignon and stayed in Paris for 8 nights.
The hostess at LeLavandin is American, Georgia Perrin Ball, and she is fabulous! Great accommodations, great breakfasts, great mapping of our day trips, etc., etc. The grounds at LL are spectacular! There are several places on the property to just sit and feast on the beauty and there is also a great pool.
You can click on my name above and there's a LONG trip report somewhere here on Fodors if you're interested.
I (as the appointed "tour guide" of this group) spent lots of hours at Border's and on the internet planning our days. I enjoy the planning as much as the actual vacation! There is alot of information on the internet. If you "google" the term "Luberon" or "Vaucluse," you'll come up with more information than you ever thought you needed!
Enjoy!
joy/luvparee
We flew into CDG and took the TGV from the airport to Avignon. We rented an 8 passenger van so we could all be together in our day trips. It worked out extremely well!
We then took the TGV to Paris from Avignon and stayed in Paris for 8 nights.
The hostess at LeLavandin is American, Georgia Perrin Ball, and she is fabulous! Great accommodations, great breakfasts, great mapping of our day trips, etc., etc. The grounds at LL are spectacular! There are several places on the property to just sit and feast on the beauty and there is also a great pool.
You can click on my name above and there's a LONG trip report somewhere here on Fodors if you're interested.
I (as the appointed "tour guide" of this group) spent lots of hours at Border's and on the internet planning our days. I enjoy the planning as much as the actual vacation! There is alot of information on the internet. If you "google" the term "Luberon" or "Vaucluse," you'll come up with more information than you ever thought you needed!
Enjoy!
joy/luvparee
Feb 2nd, 2007, 10:08 AM
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Hi KC - Although I haven't been to either destination yet and can't say from experience whether this is the perfect itinerary, I *can* tell you this is pretty much what my itinerary looks like for our upcoming trip in May. We are spending a week in Paris followed by 4 nights in St. Remy (Provence) and 3 nights in Nice. I initially planned on spending the 2nd week in one location in Provence, but then decided I wanted a taste of the French Riveria as well. So something like this might work for you.
Others will surely post on this topic later - perhaps they are just at work right now.
Others will surely post on this topic later - perhaps they are just at work right now.
Feb 2nd, 2007, 10:09 AM
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Hi knoxvillecouple--
I happen to be writing you from Knoxville, which is where I live.
Our family lived in Provence (in the Luberon) for 6-1/2 months in 2004/2005 and spent another nine weeks back in the Luberon since that time. We'll actually be returning for two weeks again in just five weeks.
We have always based in the area north of the Luberon, the first time in the village of Saignon and now in or around the village of Bonnieux, which is where we lived for our long stay.
We think Bonnieux is just ideal-- a beautiful hilltop setting with views across the valley, convenient to most everywhere you'd want to go in the Luberon and (within an hour) much of the rest of Provence, and large enough to offer a variety of restaurants and other services. You can see some photos of Bonnieux here: http://www.luberonexperience.com/pho...ieux/index.htm I could suggest a couple of hotels/B&Bs in Bonnieux in your price range if you're interested. Would you rather be right in the village or in the countryside.
Another very special place is Le Mas Perreal www.masperreal.com owned by friends of ours and highly recommended on this board and on www.slowtrav.com by everyone who has stayed there. This would be an ideal location in the countryside, just below the village of St. Saturnin-les-Apt.
I think your general itinerary is ideal: a week in Paris with the day trips you suggest, take the TGV to Avignon, rent a car for your time in Provence, drive to the Cote d'Azur and a few days there. On the one trip when we flew out of Nice, we stayed our last night in Vence, in the hills up above the sea. This is a beautiful area and very different from the Luberon.
Another alternative would be to fly out of Marseille, which is normally what we do.
There are many great resources about Provence here and I'm sure others will jump in with other suggestions.
Kathy
I happen to be writing you from Knoxville, which is where I live.
Our family lived in Provence (in the Luberon) for 6-1/2 months in 2004/2005 and spent another nine weeks back in the Luberon since that time. We'll actually be returning for two weeks again in just five weeks.
We have always based in the area north of the Luberon, the first time in the village of Saignon and now in or around the village of Bonnieux, which is where we lived for our long stay.
We think Bonnieux is just ideal-- a beautiful hilltop setting with views across the valley, convenient to most everywhere you'd want to go in the Luberon and (within an hour) much of the rest of Provence, and large enough to offer a variety of restaurants and other services. You can see some photos of Bonnieux here: http://www.luberonexperience.com/pho...ieux/index.htm I could suggest a couple of hotels/B&Bs in Bonnieux in your price range if you're interested. Would you rather be right in the village or in the countryside.
Another very special place is Le Mas Perreal www.masperreal.com owned by friends of ours and highly recommended on this board and on www.slowtrav.com by everyone who has stayed there. This would be an ideal location in the countryside, just below the village of St. Saturnin-les-Apt.
I think your general itinerary is ideal: a week in Paris with the day trips you suggest, take the TGV to Avignon, rent a car for your time in Provence, drive to the Cote d'Azur and a few days there. On the one trip when we flew out of Nice, we stayed our last night in Vence, in the hills up above the sea. This is a beautiful area and very different from the Luberon.
Another alternative would be to fly out of Marseille, which is normally what we do.
There are many great resources about Provence here and I'm sure others will jump in with other suggestions.
Kathy
Feb 2nd, 2007, 10:10 AM
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E-mail me at [email protected] if you want my itinerary.
I think a week in Paris & a week in Provence is fine. Adding another week to see more of Provence and the Riveria is even better. If you're going to spend a week in Provence, I would suggest that you rent a 3 bedroom/2 bath Gite/house so you can go to the outdoor market, buy stuff, & have lunch or dinner on the patio by the pool. We have a gite reserved in Provence this year (3 br/2 ba/lr/dr/kitchen/private pool) for 675E per week in June.
My favorite time of year there is late June when the lavender is in bloom and the gite were renting is 675E, instead of the July rental of 1,250E.
Stu Dudley
I think a week in Paris & a week in Provence is fine. Adding another week to see more of Provence and the Riveria is even better. If you're going to spend a week in Provence, I would suggest that you rent a 3 bedroom/2 bath Gite/house so you can go to the outdoor market, buy stuff, & have lunch or dinner on the patio by the pool. We have a gite reserved in Provence this year (3 br/2 ba/lr/dr/kitchen/private pool) for 675E per week in June.
My favorite time of year there is late June when the lavender is in bloom and the gite were renting is 675E, instead of the July rental of 1,250E.
Stu Dudley
Feb 2nd, 2007, 01:48 PM
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Thanks for these great responses. Particularly the names of particular towns and hotels/B&B's/gites from Joy, Kathy and Stu. Small world Kathy - we actually live in Farragut (and have for the last 20 years or so), so I guess we're pretty close to each other. Stu - I've sent you an email requesting your itinerary - I'm sure all of your suggestions will keep me busy for quite a while. If you have any others, either keep on up with this thread or e-mail me :
[email protected].
KC
[email protected].
KC
