Provence itinerary!

Hi

leaving for europe in a few days,

We will be picking up a car in Avgnon TGV, HAVE A TENTAtIVE RESERVATION IN iSLE SUR la sogne, as we%26#39;d like to check out the Sunday market. we arrive on saturday in Avignon and are taking the train from nice to paris on Thursday. we plan on seeing Gordes, and othervillages in that area,

also grasse.st paul de Vence. Antibes on the coast

my friend wants to go to Arles, I m not comfortable

driving in big cities, how is it driving there, also is it out of the way as we will first be in

countryside . Im skipping Avignon I know its something to see, but I%26#39;ll be back to Provence,

I love little villages!!

this is your typical American see as much as you can vacation, but we dont have the luxury of a month off at a time plus I%26#39;d miss my husband too much!!

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%26lt;%26lt;I m not comfortable driving in big cities,%26gt;%26gt;

Arles has a population of about 60,000 or 10% of the population of Poughkeepsie. For me, Arles does not qualify as a big city. You should have no problems driving here. The most traffic you will find in Provence will be at the weekend market at l%26#39;Isle-sur-la-Sorgue. If you have an aversion to cars (you%26#39;re from NJ/NY?) arrive early with an added advantage of close-in parking.

Just curious as to your plans on how you are arriving in Nice for your train to Paris. Personally I%26#39;d rather spend the entire day driving around Manhattan than spend one hour driving in Nice. Of course it would take me an entire day of driving around Manhattan to find a parking place but the traffic in Nice has become unbearable.

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thanks for the info on driving around, so

is the market worth it???

Do you think our hotel will let our car stay in their lot after we check out on sunday?

Neither one of us can afford fancy antiques

but i do collect tins and teapots, for fun

maybe advertising items thats about it. For Nice

we will drop the car off the night before we leave Nice at train station, in the am just take a train or bus to take the TGV into Paris.

Another question, can we stay out of Nice and take a train or bus to the tgv station?

Is Antibes a nice town to stay in? 12 years ago

i stayed in Menton and enjoyed my stay there?

from Isle sur la Sorge, how long will it take us to get to arles? while we are in the area we%26#39;d like to see Gordes and some other towns first

thanks for any info,

we planned this trip last minute so we;re semi winging it

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Are you locked in to taking the train from Nice? As Sarastro said, it seems a waste to drive to Nice from the more western part of Provence. We spent a week in St. Remy and visited so many of the small towns ad villages nearby, never giving a thought to Nice.

You seem to be spreading yourself thin. Is the train from Nice a must??

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You wouldn%26#39;t drive into the centre of Arles anyway, it%26#39;s a warren of little mediaeval streets. There%26#39;s a huge car park by the station and the town centre is 10-15 minutes%26#39; walk from there. Arles is not to be missed. If you like small towns, makes sure you spend a couple of hours in St Remy. You%26#39;ll fall in love.

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Hi there,

Just a short note to tell you that we also love the small villages. And, coincidentally, L%26#39;isle sur la Sorgue and Gordes are our two favourite in the area.

(We stay in between the Dordogne and Lot rivers - a must for you if you are into lovely villages - some of the most beautiful are in this region - for next time).

Enjoy and don%26#39;t try to see too many places in such a short time - soak in the vibe of just a few and have something to come back to.

Regards