April in the south of France

[Anne]

We (my older daughter, my mother and I) booked flights for a trip to France next spring - so exciting!!! Mom and I are staying for 3 wks, with my daughter joining us for 2 wks. We're flying into Marseilles and home from Lyon. (The flights were too good to pass up so we booked them first and now we'll do our research!)

Our very early thoughts are something like this:
- arrive in Marseilles and pick up our rental car
- spend 2-4 days in .... (Arles? Aix? _________?)
- rent a gite in Languedoc-Roussillon (Aude?) for a week. (I've been googling Cathar castles all day and starring them in my google maps...can't wait to see some of them in person!)
- head up to Lyon for 1-3 days (daughter flies home)
- rent a gite in ....(the Ardeche? the Rhone valley?) for a week or so.
- mom and I fly home from Lyon

These ideas could all change entirely by the time April rolls around...this just gives us a starting point for our planning.

I'm curious what are YOUR favourite things to see and do in this general area?

 

[aap519]

In Lyon we really liked Old Town and
Halles de Lyon - Paul Bocuse - http://www.halles-de-lyon-paulbocuse.com/

When you're in Lyon, you could take a quick trip to Dijon for a day and discover Dijon's history and savor the charm of the former capital of the Dukes of Burgundy, by walking the Owl's Trail.

Just a thought.

 

[Anne]

In Lyon we really liked Old Town and
Halles de Lyon - Paul Bocuse - http://www.halles-de-lyon-paulbocuse.com/

Ohhhhh.....yummy!! This place sounds scrumptious...drool....

When you're in Lyon, you could take a quick trip to Dijon for a day and discover Dijon's history and savor the charm of the former capital of the Dukes of Burgundy, by walking the Owl's Trail.

I just googled the Owl's Trail and it sounds like a fascinating walk - I'm intrigued!

 

[Mom83]

We (my older daughter, my mother and I) booked flights for a trip to France next spring - so exciting!!! Mom and I are staying for 3 wks, with my daughter joining us for 2 wks. We're flying into Marseilles and home from Lyon. (The flights were too good to pass up so we booked them first and now we'll do our research!)

Our very early thoughts are something like this:
- arrive in Marseilles and pick up our rental car
- spend 2-4 days in .... (Arles? Aix? _________?)
- rent a gite in Languedoc-Roussillon (Aude?) for a week. (I've been googling Cathar castles all day and starring them in my google maps...can't wait to see some of them in person!)
- head up to Lyon for 1-3 days (daughter flies home)
- rent a gite in ....(the Ardeche? the Rhone valley?) for a week or so.
- mom and I fly home from Lyon

These ideas could all change entirely by the time April rolls around...this just gives us a starting point for our planning.

I'm curious what are YOUR favourite things to see and do in this general area?

If you decide to stay in Aix, I can give you information on the place we rented...we liked it a lot! 3 bedrooms/2baths.
We also rented a beautiful 2 bedroom/2bath apartment in the center of Beaune, if by chance you decide to stay there at any time during your trip...ideally located between Lyon and Dijon (although closer to Dijon).

 

[Anne]

If you decide to stay in Aix, I can give you information on the place we rented...we liked it a lot! 3 bedrooms/2baths.
We also rented a beautiful 2 bedroom/2bath apartment in the center of Beaune, if by chance you decide to stay there at any time during your trip...ideally located between Lyon and Dijon (although closer to Dijon).

Oh I would love to hear about the apartment - thanks. We're leaning a bit more toward Arles, but Aix is definitely in the running...a good rental option could be the deciding factor!
I don't want to pack too much into one trip, so we probably won't venture north of Lyon this time, but maybe I need to plan a follow up trip to see Beaune and Dijon!

 

[Mom83]

Oh I would love to hear about the apartment - thanks. We're leaning a bit more toward Arles, but Aix is definitely in the running...a good rental option could be the deciding factor!
I don't want to pack too much into one trip, so we probably won't venture north of Lyon this time, but maybe I need to plan a follow up trip to see Beaune and Dijon!

Trying to locate our rental now...I am having trouble finding it.

 

[Mom83]

Kathleen Lambert is the owner. I am not sure that she is renting the 3 bedroom anymore as I cannot find it on vrbo.
http://aixenprovencerentals.monsite-orange.fr/page1/index.html
We rented the downstairs gatehouse.

 

[Anne]

Oh my, it's beautiful! Looks like the minimum stay is 1 week, so might not be available to us (we'll be staying only 3-4 days) but I'll definitely keep it in mind. Thanks so much.

 

[Mom83]

Yes, we rented it for a week...it was in a beautiful area of Aix. We loved that entire area, although we never got to Arles. There were so many lovely places to visit each day. Mother/daughter trips are so special! I hope you report back on your trip as we hope to return to the area one day soon.

 

[flennie]

My daughter and I spent 4 days in Arles in 2015 during my daughter's spring break while she was at Univ of Edinburgh for a semester abroad. We also landed in Marseille but took the train to Arles.

We really loved Arles. It is rustic, unpretentious, and full of Roman ruins and interesting sights. The Sat market there is humongous, the best that I ever went to anywhere. April was the season for white asparagus so they were everywhere, all sizes. During the 4 days we took the bus to St Remy, visited the nearby Roman ruins of Glanum, took a half day tour from Avignon to visit Gordes, Pont du Gard, and Les Beaux de Provence. We actually spent 2 days visiting Arles itself.

Then we trained to Lyon to see some friends for a few days, then up to Paris for a couple of days before returning. I've done mother-daughter trip twice (first time in Nice, France) and these are precious memories.

 

[Anne]

That sounds lovely, flennie. This is my second trip to France with my mother. (First trip included a week each in Paris, Vaison-la-Romaine, and Nice.) But my daughter is joining us too this time, so we are 3 generations travelling together. I agree, such trips makes for very precious memories.

I didn't know about Glanum before, but will add it to our list of possibilities. My mom particularly loves Roman ruins, which is partly why she's very keen to visit Arles. We might decide to spend our last full week in that area, instead of a few days at the beginning of our trip. My goodness, it's so hard to narrow down the choices with so many places to see!

 

[Anne]

The trip is still a work in progress but we're definitely leaning toward 3 nights in Arles, 1 night in Carcassonne, then onto Lagrasse.

We'll spend a week in Lagrasse - we've splurged on this rental - Balcony gite. So excited!

After Lagrasse, we drive to Lyon for my daughter to catch her flight home. Mom and I have 8-9 more days before we fly home (also from Lyon). We're giving thought to staying in Lyon and taking daytrips by train (such as to Dijon and Beaune, maybe Geneva?) But more likely we'll look for a rental in town/village somewhere. But which town? Pérouges looks amazing, if we decide to spend our time on that side of Lyon. Or south of Lyon....Vienne, Val-le-Bains Le Puy-en-Velay.....? Must admit, the Ardeche seems to be calling my name, probably from watching a tv show years ago that was set in the Ardeche - it made my heart go WOW! But I'm sure the other depts of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes have much to offer as well. Dilemma!

I welcome your input if you have any recommendations on where to stay in/near the Ardeche? And/or more suggestions/tips on other areas to explore near-ish Lyon?

 

[Anne]

Our plans have taken a different turn....the lure of Provence has prevailed over the Ardeche. In large part because I've been able to book Kathy's apartment in Bonnieux for the last part of our trip - we're so excited to stay here!!

Admin: Link changed to new website.

 

[Anne]

The final piece of the puzzle is in place...we'll be spending our first 4 nights in Pézenas in this fab looking place - l'Appartement des Artistes no.2 (more details in the Homeaway listing, link is near the bottom of the owner's page.)

So, to recap:
My daughter, my mother and I fly into Marseilles, pick up our rental car and drive to Pézenas...
Pézenas - 4 nights
Lagrasse - 7 nights
(1 night at Lyon airport hotel - my daughter flies home)
Bonnieux - 8 nights
(1 night at Lyon airport hotel - mom and I fly home)

We have a very short "must see" list - Niaux (cave paintings), Cathar castles, Carcassonne....and a very long "want to see" list! We'll get to a few of the "wants", leaving time for aimless wandering and hanging close to home some days too.

Has anyone visited any of the Cathar castles? I wonder if you have any tips on which might have the most wow factor? (Not necessarily in terms of the castle itself - Château de Peyrepertuse, for ex, looks to be little more than a fragment of walls but the views look spectacular.) Thanks!

 

[Roz]

Has anyone visited any of the Cathar castles? I wonder if you have any tips on which might have the most wow factor? (Not necessarily in terms of the castle itself - Château de Peyrepertuse, for ex, looks to be little more than a fragment of walls but the views look spectacular.) Thanks!

We went to Peyrepertuse over 10 years ago. It is spectacular -- appears to be growing right out of the rock. We thought we were going to climb up to the top (about a kilometer or so from the closest you can park). But Mike was suffering from a cold that left him extremely short of breath, and I have such vertigo that we gave up after a short distance. (As you can see on the website, it bills itself as "La Citadelle de Vertige".) If you're okay on climbing steep rocky hillsides, I'm sure the views would be amazing.

Here's a view of the fortress from the car park.

 

[Anne]

Thanks Roz - great shot! Glad to know about the steep climb - my daughter and I will be fine with it, but I'm sure my mother will opt to stay back and admire the view from below.

 

[Anne]

Side note - does anyone know how to properly pronounce Niaux?

I was browsing old ST threads for ideas and read that, in the south of France, the "x" at the end of place names is sometimes pronounced (Moux is pronounced Mooks apparently) but not always (Limoux is pronounced Limoo). In the same thread, I also found out that the "s" at the end of Pézenas is pronounced...which is good to know since we're hanging out there for 4 nights!

 

[aap519]

I think it's pronounced "new"

 

[Andrew]

What I find in Googling doesn't show any pronounced x: if correct, it would be nee-OH.

 

[Roz]

Anne, I don't know how useful this will be to you, but I do have a copy of my original Slow Trav trip report. I didn't want to post it here, because much of it is kind of outdated. For example, I wrote a lot about this being our first trip where we used GPS (how things have changed!). Anyway, I put it on my own website just to save it, and if you want to read it, you can look here: Languedoc 2006.

It's true, by the way, that a lot of the usual French pronunciation rules go out the window when it comes to place names, especially in southern France. The one that I always think of is Rodez, where I understand the final "z" is pronounced.