Help Needed Where should we base ourselves?

[Shelley321]

After many years of holidaying all over Italy, we have decided to give France a try in July 2018. We are well travelled and over the years we have come to realise what makes us love a place.

These are our requirements:

Self contained house with outside space.
Close to water, preferably waterfront (lake/river) or first line seafront.
Centrally located in a village with amenities, such as shops, restaurants and market.
In a location which offers us good transport links to places of interest.
Probably more South of France than Northern France.
Reasonably close to an airport.
Maybe a pool (not essential)

Although we have visited France before we have no idea where to start with this search. Can anyone offer us any pointers so that we can narrow it down? Any help would be appreciated.

 

[scottw]

Check out some of the discussions on Nice, Cote d'Azure, Riviera. I think this will tick a lot of your boxes.

 

[Dennis]

We found areas to the west of the Riviera to our liking. You may wish to consider Arles or Avignon on the Rhone. Both have good transport links. If you have a car we recommend La Domaine de la Tourette just outside Arles http://www.domainedelatourette.com/ . It backs onto the Petit Rhone. Farther west, Collioure is another place we enjoyed. Although the whole of France's south coast is tourist-oriented we found area from Arles to the Catalan border less so. We enjoy hiking and history and the whole area met our expectations.
Toulouse is the major international airport for the midi-Pyrenees but the are is well serviced by regional airports in Nimes, Avignon, Carcassonne, Perpignan, and Girona just across the border in Catalonia.

 

[veronicafrance]

Agree with Dennis, and I would add that you'll find the western end of the Mediterranean coast cheaper and a bit less crowded than the Côte d'Azur in July (argh!)

 

[Valerie]

I LOVE Collioure. Beautiful town on the waterfront, nice atmosphere and with all the amenities. Narbonne seemed nice with lots to see and do, but we spent just a day there. A bit inland, Homps on the Canal du Midi is pretty and has shops and restaurants; Olonzac has a great weekly market and is one of the area's "circulaire" towns, near Minerve and other Cathar sites.

 

[Parigi]

I would recommend
Menton
Collioiure
Cibouren.

 

[Shelley321]

Thank you. We have visited Coullioure and we did love it. I will definitely look at the other suggestions. We are considering doing a French River Cruise for one week and then a land based rental for the second week. So I suppose close to the river would be ideal. Any suggestions that would tie in with that would also be welcome.

Also any actual properties that would fit the bill.

Again, my thanks for any help.

 

[chachalaca]

If you can find part of the Canal du Midi that is still tree-lined I agree, it's beautiful! Olonzac DOES have a fantastic market and the cathar towns surrounding are neat to explore. I don't have a good recommendation of rentals as ours was great/bad (Rieux Minervois: fantastic house, but very dog-poopy village with no market or town square of any shape/size, no bar...SO much potential, but rather disappointing ).

 

[veronicafrance]

You'd have been better in Caunes-Minervois: a larger and more lively village with a beautiful abbey and plenty of shops and restaurants. Olonzac has a lot going for it too, and is near the canal -- still mostly tree-lined around there.

 

[Shelley321]

I think we have decided against the river cruise in favour of a 2 centre trip to Provence. So, which two places will give us the best base to see as much of the area as possible? Also, we are restricted to July/Aug which is not the best time I know! We will have a car.

Must be in a central position in pretty picture postcard village with restaurants/bars for evening strolls!
The rental must have outdoor space, wifi and air con.
Overlooking water would be a big bonus, as would access to a pool.

I have looked at Antibes, Cassis, Goudes, Lourmarin, Sete, Eze, and a few more but I am finding it hard to narrow the locations and the properties down and I really need help!

 

[chachalaca]

You'd have been better in Caunes-Minervois: a larger and more lively village with a beautiful abbey and plenty of shops and restaurants. Olonzac has a lot going for it too, and is near the canal -- still mostly tree-lined around there.

The general area was incredible! We had hikes along the tree-lined canal everywhere (at the time the danger to the trees was not known).

Shelley321; RE: Lourmarin I think you'll get a lot of info here for Lourmarin. It's a real village, the surrounding area is pretty, it has what you need to just "live" in the village, hike/walk the general area, etc. Personally, I don't care for the "Place" and as we can only travel in summer it was REALLY busy and full of tourists. I think Chris has a better impression and more complete information. Hopefully she'll chime in here.

RE: Cassis I LOVE Cassis, we always return for a couple of days or an overnight at least. It is touristy in the summer, but it isn't "precious" like other resort areas. It feels very familial and it's SO pretty. I'm not sure about staying longer; only you know what kinds of destinations "fit" you.

RE: Antibes I think Cameron is the expert here and hopefully she'll give you some feedback.

Happy Planning! Try to get things booked in the next week or two, houses, condos, gites and apartments go fast (sometimes a year in advance) for some of your destinations in the summer.

Laura

 

[veronicafrance]

Sète is not in Provence, it's on the wrong side of the Rhone. Just saying I like it, it's a real working port that's also very pretty. But not a village by my standards (population 40,000). Lots of places of interest round about too.

 

[Pauline]

... I have looked at Antibes, Cassis, Goudes, Lourmarin, Sete, Eze, and a few more but I am finding it hard to narrow the locations and the properties down and I really need help!

Not Eze. It is a tourist town. Pretty for a day trip, but I would not want to stay there. Antibes is a great town - we spent two weeks there recently (on Cameron's recommendation).

Anywhere in the Luberon would be good - have you looked at Kathy's rental in Bonnieux? Goult is also lovely - all the Luberon villages are nice - so is Lourmarin. I don't know Cassis but it is supposed to be beautiful.

Edited to change link to Kathy's house. She has a new website!

 

[Anne]

have you looked at Kathy's rental in Bonnieux?

Mom and I will be spending a week there the end of April....can't wait!

I've only been to Provence once before, so can't be of much help. If you decide to venture up to the northern part of Provence, we spent a week in Vaison-la-Romaine and loved it. Great little town for strolling, with a medieval section, Roman ruins, and a modern section as well. It has a few restaurants/bars and an excellent weekly market. Beautiful old cathedral. And it's on a river, although I'm not sure if there's swimming. (We were there in April, so swimming wasn't on the radar.)

We spent our second week in Nice and very much enjoyed it too...but it's definitely not a village!

 

[Dennis]

If you are considering Lourmarin, we highly recommend Les Olivettes. http://www.olivettes.com/index.php We stayed in "la petite maison" in the centre of the the village. Their main accommodation centre is on the outskirts of the town. Joseph and Elizabeth were knowledgeable and helpful hosts

 

[chachalaca]

I also love Vaison la Romaine! I DO know a great rental in the vineyards, with a shared pool and great outdoor space if you decide on this village.

As for Les Olivettes, I bet it's lovely. We stayed at the owner's one BR apartment in the center and it was great, as were the owners Elisabeth and Joseph. Chris recommended it to us, and she will confirm that tall people might have a difficult time in the shower - .

Shelley321 you are getting great advice here. Keep asking the questions, someone will steer you to THE place eventually.

 

[Shelley321]

OOh, so much choice! We are flexible with dates in either July or early August so Kathy's place is available for some dates but it seems like a Monday to Monday rental which may mess up another rental period as many are Sat/Sat or am I reading that wrong?

I think we have now on your excellent advice ruled out Eze and Sete.

In Antibes the Cap View apartment looks great but I thought someone who rented it from this site mentioned a garage/designated parking but it isn't mentioned in the details. Can anyone shed light on that, please?

And this one looks great,http://holidayslagrasse.com/balcony-gite-en/
I love the river setting, but where is it in relation to other locations? How close is it to restaurants/shops etc, would it be walkable in the evenings?

Any views on Isle-sur-la-Sorgue ?

I just want to take things from all of them and put them by a river in a village! Does that location exist? Oh, and then move them to by the sea for the second week!

Please keep the advice coming as we need to book asap.

 

[Anne]

And this one looks great,http://holidayslagrasse.com/balcony-gite-en/
I love the river setting, but where is it in relation to other locations?

Are we long lost twins? This is exactly the place we're renting the week before we stay in Kathy's Bonnieux apartment! The town Lagrasse isn't in Provence though, it's in the Languedoc region. Looks to be about a 3 hour drive away from the other places you've mentioned...maybe longer, factoring in getting lost on strange roads!

 

[veronicafrance]

Gosh, what did I say about Sète that put you off? And Lagrasse is definitely, definitely not in Provence. As Anne says it's in the Languedoc and nowhere near as close to Provence as Sète is. It is a biggish village with shops and many restaurants, and you can swim in the river. It will be busy in July and August though.

 

[Shelley321]

Ok, so here is a map and I see that the river is a separator. I think staying in both Languedoc and Provence is a good idea. I have no idea of the distance between places so seeing this gives me some perspective. If someone could place the villages mentioned for me (Lourmarin, Bonnieux, Cassis, Lagrasse, Rousillion, Gordes, etc) that might help me choose two places that will mean we can see as much of both areas as possible.

Thanks for all this help!