Provence & the French Riviera Guidebook
Best and worst sights, experiences and destinations:
Best: Cuisine de Provence
Why: Three of us spent a wonderful morning with Barbara in her beautiful home in Vaison La Romaine cooking and baking with the freshest herbs and vegetables bought that morning in the market. It was a highlight of our month in Provence and has some very precious memories of time spent with an old friend. Thank you Lynn, Rob and of course Barbara, Suisine de Provence and Rick Steves!
Rob and Nancy Cawsey in Saanichton, BC Canada 09/22/2011
Best: Imagine Tours of Avignon
Why: My husband and I vacationed in France in the Summer of 2010. While touring south of the country we took a guided tour offered by “Imagine Tours” based in Avignon. The day before the tour Mr. David Price (an Occitania aficionado from Texas) of Imagine Tours spent the evening with us in a tiny café in a town across the river from Avignon. Like a sincere teacher he explained the history and culture of Occitaine region to help us get oriented to the tour. We were very impressed by his passion, knowledge and energy.
The following morning our tour started from our hotel in Avignon in a sedan. Our guide was an elegant Scottish lady, Evelyn Matheson. Within a few minutes Evelyn became a good friend (language definitely helped as we do not speak any French). She was not only nice and friendly, she was extremely knowledgeable. The trip was a fest for our eyes. Evelyn stopped at every lush and well-groomed lavender and sunflower fields so that we can take snaps. We visited quite a few tiny and very pretty hilltop towns and also got to see grand panoramas of the land. She went out of her way to help us during and even after our trip. Our trip ended in a tiny and very “Red” hilltop town of Roussillon.
Sampa Santra in Brookline, MA USA 07/27/2011
Best: Sylvie Christie,Tour Guide: Cannes, Vagnes Sur Mer, Antibes
Why: She was everything & more as promised in your book. Fabulous personaility, knowledgeable, entertaining. Can parallel park a mini-van in a miniature space.
Judy Spaeth in Southlake, TX USA 06/14/2011
Best: Luberon villages
Why: Beautiful, wonderful shops and friendly people, lovely markets, relatively easy to navigate
Neil Phillips in Cherry Hill, NJ USA 06/06/2011
Best: Castle Hill
Why: What a great park to get lost in. There's something for everyone--playground, historic cemetary, park, waterfall...
Worst: Trans Cote d'Azur in Nice
Why: We tried to take the one hour tour from Nice that circles around neighboring towns including Cannes. We went the day before to make a reservation. When we made the reservation they told us to arrive a half hour before the scheduled departure but failed to tell us that they will only run the tour if 20 seats are sold. We found out about the minimum when we arrived that day and five minutes before the scheduled departure the tour was cancelled because only 18 seats were sold. We were very frustrated that they were not straight with us and we spent a while waiting around and didn't even get the tour.
M in Silver Spring, MD USA 05/29/2011
Best: Eze-leVillage, Villefranche-sur-Mer, Antibes, La Turbie, Vieux Nice, Chagall Museum in Nice.
Why: Beautiful views, quite often panoramic (Eze, La Turbie) with combination of mountain and sea, old town districts (Villefranche, Antibes, Vieux Nice), gardens (Le Jardin Exotique d'Eze) - Monaco's Jardin Exotique, as you very well pointed out is skippable.
Worst: Cannes
Why: - The already narrow beach became even narrower due to the presence of lots of eating and drinking places right on the beach. - The quality of the beaches almost everywhere: narrow, plastered with pebbles. No fine sand (as one may find on, say, on the much less known Romanian Riviera. You visited Bulgaria; try Romania as well.
Emil Marcus in Aberdeen, NJ USA 05/03/2011
Best: Luberon Villages
Why: We discover new villages every time we are in that area. This time we were in Saignon (near Apt) and loved that too.
Judy Johnson in Alexandria, MN USA 04/25/2011
Best: Monaco, Cotes du Rhone, Pont du Gard, La Ferme Degoutaud
Why: Various persons liked various aspects: Monaco for its glitter, Cotes du Rhone for the scenic peaceful countryside, and Pont du Gard for the impressive historical site and museum
Worst: Getting lost in Marseille at night
Why: Because we were lost in Marseille at night and some parts looked fairly rough as we were driving through
Warren Lo in Columbus, OH USA 04/03/2011
Best: Mike's Wine Safari tour
Why: Great day visiting the wine country of Chateauneuf-de-pap and Cote-du-Rhone. Mike is every bit as great as you described.
Toby Citrin in Ann Arbor, MI USA 04/03/2011
Best: L'Ecole Buissonniere
Why: Quirky but friendly and knowledgeable hosts. Family friendly and great location in Cotes Du Rhone area. accomadations in family room/suite were great.
Worst: Hotel Reves D'Ocre
Why: Family room is in attic very, very hot in late summer, and "eager to please" host is stingy with A/C: he will switch off when he wants: no control in room. He is a cheapskate and nearly ruined our trip. We though we'd have 3-4 great days in the Luberon but going back there at night was something we avoided. We argued continually to keep the a/c on and he would switch it off and argu in a huff. Stay away. Rick: we were disappointed in this one. "eager to please"? No way.
Ron Clark in Winchester, MA USA 12/05/2010
Best: gites, france and Villa Exupery Nice.
Why: The gites were better than expected, the owners very helpful and friendly. Villa Exupery was a joy, we had a lot of fun with all those wonderful young people from all over the world. The price is just unbelievable for Nice, just a beautiful city with all these museums. We hiked many miles into the provence little town. Since we read the book it was as if we had been there, everything so easy to find. We had the best trip ever, 3 weeks hiking in the Provence.
Mathilda Sarh in Huntington Beach, CA USA 10/24/2010
Best: Cassis & Arles
Why: Unexpected pleasure on every corner. Try the Provence pizza. Ooey, gooey goodness.
Arles - We lucked out and visited during the end of the season bull fight feria. The bull fight was for real so we didn't partake but the city was bustling with open party areas, which went until early in the morning. The Saturday market is superb. I plan to move to France to retire and think I have found the perfect little city. Of course, it may be Cassis??
Worst: Marseilles Panier district
Why: We wandered into the area after 6 p.m. Everything is closed and it's VERY scary.
Amy Shearer in Baltimore, MD USA 09/19/2010
Best: Arles
Why: Nice mixture of history, accommodations, food. Everything came together.
Worst: Nice
Why: Busy, dirty, hot. Not in July. May be better luck in fall.
Lev in Gainesville, Fl USA 07/24/2010
Best: Fort de Buoux, Oppede-le-Vieux, Chagall Museum, Fondation Maegt, Moustiers-ste-Marie, Eze Village
Why: The Fort de Buoux is an easy hike up to a clifftop opposite Auberge des Seguins. Very interesting old fortified village ruins, great views of canyon below. Oppede-le-Vieux is a tiny and picturesque old town, with an interesting walk from the parking lot and a good castle ruin above. The Chagall Museum has great, large works of biblical art as well as some of his other works. Well displayed. Fondation Maegt was expensive but worth it, with the sculpture gardens and interior art. Eze Village has great views of the gardens with the sea in the background.
Jinny Danzer in St. Louis, MO USA 07/02/2010
Best: Domaine de Mourchon
Why: The winery and people working there did not disappoint. Due to the limitations of what we could bring back to the states, they even helped us find a distributor in our area.
Rebecca in Washington, DC, USA 05/22/2010
Best: Nice, Avignon, Arles, Roussillon, Pont du Gard
Why: Nice was a wonderful Riveria town with an Italian feel. Wandering through Old Nice was amazing as was the market at Cours Seleya. The Hotel Villa Victoria was a wonderful, relaxing place to stay.
Avignon and Arles were great for sights. Each town had it's own unique feel. I'm glad we were based out of Avignon, but visiting Arles was easy by train and was such fun.
Took a tour with Visit Provence and my favorite village was Roussillon. It was such a great experience to get out and see a county/mtn. village and Roussillon was so beautiful!
The Pont du Gard was a sight that was worth seeing. So hard to wrap my head around the fact that this was constructed BC and by hand!!! And, it's stood the test of time.
Worst: Rue Massena in Nice
Why: I know this pedestrian street in Nice isn't really mentioned in the guidebook and now I know why.
Kerrie Giesen in Webster, NY USA 05/18/2010
Best: The Van Gogh Walking Tour in Arles
Why: As a fan of Van Gogh, I really enjoyed all the tips and background info. The route was easy to follow as well.
Worst: Fondation Van Gogh in Arles
Why: For those on a limited budget, I feel this is not worth the 6€ admission price . The paintings in homage to Van Gogh were indeed nice to see, but there are only a couple of them.
S.W. in London, UK 05/16/2010
Best: Or at least very good: Le Crestet
Why: Le Crestet is better than the guide book implies. We went there in the beginning of April and found the place nearly deserted. The cafe at the top of the town really is worth going to. The view of Mt. Ventoux from there is spectacular.
Robert Consoli in Sunnyvale, CA USA 04/27/2010
Best: the city, Aix en Provence,
Why: Simply great :) real France. Cultural, beautiful.
Worst: transportation
Why: very difficult to get easy transportation on WE
HAGEGE EDWARD in HONG KONG , HK HONG KONG 04/24/2010
Best: Arles, Nimes, Pont du Gard, hiking calanques, biking out of Isle Sur la Sorgue, horseback riding Carmague, Chagall museum,
Why: Isle sur la Sorgue bike shop Christophe Tendil at Isle 2 Roues is an amazing champion boxer. Walls covered with his posters and winning boxing belts are something else. Train strike eliminated 2nd leg of our pre-purchased train ride to Isle Sur la Sorgue from Arles. The man in charge of the station got us a taxi (on SNCF) the rest of the way.
Isle Sur la Sorgue: Saturday old guys playing boules were great fun to cheer for.
Worst: Vallauris
Why: Glass blowing closed when we went on Thursday, but pottery throwing was open.
jill in durall, CT USA 04/18/2010
Best: Arles, Nimes, Pont du Gard, hiking calanques, biking out of Isle Sur la Sorgue, horseback riding Carmague, Chagall museum,
Why: Isle sur la Sorgue bike shop Christophe Tendil at Isle 2 Roues is an amazing champion boxer. Walls covered with his posters and winning boxing belts are something else. Train strike eliminated 2nd leg of our pre-purchased train ride to Isle Sur la Sorgue from Arles. The man in charge of the station got us a taxi (on SNCF) the rest of the way.
Isle Sur la Sorgue: Saturday old guys playing boules were great fun to cheer for.
Worst: Vallauris
Why: Glass blowing closed when we went on Thursday, but pottery throwing was open.
jill in durall, CT USA 04/18/2010
Best: Abbey St. Hilaire
Why: It feels private, not touristy. Everything feels so authentic you can almost hear the monks in the garden.
Heather in Olympia, WA USA 03/21/2010
Best: The Jardin Exotique in Eze Le Village.
Why: The most fabulous view we saw. Also, the changing of the guard at the palace in Monaco. Prince Albert and his friends opened 6 big windows on the 2nd floor. They stood in the windows and watched the guards and band and waved at us.
Worst: Modern art in general
Why: Our group of four senior adults generally did not like modern art, except for the Marc Chagall art. The free audio guide was most helpful and necessary. We liked the historic old towns, and ancient ruins better than modern art.
G. Sellers in Melbourne Beach, FL USA 02/09/2010
Worst: Hertz, Aix-en-Provence
Why: Although we reserved an automatic compact car more than half a year ago and then confirmed it, when we arrived at the office, they did not have. Only an automatic car they have at that time was a huge luxurious car. We had to pay very expensive extra charge and we had to deal with its inconvenient size. Terrible service francaise!
Ryoji Matsumoto in Funabashi, Chiba, Japan 12/20/2009
Best: Pont du Gard and the Roman Theatre in Orange
Why: The Pont du Gard is a stunning example of Roman engineering capability. We climbed up to the panoramic view at the top of the aqueduct. We also enjoyed the Roman theatre in Orange. The Audio guide was very informative.
Worst: Palais des Papes in Avignon and the Les Baux
Why: The audioguides at Palais des Papes were repetitive and tiresome. The rooms were very large but generally empty. The entrance fee was quite expensive for what we got out of it. At Les Baux, you need a good imagination.
Art / Karyn Lougheed in Markham, ON Candada 11/01/2009
Best: Roman Theater in Orange
Why: Fabulous sight! It still has it's back stage as most Roman theaters don't anymore, and Rick's self guided tour of it written in his book was super! An awesome sight if you love Roman structures!
Jeff & Di Lindquist in Reseda, Ca USA 10/09/2009
Best: Uzes, St. Remy, Les Baux, Vaison la Romaine
Why: Beautiful villages. Uzes is so charming and still "off the beaten path" yet so refined. great lunch on the square. We had a wonderful lunch in Saint Remy and found the shops quite good in terms of quality. We spent far more time in Les Baux at the ruins than we planned for. the old castle is amazing. The town has become something more like an epcot center visit. we spent two nights in vaison la romaine and found this to be a wonderful place to mingle with the locals. the restaurant owners were thrilled to have us. we got great wine recommendations from them. we stopped to watch a soccer game in a bar and the young men were very friendly inside. le beffroi was so nice. great visit.
Worst: arles
Why: i visited about 15 years ago and thought the place was charming and beautiful. this time, it seemed a little frumpy, too touristy. can't quite put my finger on it, but things seem to be getting a little shady or just badly in need of updating. maybe the economic downturn? wished we had spend the night in st remy or uzes instead.
s. elizabeth in philadelphia, pa USA 10/05/2009
Best: Walking tours in France and Italy
Why: great detail and directions. Helps get started in a city and better understand it.
Louis in Lorraine, PQ Canada 09/27/2009
Worst: Hotel Miramar in Vence
Why: Gentleman checking us in was not friendly and in fact was condescending. Walls were quite thin; altho there was a wonderful deck, it faced inland, not to the sea, which we could see from our room.
Claire in N. Conway, NH USA 09/24/2009
Best: Bus from Nice to Cap Ferrat (#81) to the Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild, then walk to Plage de Passable
Why: What a perfect day!! The Villa was beautiful and the gardens were amazing. Then the downhill walk to the beach to have lunch at the Restaurant de la Plage Passable -- very, very nice. Decided that the free beach made sense, and it was great. It actually had the best of all substrates for a beach -- finely ground stone. Better than the large stones in Nice, better than sand that gets everywhere. Loved the day!
Pattie Laun in Ellicott City, MD USA 08/03/2009
Best: Fondation Vincent Van Gogh D'Arles
Why: Contemporary artists paid homage to Van Gogh. I have been thinking about the artwork I saw weeks after returning from Provence. Fernando Botero's painting of a chair and shoes in his signature "chubby" style; a U.S. artist's work of Van Gogh's face done with what appeared to be colored raffia. I wish I could see them all again.
Sharron Stevens in Oberstaufenbach, Germany 07/25/2009
Best: Drive to Mt. Ventoux and to the Luberon
Why: The views were spectacular; the lavender was aromatic; the villages were picturesque; the backroads were extremely interesting.
Scott Hudson in Cincinnati, OH USA 07/10/2009
Best: Roussillon
Why: It was a perfect day to walk around the city. It was very picturesque. We enjoyed lunch at a wonderful restaurant overlooking the forest. We loved it.
Worst: Uzes
Why: Our fault, we came during lunch when the TI was closed so we didn't know what to do and left after a brief walk
Kathy Casey in Barrington, IL USA 03/15/2009
Best: www.gites-de-france.fr
Why: I put a deposit on a house to rent with friends. Unfortunately, I had to cancel the reservation. Fortunately, I did purchase the cancellation insurance for 32 Euro, so almost all the deposit was refunded without hassle. This company is very responsive, and appears to have both renter's and owner's interests in mind.
Sharron Stevens in Oberstaufenbach, Germany 03/07/2009
Best: Nimes Roman sites, walks on Cap Ferrat, Monaco self-guided walk
Why: I loved the Nimes arena, Maison Carree, and Castellum, a great combination of Roman sites. I was too timid to go up the elevator in the Carree d'Art, but I will next time! The two walks on Cap Ferrat (Plage Paloma and St. Jean to Beaulieu) were fabulous!! I wish I'd made the time to do the 2-3 hour one and/or to walk from Beaulieu to Villefrance. The Monaco self-guided walk was great; I got off at the Place d'Armes bus 100 stop, did the self-guided walk, walked around the port, and ended at the casino, then caught the bus to Eze-le-Village.
Worst: Les Baux, Eze-le-Village (old town), Villefranche-sur-Mer
Why: I didn't go into the chateau in Les Baux, and there wasn't much else there. (I wish I'd taken the train to Orange instead.) Eze-le-Village's old town reminded me of Les Baux (not much to see or do). Compared to the other Riviera towns I visited, Villefranche also had very little to see or do. Note: I was there during the week between Christmas and New Year's.
Kyla Gurganus in Ypsilanti, MI USA 01/02/2009