Provence & the French Riviera 2010

Guidebook corrections:

Please note: The following corrections were submitted by readers and have not yet been confirmed by Rick. Check updates from Rick for the latest.

Restaurant Chez Palmyre in Nice is closed indefinitely.

The TI office in Vence has moved. It is now a 5 minute walk from the main central bus stop. As you exit the bus, turn right on to Avenue de la Résistance and the office will be on your left at Place du Grand Jardin.

Lars Borg in Västerås, Sweden 10/21/2009

we had several problems with the cotes du rhones driving wine tour. i left my RS guidebook in france so i am going from memory. the winery outside of beaumes de venise (up the endless private drive with the modern tasting room) now has very, very limited hours. my guess is that they no longer need tasting customers. it was closed and open only a couple days a week for a couple of hours. at the next vineyard on the itinerary (in the unbelevably beautiful setting), the woman working the tasting room was not at all friendly and very "put out" by the fact that we were there. i speak french. my boyfriend knows a lot about wine and that seemed to soften her up a bit, but we stayed only minutes because of l'attitude. the tasting room in the town with the "orientation table" has moved entirely. about a mile or so away. we didn't go. the tasting room in gigondas was packed and great although i think the americans think that the tasting experience is an excuse to get drunk for free. (might explain the attitude at the previously mentioned tasting room.) oh, also, we started the day early-ish as recommended in seguret (about 10:30 am) and found we were the only people in the entire town with nothing open at all. also, the 89 year old man who made the guide and you are supposed to knock on his door... he is dead. we knocked on his door and then found the plaque dedicated to him further up the hill. this is the town with only 35 people living there yearly. high up on the hill. amazing location and views, but the guy died in 2008. We think we had a 2009 guide. i think you need to have someone drive the tour and update a bit.

s. elizabeth in philadelphia, pa USA 10/05/2009

Pont du Gard now offers guided walks across the top level. The walks cost 10 euros and are lead by a multi-lingual guide. They start from the East end of the aqueduct, so if you park on the West of the river, you will need to walk across the lower bridge to get to the start of the walk.

Gregg in Jackson, CA USA 09/08/2009

p. 132 - Orange introduction. "...Even in Roman times, career military men retired after only 20 years. Does the emperor want thousands of well-trained, relatively young guys hanging around Rome? No way." I realise this is a kind of joke, and perhaps I've lost my sense of humour, but this introduction seems to me to show a lack of understanding of Roman history (quite a big deal in Orange!). If you managed to survive past the age of 10 in Roman times, your life expectancy was around 37... so retiring from the Roman army after 20 years' service, you wouldn't be a young man at all - you'd be an old coot.

Amy Walker UK 05/30/2009

Le Petit Duc in St. Remy does not offer a kitchen tour, according to the staff that we asked while there in April 2009. We were there on Friday as instructed by the book and asked.

Anna USA 05/21/2009

in Nice France: Nice Home Sweet Home B&B is quoting prices extremely higher than 09 book: We knew we should expect higher prices during May 09 Grand Prix dates (our request was for May 20-25)but not more than triple! Our request for double with bathroom in corridor (listed in 09 book from 61-70Euros) was met with reply asking for 180 euros/night with bathroom in corridor. Isn't this price gouging? Needless to say we did not book with Genevieve!

Maria Logo USA 01/30/2009

Please make the Trophee des Alpes information clearer. By reading the book, I thought just the museum was closed on Mondays, only to get all the way to La Turbie and have no access the entire monument. The view from afar was still nice (as was the view overlooking Monaco), but I wasted 2 hours of time (getting to La Turbie, waiting for the next bus, getting back to Nice). I was also disappointed to see the Castellum in Nice fenced off (after seeing Rick standing in it on TV!). It was still amazing to see. The hotel at the end of the Cap Ferrat walk on p. 301 may now be called the Royal Riviera. (I couldn't see a hotel named the Grand Hotel Riviera, but maybe I wasn't looking in the right place.) The Plage Paloma walk to Cap Ferrat was blocked off half-way, but hopefully that is only temporary. On the Nice tramway machines, you must spin the knob to choose English (it's not a touchscreen). Provence Reservation tours are less guided tours and more transportation with live commentary. They take you to a location/site (such as Nimes), give you a map, and tell you when to be back at the mini-bus. While it was fine, it was not the "guided tour" I expected. Luckily I had my Rick Steves guidebook to point out the best places to check out during the "free time" in the places.

Kyla Gurganus in Ypsilanti, MI USA 01/02/2009

Avignon TGV to centre shuttle is now 1.20 euros.

Kyla Gurganus in Ypsilanti, MI USA 12/29/2008

L'Auberge des Sequins is not a "stones throw" from Fort de Buoux but rather a 20 minute hike! And you should point out that reservations are essential--especially for Sunday lunch.

Debbie Alpern in Crested Butte, CO USA 11/04/2008

Hotel du Parc is no longer open in Avignon! I had a reservation with them, but they did not contact me when they shut down.

Robyn O. in Webster, TX USA 09/24/2008

Ste-Maries-de-la-Mer: We were almost at our destination when I flipped open Uncle Rick's book and read his comments. Suddenly, I was petrified! Gypsies? Nare-do-wells? Coney Island? Turns out, we had a terrific day at "le Med" (great beach-combing) and did not have any unpleasant encounters with gypsies or the like. Maybe they've all moved on to the Eiffel Tower? Perhaps the area deserves another look? As a side note, the Camargue (and Uncle Rick's "drive") was spectacular!

Beth Triggs in North Vancouver, BC Canada 08/06/2008

Maison Caree in Nimes isn't free any more. Have to wait to get inside, and then you see a movie on Roman gladiators. As a lover of Roman ruins, here is one of the finest (a real hexastyle pseudoperiperipital temple!)and you can't see the inside, it's turned into a tourist movie house. They've downgraded this to the lowest intellectual denominator.

Add a note for Villefranche: when you get off the train, go on the path that leads back over the train tunnel to the west (from Nice) and follow it into town. It's a long ramp all the way to Rick's listed hotels (ending at the hotel welcome and the entrance to the route around the fortress to the Hotel de la Darse. If you go the other way you go down lots of stairs and end up walking along cobblestones downtown.

Dennis Simpson in Redmond, WA USA 08/04/2008

Great book. Very helpful. We like to travel without hotel reservations (Early in the season) and then being able to select focus and be directed to a suitable hotel using your guide (including price) was invaluable

Martin Jansen in Agoura Hills, Ca USA 07/13/2008

Resturant list for Nice needs to be updated. We tried three in the 2008 guidebook and they we gone. Sorry I did not record the names, it proved to be very frustrating.

Sanford Lavine in Alameda, CA USA 07/11/2008

In Nice, there is no bus #15 to Mattisse & Chagall Museum...is has changed to #22. The tram and all buses are now just 1 Euro, even a better deal than your update says. Still have 74 minutes of use...can take 100 bus all the way to Menton, Monaco as you stated, but it's only 1 Euro now. Matisse Museum is 4 Euro, Chagall 8,50 Euro. Bus 22 follows old 15 route going to the museum, but not all 22's come back the same way...as driver. In Antibes, Picasso Museum did NOT open in Spring as hoped and still has "at least 6 weeks" more to go. Should let people know it likely won't open this summer. Also, bus 200 let us off on Briand (sp?) street by TI, not where your map showed. Took the train home to Nice...much better! In Monaco, if people want to find the American casino you list they'll need better directions. It's called the Sun Casino. Facing the Monte Carlo Casino, walk left down the hill, then go down the steps as if going to the Fairmont Resort...Sun Casino is at bottom of stairs and not visible from above.

Paul Lightner in Novato, CA USA 07/03/2008

Getting to St. Remy By Car: the parking at the TI lot is now 1 euro per hour

Les Baux - in the history section In the little chapel across from the entry, the slide show is now Roman monuments in the region. It is a nice slide show that allows you to think about the sites you want to visit. Also, there are many different special offers when viewing multiple monuments. We bought a Les Baux Castle, Orange theater, and Nimes arena pass for 18/19 euros per person, which was a good deal for what we wanted to view.

Bistrot a Vins in Arles is now closed on Monday and Tuesday

Lisa Valle in Sycamore, IL USA 05/26/2008

I just returned from two weeks in Nice and wanted to share a minor correction about the bus line to the Chagall Museum. The bus number is no longer 15, it has changed to 22, but the stops are still the same. Also, the bus fare to go just about everywhere has dropped to one euro from 1.30.

Whitney Beatty in Seattle, WA USA 03/14/2008

Aix-en-Provence- Cezanne Atelier- You need to make advance reservations to visit his workshop. You can do it on-line via the Tourist Office. You need to print the invoice to pay in cash (especes) before your appointment time/day. The workshop is small and they can only allow so many people in at any given time. It is one room only and no photos are allowed. In order to park your car, you need to go uphill past the Atelier, turn right to the Parking Lot, then walk down the stairs, turn left and cross the street to the Atelier.

Vasarely Foundation Museum- They are closed for lunch break from 12p.m.-1p.m. No photos are allowed. The gift shop needs to be updated as the postcards sold are not the ones that are displayed in the Museum itself. You need to purchase the big posters if you want to obtain pictures of any of the art work displayed at this museum.

k.m. in san francisco, ca USA 11/21/2007

The email address for the Hotel Voltaire in Arles is no longer active, it bounced back immediately. He has not yet responded to my fax (sent almost a week ago). Let's hope the phone number still works! :)

Becca in Torrance, CA USA 09/08/2007

No, again your information was wonderful! It allows us to confidently move around Europe on the public transportation system. Last time we were in Europe, we bought a train pass. We functioned very well this time just buying train tickets as we went, either from the train station or from a travel agent. I guess the most annoying thing for us in traveling is encountering huge tour groups! With your guidebooks, we can't imagine anyone going on a tour with a huge group. We are an older couple, and are able to plan a trip and travel with complete confidence, thanks to your guidebooks!

Sharon & Leo Marty in Olympia, WA USA 08/21/2007

p221: Cassis: Laundry at 9 rue Autheman, laundry is big disrepair, half washers broken, only one drier with a door; broken change and soap machines. We had our laundry done at a presse at the roundabout with bus stop on rue de l'argue. It was 20 euros for a whole pile of 2 peoples clothes, wash, dry, soap, fold.

p221: Cassis internet: Europrin open and first class. Internet next door to laundry at 9 Autheman is closed.

Cindy in Shurtleff, wa USA 07/13/2007

The Hotel Restaurant Grand Canyon du Verdon website had an e-mail address which I sent a message to twice and was delivered, but the hotel did not answer. This was the only hotel on the trip which did not respond. Why not?

Dave Brechner in Surprise, AZ USA 05/09/2007

The Chantecler email address in the book negresco@nicematin.fr was rejected. We went to the hotel/restaurant web site and found this email instead: chantecler@hotel-negresco.com

Tim Templeton in Laguna Beach, CA USA 04/01/2007

RS Provence 2007 map on page 348 makes it appear that Saint-Paul is on the D36 road. It isn't. D36 only comes within 1/2 mile of Saint-Paul. The road you have labeled D36 into Saint-Paul from the south is probably the D2.

[Editor's Note: Thanks; this has been corrected in the 2008 edition.]

Calvin USA 02/03/2007