When does the lavender start blooming near St Remy? Will I be able to enjoy a trip to Provence without much more than basic knowledge of French (please, thank you, what time is it, etc)? Is an auto essential? I would love to have information/correspond with any seasoned traveller to Provence as I have never been to this part of the world and am beginning to plan a trip for next summer with my husband. Thanks to all for any help.
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You can travel around by public transport but it is scanty and you have to plan carefully. I can%26#39;t drive so I always use buses. Once you have firmer plans you might want to look at infociao.com for local bus times around the St Remy area. There are buses to Les Baux, Maussane and Fontvielle during the summer, at other times frequent buses to and from Avignon and three buses a day that run between Arles and Cavaillon taking in St Remy. You might want to hire a car for one or two days to get to hard to reach places if you are staying in St Remy. Although it%26#39;s beautiful its transport connections aren%26#39;t the best. If you definitely don%26#39;t want to hire a car at all, you might be better to stay in Arles, Avignon or Aix.
Most people who work in the tourist industry speak some English and those who don%26#39;t generally try to help out. The best time for lavender is late June, I think but others will be able to confirm.
have you got a guide book? I use the Lonely planet guide to Provence and the Cote d%26#39;Azur and find it very good. Here%26#39;s a list of places that I would try to see if I were you. NB I prefer the western side of Provence to the eastern side, around Nice:
St Remy for the Wednesday market, Glanum, the monastery of St Paul de Mausole where van Gogh stayed, and the ruined hilltop town of Les Baux.
l%26#39;Isle sur la Sorgue (brilliant Sunday market)
Fontaine de Vaucluse esp if it has been raining
Roussillon for the ochre cliffs and art galleries
Apt for the excellent (I hear, never seen it myself) Saturday market and as a great nontouristy French town
Aix for the fountains, the Cezanne connections and the Cours Mirabeau (I stayed at the Hotel Mozart last time and reviewed it on here)
Avignon for the pope%26#39;s palace and the bridge
Arles for all the roman ruins and the van Gogh connections
Cassis as a wonderful little seaside/port town (I stayed in the Hotel le Laurence) that gives you the chance to visit the calanques (cliffs), go for long walks and eat in the wonderful restaurants.
My absolute favourite, Hyeres, which has a five mile long sandy peninsula, with islands at the end. One of the islands, Porquerolles, has fantastic beaches, no cars, clear blue sea, only half an hour by boat from the end of the Giens peninsula.
If you get hold of a map and start plotting places you would like to see, you%26#39;ll be able to firm up your ideas more.
If you look at my recent posts, you%26#39;ll see one called %26#39;trip report%26#39; which is the report of my recent trip to Provence - done using public transport all the way.
I never met anyone who didn%26#39;t like Provence - do go! You won%26#39;t be sorry.
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St Remy is not best placed for the lanender - you need to head east to Sault probably from about now until mid August.
I think you do need a car to make the best of the region.
I basic knowledge of French is really all you need - as long as you make the effort to use it.
Think carefully about your dates if you can be flexible. From late July until the end of August all of France and most of the rest of Europe (well those that have not gone to Florida to make the most of the exchange rate) head to the south of France.
If you can be more flexible and visit in early July or September the are will be less full of tourists.
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