Avignon was the second leg of our Provence,Barcelona Paris trip in August.
20th: Arrived in Avignon by TGV after 3 lovely days in Cagnes Sur mer (trip report in the Nice forum) Took taxi (15euro) to B%26amp;B Le Limas (review posted). Reached around 1.30 to a warm welcome and a lovely room. Freshened up and went to Place Crillon for lunch at 5 sense (30euro). Very average and touristy %26amp; very bad service. Walked to the Angladon Museum. Small but good. Next to the Palais de Papas - Awesome on the outside but the inside practically stripped bare. Worth a visit though to get a feel of the mammoth scale. Later in the evening had a wonderful Moroccan meal – one chicken brick %26amp; one meatball tajine with a bottle of rose wine (35e) - at La Goulette in the shadow of Eglise St Pierre. Wandered around place Horologe for a little while where we discovered Amorino gelato, before calling it a night
21st %26amp; 22nd: Took whole day excursions with Alain of Navigo Decouverte. Day 1 was Mount Ventoux, Brantes, Gordes %26amp; Rousillon. And day 2 was Uzes, Pont du gard, St Remy %26amp; Le Baux. All of these places were lovely but we felt very rushed. We were very disappointed with Alain. He insisted there was no cafe/restaurant called Poterne in Brantes and reserved a table at Auberge (44euros for a very average meal for the three of us with rose wine) Not only was he not a guide with no information about any of the sites we visited, on the second day he took off to have lunch with his mother in St Remy insisting we have a picnic lunch at Glanum while we waited for him! We wasted one hour in the morning picking up food at a supermarket for our lunch. Sudden sharp rains added to our woes. We miised seeing the Pont du gaurd finally and couldn’t walk all the way upto the castle in Les baux since we had to take shelter. Agree with all the experts. A car is a must. Or else do 2 villages per day Max
23rd: Morning train to Arles in time for the sat market. Walked around town and visited the cloister. Picked up Poulet Roti %26amp; potatoes from the market and returned by the 12.30 train. Ate the delicious chicken in the lovely terrace of our B%26amp;B In the afternoon went on a Wine Uncovered tour to Chateauneuf-du-Pape. This was the highlight of our trip to Avignon. Olivier took us to two domains and explained with charts about the importance of ‘Terroir’ and the culture of french wine. Tasted and bought some fantastic wines. A definite must do. Back in Avignon walked around Rue des Teinturiers. Meant to have dinner at Orangerie but too tired to walk back so ended up having very average Pizza at the place Horologe and Gelato at Amorino of course.
Many thanks to the experts and contributors in this forum %26amp; Toutou in particular without whose inputs I could%26#39;nt have planned this journey. Only wish I%26#39;d researched it as much as I did Barcelona and Paris.
Next stop Barcelona
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Oh, I am SO sorry about your awful tour guide. What a shame ! Post my dear, tell the world.
There most certainly IS a cafe in Brantes called La Poterne. It is too bad you were so misinformed. It is one of my all time favorite places. It is listed in the phone book too.
Perhaps a trip back is in order. Hope so.
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I have often recommended the following company and certainly hope it was not the same one with which you had such a less than favorable experience:
http://www.ventoux-decouvertes.com/
Yes I have eaten at the tourist restaurants at Place de l%26#39;Horologe. Sometimes it%26#39;s just easier, particularly when waiting for a group of people to all show up.
However, here are two restaurants which are not expensive yet offer much greater value to the cost conscience, or casual dinner:
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La Ferigoulo
10, Rue des Remparts-du-Rhône
Tel - 04 90 82 10 28
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Au Tout Petit
Tel - 04 90 82 38 86
http://www.autoutpetit.fr/
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Thanx Toutou. Definitely looking forward to coming back!
And Sarastro, it is the same company.
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It being the same company makes a big difference to me. I too have recommended their services. I doubt I will again.
It would have been one thing if the tour(s) had simply been too rushed. I could forgive trying to pack a bit too much into one tour, but the other things issues are over the top to me. Going off to have a picnic and leaving you to wait till he finished and telling you that there is no cafe in Brantes. Unforgivable to me.
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One other thing I forgot to mention is how remarkably friendly the French were! All the rude Frenchmen seem to have been rounded up and employed at airports %26amp; restaurants!! We found the average person in every place ever ready to help and answer querries. Some went out of their way to point us in the right direction!
That said the system itself is%26#39;nt very tourist friendly unlike Spain or Greece or Turkey.
You positively feel unwelcome in airports and some restaurants and staff at some sights act like they are doing you a favour.
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