When we first started planning a trip this fall, the idea was simply France. We narrowed it down to Provence since we had honeymooned there and thought after 20+ years it was high time we returned. But we’d definitely forgotten how big Provence is. Our first draft of the itinerary had us driving three hours between some of the stops, which is not our idea of a relaxed trip.

So we shrank the map. We stuck to one slice of western Provence: Uzès, L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, the Luberon, and the Alpilles around Saint-Rémy. That gave us eight nights, two in each place, with close friends along, and no drive longer than two hours. We also drove a sweet electric Mercedes (which only had to be charged once during the whole trip).

The funny thing is that even in that small area, we kept feeling like we'd landed somewhere new. Provence has a lot of sides, and we got to see a handful of them.

Our Itinerary At a Glance

Nights 1 and 2: Uzès, a market town on the western edge of Provence
Nights 3 and 4: L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, the canal town in the Sorgue valley
Nights 5 and 6: Lauris, in the hills of the Luberon
Nights 7 and 8: Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, in the Alpilles

We flew into and out of Marseille and rented the car from there.

Uzès: Saturday Market and a Michelin Dinner

Uzès was our first look at Provence, and it was flatter, drier, and more sparse than what came later. That may paint it not very flatteringly, but we honestly all fell in love with this town. It exceded our expectations in every way. It had a charming, nearly car-free center, with lovely restaurants and shops - definitely not as touristy-feeling as a lot of the cities we visited. We stayed at La Maison d'Uzès, a Relais & Châteaux hotel in a 17th-century building a short walk from the market square. The Saturday market was one of our two favorites of the trip.

That's also where the picnics started. We'd buy bread, cheese, sausages, fresh figs, tapenade, and a bottle of wine, then find a spot to sit, usually in a park or along a river. Our favorite was later that same day in Avignon, right on the water with the Palais des Papes across from us, just before our walking tour. The palace is the largest Gothic palace in Europe, and it was a nice way to get oriented before we went inside.

Back at the hotel, we relaxed over drinks and a game of euchre before dinner. This was to become our routine every night of the trip.

Dinner that night was our one Michelin-starred meal of the trip, at La Table d'Uzès in our hotel. We did the six-course tasting menu, and it was beautifully presented, delicious, and unhurried, stretching out to about three hours. The dessert was the dish we remember most: a fresh poached fig with a frozen cream, a thin candy-like crisp on top, and pistachios. David was thrilled. It was fig season, and he got to have them twice in one day, first at our picnic and then at dinner.

L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue: Canals and a Day with Mike

Katie with the barrels in Chateauneuf-du-Pape

From Uzès we drove about an hour to L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, and the scenery changed again. This is the Venice of Provence, with canals and old waterwheels running through town. We stayed at Grand Hôtel Henri, a small hotel with just 17 rooms. Our favorite part of the hotel was the outdoor terrace, shaded by plane trees, with a fountain and pretty wrought iron furniture. We spent a few too many hours drinking wine and playing cards out there. The hotel's amazing restaurant, Le Petit Henri, is also on the terrace.

The wine safari with Mike Rijken was the big event here. He picked us up at 8:00 in the morning with fresh croissants, which was a great way to start the day. We visited two wineries, and Mike personally guided us through each one, doling out about six tastings per stop. The first was in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, one of David's favorite wine regions, and it was very cool to taste these wines right where they're made. Our second winery was a fifth-generation family estate in Gigondas, producing organic rosé, white, and red wines, and now run by the daughter. We all learned a ton, drank a lot of wine, and didn't bother to spit any out.

The Luberon: Hills, Ochre, and Truffles

The next morning we headed into the hills, and it felt like a different region. Our first stop was Gordes, a hilltop village about 20 minutes from L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue. Tuesday is market day there, and it was our second favorite market after Uzès. David had a belt made for him on the spot, right at the market. We also loved the beautiful textiles - placemats, napkins - and more beautiful displays of cheese. From Gordes we went to Roussillon and hiked amidst the red-and-orange ochre cliffs and also visited its charming Provençal village center, which are a world away from the canals we'd left that morning, even though it's only about an hour's drive. Note those ochre paths leave quite a mark on the footwear; kept tracking orange wherever we went.

We spent two nights at Domaine de Fontenille in Lauris, a Relais & Châteaux property on a working organic winery. We spent a good amount of time relaxing by the pool and enjoying the beauty of a French countryside property. Cities and towns are lovely but we always love the contrast of a relaxing stay in the countryside.

On our full day there, we did the harvest experience since we were lucky enough to be visiting in September during the harvest. We clipped grapes in the vineyard, toured the winery, and tasted wine that had been fermenting for just a week, which tastes a lot like grape juice (shocker). We finished with a picnic in the fields, and it was pretty magical. Not only delicious foods and a bottle of our favorite wine from our earlier tasting, but sitting among the vineyards and olive trees with cypress trees towering over us, was quite special. Our friends who were wined-out after the prior day’s wine tour rented e-bikes and rode to a nearby town.

That evening we enjoyed a truffle hunt with Johann on his family's farm, and it was wild. The whole process is kind of crazy. You plant a tree, add the truffle spores, then wait about ten years and hope something grows. When it does, you need specially trained dogs to tell you when a truffle is ripe and ready to dig. Johann has three dogs, and our favorite was Caramel, a little terrier who was all business. We found four truffles, and David got to help dig one up.

Afterward we went inside for a truffle tasting with champagne. We were tasting black summer truffles, which are much milder than black winter truffles. The winter ones are closer to what you taste in anything truffle-flavored back home, like truffle fries.

Saint-Rémy-de-Provence: Cypress Trees, Cooking, and Rabbit

Katie at the Chateau des Alpilles in Saint-Remy de Provence

The landscape changed once more as we headed to Saint-Rémy, which sits in the Alpilles. On the way we stopped at Carrières des Lumières, an immersive light show in a former limestone quarry. We saw the Picasso and Frida Kahlo show, with images projected onto the rock walls throughout the old quarry, and it was amazing.

Unfortunately we didn't have time to explore the center of Saint-Rémy, since we opted to sit poolside. We did drive through it, and it looked to have lots of cute cafes, nice shopping, and a pedestrian-only section of the old town.

Our last two nights were at Château des Alpilles. The cypress-lined drive up to the hotel is classic France, and the grounds are gorgeous. The guys tried the steam room, and we all spent time relaxing by the pool.

On our last full day we took a cooking class with Agnes at her farmhouse just outside town. She was so warm, and we cooked in the kitchen of her old stone farmhouse while snacking on almonds she had roasted fresh and tossed with rosemary from her garden. We made tomatoes and zucchini stuffed with seasoned ground beef, using vegetables fresh from a friend's farm, and David made a pear and chocolate tart. Then we sat down with Agnes to eat everything we'd made, with good wine and a long conversation that was every bit as good as the cooking. Afterward she took us on a tour of her fields, since she farms almonds and peonies. Katie teaches cooking classes herself, so it was fun to be the student for once.

Katie and David cooking in Agnes’ kitchen

We were so stuffed after cooking class that we didn't think we'd ever eat again, but we rallied, and it was worth it. Dinner at the hotel restaurant may have been our favorite meal of the trip. We ordered the rabbit, which came as rabbit ravioli with braised rabbit on the side, and it started with an amuse-bouche of shaved mushrooms on truffle mousse, beautifully presented. Then we played our final rounds of euchre and went to bed a little sad that it was the last night, and very glad we'd come.

Reflections and Lessons Learned

Looking back, here's what we'd tell anyone planning a similar trip.

Vineyard picnic at Domaine de Fontinelle

Keep the map small. Cutting down those three-hour drives made the whole trip more relaxed. Two nights in each place gave us a market, a long lunch, and one real experience in each, and we never felt rushed. However if you don’t want to switch hotels so often you could easily lose on of the hotels and stay at just three hotels.
Skip L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue. It was our least favorite stop. The canals are pretty, but the town felt a little gritty and not nearly as charming as the other places we stayed. It worked as a budget-friendly stop, and the hotel restaurant was excellent, but if we did it again we'd spend those two nights somewhere else.
Pack a picnic. You’ll want to visit the markets and you’ll be tempted to buy things, so buy them and have a picnic. Find a local supermarket to buy plates, cups, wine opener and a knife and you’re set for the week.
Electric cars are the way to go in Europe. High gas prices and the ease of charging (free hotel charging) make this a no-brainer. Plus you don’t have to worry about finding a gas station to fill up as you’re going to return the car.
Harvest timing. If you want to be there for the harvest, definitely book ahead. Good properties get booked early. Also keep flexible as the exact timing depends on the weather. We intended to be there in the middle of harvest but due to a very hot summer, harvest happened at least two weeks early. But we were still able to clip some grapes for fun and got to sample the newly made wine, which was pretty cool.
Always lead with "bonjour": When you walk into a shop, restaurant, or hotel, or start talking to anyone, begin with "bonjour." It's considered good manners, and it goes a long way toward endearing yourself.

Closing Thoughts

Provence turned out to be a lot of places in one, and it's easy to see why people keep going back. The countryside changes from the flat, dry land around Uzès to the ochre hills of Roussillon and the cypress trees of the Alpilles. There are vineyards to visit, truffles to hunt for, and markets to shop for picnics. The hillside towns like Gordes are charming and the papal palace in Avignon is worth seeing. And the food is wonderful, so much so that we spent a day learning to cook it. We came back after more than twenty-five years, and Provence still had plenty to show us.

If Provence is calling you, we'd love to help you plan your own trip, whether it's the route we took or a different slice of the region. Reach out and tell us what you're hoping to see and do. It's as easy as clicking this link >> Let's Start Planning!

Provence by Road: Markets, Picnics, and One Very Serious Truffle Dog