Visit the region
Le Clos du viguier is located in Villeneuve lez Avignon, a town of art and history with an exceptional heritage, and a destination of choice for its Provencal art of living, with its incomparable blue skies, shady squares, café terraces and two famous markets.
Numerous restaurants to suit all tastes and prices, from the simplest to the most gastronomic (5 Michelin stars within a 5 km radius!).
Villeneuve-lez-Avignon
A visit to Fort Saint-André Abbey is a must for all garden enthusiasts.
Exemplary Mediterranean garden and remarkable panorama of the Rhône valley.
10 to 15 minutes’ walk from the house.
La Chartreuse.
The largest in France.
It was founded by Pope Innocent VI, whose tomb is in the chapel.
Beautiful view of Fort Saint-André.
The Villeneuve museum houses a masterpiece of 15th century painting:
“The Coronation of the Virgin”.
Avignon
The old town is surrounded by ramparts and all the sites are fairly close together.
Le Pont d’Avignon
Le Palais des Papes
La Cathédrale des Doms
Le jardin des Doms
Le musée du Petit-Palais
Le musée Calvet
La rue des teinturiers
30 minutes from Villeneuve
Saint-Roman Abbey
It’s about a 10-minute walk to get there.
It’s an ancient troglodyte monastery on a hilltop overlooking the Rhône valley.
Superb panorama.
Uzès
Remarkable historic town with a typical Saturday morning market.
The Pont du Gard
The Pont du Gard is a spectacular Roman aqueduct dating back to the first century A.D. Listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Orange
whose Roman theater is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Summer opera festival.
The town is close to some of the most famous vineyards in the southern Côtes du Rhône: Châteauneuf du Pape, Gigondas, Vacqueyras, Cairanne, Sablet, etc.
And in all these villages, you can have lunch on the terraces of the restaurants, in the shade of the plane trees.
Very personal advice
Take the road from Le Barroux to Beaumes-de-Venise, via La Roque-Alric.
Then, in Vacqueyras, take a tour of Clos des Cazaux, where I recommend their cuvée des vieilles vignes (white).
If you’re convinced, continue on to Gigondas, with a stop at Raspail-Ay (red).
The Luberon
All the villages here are more beautiful than ever: Oppède, Gordes, Bonnieux, …
In the Luberon, it’s hard to miss Sénanque Abbey or the Ochres de Roussillon.
Ocres de Roussillon
L’abbaye de Sénanque
Les Baux de Provence
Preferably visited in the morning, because of the flood of tourists in the afternoon!
Arles
It’s said that the three cities of Avignon, Arles and Nîmes form a golden triangle.
My favorite city is Arles.
It’s the gateway to the Camargue.
There’s so much to see that you can easily spend several days there.
The “ Musée Bleu ” (Roman museum) is truly unique in France.
Here again, it’s unquestionably for all ages.
Kids love it…
Also worth seeing in Arles are the Cathédrale Sainte-Trophime, the Alyscamps, the Arènes and the Tour Luma, an artistic complex created by the LUMA foundation.
The building is the work of architect Franck Gehry.
45 minutes/1 hour from Villeneuve
L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue
It’s the capital of antique dealers (300 “boutiques”).
In my opinion, the best day to go is Sunday morning, as the market is very typical.
In the immediate vicinity of the village, the famous
“Fountain of Vaucluse”.
Before leaving the village, it’s essential to visit the ” Carrières de lumières “, where reproductions of masters’ paintings are projected onto the walls.
It’s very impressive and open to the public.
Near Les Baux, there’s the village of Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, the Roman village of Glanum, the Alpilles, Saint-Paul-de Mauzolle (where Van Gogh was interned).
Two must-see towns in the Camargue: Les Saintes-Marie-de-la-Mer, famous for its gypsy pilgrimage, and Aigues-Mortes, from where Saint Louis set off on his crusade in 1248.
Les arènes d’Arles
Cathédrale Sainte-Trophime
Aigues-Mortes
Chevaux en Camargue
Nîmes
Arenas, Maison Carrée, Musée de la Romanité (very different from Arles)
Mont Ventoux
Whose summit always seems to be covered in snow, even in midsummer.
In fact, it’s nothing but white pebbles!
A little further on
The lavender route
Suggested itinerary: Sault – Ferrassières – Revest – Banon (very good goat’s cheese, by the way!) – Simiane la Rotonde – Saint-Christol.
Allow around 1 hour for this tour …
Plus the inevitable stops in the lavender fields!
To get back to Avignon, I’d suggest passing through the Gorges de la Nesque.
The creeks
These Mediterranean coves, surrounded by cliffs, offer magnificent scenery.
The Chauvet Cave
(About 1h30 from Villeneuve).
The oldest paintings date back … 36,000 years!
You’ll need to book for the whole day.
Reservations are essential.
Plan to visit in the morning, if possible.
A good address for lunch 10 minutes from the cave is the Auberge de la Farigoule in Bidon.
Back through the
Ardèche gorges
