Suggestions for pre cruise week - South of France

Looking for some experienced help from this board.

We are booked Star Flyer 26th Sept. We will fly into Nice and are looking to come up with an itinerary for a pre cruise week. We have been to many of the coastal towns previously so we are looking for perhaps 3 days in one inland location and 3 days in another. Spent a happy day in Aix en Provence from one cruise and think that this might be a good place. Don't want to spend loads of time in the car so looking for suggestions for another base with potential for day trips. The cruise starts in Cannes.

We are also looking for hotel/b & b suggestions (mid range).

Also I have read on this thread previously about good (and bad) car hire experiences so any help on that would be great.

Two years ago we spent a week in St Remy de Provence and did day trips from there. St Remy itself is a really pretty inland town. We stayed in an apartment so had the choice to cook or to eat out. We booked our car via Autoeurope from their European site.

We visited quite a few places including, Avignon, Arles, Isle de Sorgues, Le Bas, the Camargue area and many other places I can't remember.

We really loved the area and would have no hesitation in returning. For accommodation have a look at GitesdeFrance.com They have S/C and BB accommodation. They are a large organisation and you can pay by CC for peace of mind.

We certainly agree with the St Remy comment as we have also used that town as a base for exploring the region. However, my only complaint about St Remy was that the evening restaurant situation (within walking distance of our rented apartment) was not particularly great. So another option is to use Avignon as a regional base. We have twice spent a week in Avignon (again renting an apartment) and love it as a base of operations. There are plenty of good eating venues within the walls, and its a great geographical location for exploring the entire region. You can do day trips to places like Les Baux, Arles, Pont du Gard, etc. And then there is the amazing Sunday morning market at L'Isle sur la Sorgue . In fact, if we are anywhere in the region within 1 1/2 hours drive of L'Isle sur la Sorgue it is where you will find us at 10am on any Sunday.

Hank

Agree with St Remy for your first location. You could stay in Grasse for you second location. Easy access for a day trip to the Gorges du Verdon and Moustiers-Sainte-Marie. There are beautiful villages in the hills near Grasse - Gourdon, Tourettes-sur-Loup, etc. And Grasse will be a lot closer to Cannes to start your cruise.

Looking for some experienced help from this board.

We are booked Star Flyer 26th Sept. We will fly into Nice and are looking to come up with an itinerary for a pre cruise week. We have been to many of the coastal towns previously so we are looking for perhaps 3 days in one inland location and 3 days in another. Spent a happy day in Aix en Provence from one cruise and think that this might be a good place. Don't want to spend loads of time in the car so looking for suggestions for another base with potential for day trips. The cruise starts in Cannes.

We are also looking for hotel/b & b suggestions (mid range).

Also I have read on this thread previously about good (and bad) car hire experiences so any help on that would be great.

Consider a canal barge cruise through the south of France, it like a floating hotel. We did this four years ago, and they have a representative in the USA.

http://www.french-waterways.com/enquire-cbc.html

Could be a thought.

Thanks for all the suggestions. As noted on another thread we have booked 5 days in Remy but nothing for our final two days. We are looking for a location nearer our embarkation port of Cannes. Grasse has been suggested but we went there recently and it would not be a top favourite.

We have not been St Paul de Vence so possibly a hotel there or in nearby Vence. Any hotel or location recommendations would be appreciated. We will rent a car from Nice airport and return it to Cannes. Would we be wise to use one of the international companies or does anyone have any suggestions. Thank you?