Luberon Villages and Camargue Marshes

The Luberon rewards a particular kind of day: slow mornings, coffee in a square, then a drive to the next hill town. These villages, built from pale limestone and perched on hilltops, string together into one good day of driving and stopping. Gordes is the postcard, its houses stacked up a rock face, and the view from the road below is the one most people picture. It draws crowds, so go early or late. Nearby, the Abbaye de Sénanque, with its lavender rows out front, usually flowers around late June into July. Roussillon is built on ochre; the cliffs and many of the houses run red, orange, and gold, and one can walk the Sentier des Ocres, a short marked trail through the old pigment quarries. Just wear shoes you do not mind staining.

Ménerbes offers a quieter appeal, strung along a ridge, a corner where Peter Mayle found his setting. Bonnieux climbs a hillside in terraces, providing long views across to Lacoste, and has enough restaurants and rentals to make a comfortable base. Lacoste itself is tiny and steep, crowned by the ruined castle once owned by the Marquis de Sade. You do not need to see all of them. Pick two or three a day, go early or late to dodge the tour buses, and leave the middle of the day for a long lunch or the pool. The whole point of the Luberon is the driving between towns, and this requires a car, as public transport between small villages is thin.

For a sharp contrast, point the car south from the Luberon toward Arles, the gateway to the Camargue. This is a different Provence entirely. South of Arles, the Rhône fans out into a wide, flat delta of marsh, lagoon, salt pan, and rice field. It is known for three things: pink flamingos, white horses, and black bulls, the last two worked by local herdsmen called gardians. The Parc Ornithologique du Pont de Gau, near Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, is the reliable place to see flamingos up close from boardwalks. One can also ride horses across the marsh or cycle the sea-dike, or take a jeep tour of a working ranch.

Arles itself, a city of Roman history and art, provides a useful base or a stop on the way. Its amphitheater and theater are still standing and still in use, nearly two thousand years on. Van Gogh spent about 14 months here, painting furiously. The Camargue feels like nowhere else in France, a distinct landscape that expands the idea of what Provence holds. The distances are short between these worlds, making it possible to string together such different days from a single base, whether that is a village house in Bonnieux or a city apartment in Arles. Provence rewards people who pick one spot and stay put, then drive out from it.