Recommendations for Bordeaux and Provence?

[hautbrionlover]

Next Spring we will be traveling to Provence and Bordeaux. Although we've been to France several times, this will be our first time traveling in either of these regions and I am very much looking forward to it.
I know that a number of my fellow BWEers have made a glorious-sounding trip to Bordeaux, and suspect that some of you have also been to Provence.
Any recommendations for sites, museums, restaurants and, most importantly, Bordeaux chateaux would be most appreciated!
HBL

[jal]

I can help for Provence only, I was in Avignon two weeks ago. Here're my recommendations:

Hotel: We stayed at the Bristol, good location but everything else was very mediocre. The Mercure was full but it looked like a much better option.
Restaurants: We ate at the following:
Le Caveau du Theatre - quite good, recommended
Balthazar - also good
Christian Ettienne - one star Michelin, more tiring than enjoyable, more intellectual than gourmand. I would skip it, my friend loved it, though
Le Cochon Bleu: overrated, I wasn't crazy about it.
We visited the Marche des Halles and that is a must! I especially liked the dozen oysters and a glass of Muscadet for €12. Of course, the bridge and the Palais des Papes are also on every list.

We drove to Orange, Gigondas, Vaison la Romaine and Chateauneuf
Orange: go to the Roman theater obviously but one of the best meals we had was at Le Forum across the street from the theater. Highly recommended
Gigondas: nice, with a beautiful walk around the village. The restaurant l'Oustalet is owned by the Perrin family (of Beaucastel), it was closed when we went, looked good. We went to one winery - Domaine du Pesquier. Good visit and good wines.
Vaison La Romaine, charming old medieval city, we walked up to a gorgeous view.
Chateauneuf du Pape: Disappointing tour of the village but we enjoyed our visit to the following chateaux: Fortia, La Nerthe and Pegau. Make appointments ahead of time. We didn't enjoy Domaine de la Janasse, while Ogier and Vieux Telegraphe were just ok.

We used a site called Rue des Vignerons for a couple of appointments: http://www.ruedesvignerons.com

Hope that helps.

[AKR]

I can help for Provence only, I was in Avignon two weeks ago. Here're my recommendations:

Hotel: We stayed at the Bristol, good location but everything else was very mediocre. The Mercure was full but it looked like a much better option.
Restaurants: We ate at the following:
Le Caveau du Theatre - quite good, recommended
Balthazar - also good
Christian Ettienne - one star Michelin, more tiring than enjoyable, more intellectual than gourmand. I would skip it, my friend loved it, though
Le Cochon Bleu: overrated, I wasn't crazy about it.
We visited the Marche des Halles and that is a must! I especially liked the dozen oysters and a glass of Muscadet for €12. Of course, the bridge and the Palais des Papes are also on every list.

We drove to Orange, Gigondas, Vaison la Romaine and Chateauneuf
Orange: go to the Roman theater obviously but one of the best meals we had was at Le Forum across the street from the theater. Highly recommended
Gigondas: nice, with a beautiful walk around the village. The restaurant l'Oustalet is owned by the Perrin family (of Beaucastel), it was closed when we went, looked good. We went to one winery - Domaine du Pesquier. Good visit and good wines.
Vaison La Romaine, charming old medieval city, we walked up to a gorgeous view.
Chateauneuf du Pape: Disappointing tour of the village but we enjoyed our visit to the following chateaux: Fortia, La Nerthe and Pegau. Make appointments ahead of time. We didn't enjoy Domaine de la Janasse, while Ogier and Vieux Telegraphe were just ok.

We used a site called Rue des Vignerons for a couple of appointments: http://www.ruedesvignerons.com

Hope that helps.

Sounds pretty cool. Had an 01 Pesquier recently and still in good shape.

How difficult is it to drive around that area?

Paris seemed too confusing to get a rental car, so we just used mass transit, Uber, and the commuter rail for day trips. As an ugly 'merican I've never been comfortable with traffic roundabouts.

[DavidG]

How difficult is it to drive around that area?

Paris seemed too confusing to get a rental car, so we just used mass transit, Uber, and the commuter rail for day trips. As an ugly 'merican I've never been comfortable with traffic roundabouts.

Can't comment on Provence but if it's anything like the Loire countryside - piece of cake. Some areas of some towns may have restrictions for traffic for non-residents on certain days/at certain times so check ahead.

I hear you about driving in Paris - to be avoided. We rented a car at CDG and had little trouble getting out of town into the countryside. But returning the car in the city was an adventure I could have done without, including a few trips around Pl Charles de Gaulle - wasn't sure if we'd ever get out!

[jal]

We flew to Geneva, rented a car there and drove straight to Avignon. No problem driving at all. Google maps helps a lot. French highway tolls are quite expensive but in the area we drove on local roads. We also found parking spots everywhere without a problem.

[Comte Flaneur]

Haut Brion Lover,

I have been visiting Provence a fair bit recently to cycle up Mont Ventoux, which is very close to Gigondas and Vacqueyras.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IwkndsmCIdU

When I go there - and by the way you should keep this a secret -shhhh! - I stay at the idyllic La Nesquieres.

Put it this way if the stresses of life are threatening to bring you down, this place will make feel so relaxed and on top of life's myriad challenges.

http://www.lanesquiere.com

Seriously I cannot recommend it highly enough

CFdB

[hautbrionlover]

Any recommendations for Bordeaux?
We have booked hotels, but that's all so far.
With the great trip that BWEers took to Bordeaux, there must be some collective wisdom on chateaux that are particularly worth visiting.
All insights and suggestions would be welcome!
Thanks,
HBL