Note that these photos were taken with a film camera so all images were scanned from slides or printed photos.

In April of 1997, we flew to Lyon, rented a tiny Peugeot 106 and began our journey through Provence and the Rhone Valley of France. At first, we stayed in Vieux Lyon and toured the historic city sights and sampled its famed cuisine. We then drove south to Avignon, stopping along the way in small towns and villages. Initially, we used Avignon as our base and visited St. Remy, Les Baux, and Arles.

Upon driving east, we discovered the hill town of Gordes and decided to move to a lovely hotel overlooking the Luberon Valley. Out of Gordes, we visited Roussillon, L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, Fontaine-de-Vaucluse, and Menerbes.

Eventually, we headed north to the Rhone Valley — backtracking to Orange and east to Vaison-le-Romaine near Mont Ventoux. From there we headed to Grenoble, Aix-les-Bains, and ended up in Annecy before heading back to Lyon for our flight home.

Starting Out in Lyon

We spent the first several days in Lyon — France's second largest metropolitan area and its gastronomic capital. As we crossed the bridge over the Rhone River, we saw classically-styled grand buildings facing a broad tree-lined avenue and a lovely waterside promenade. It is impossible to miss one of the largest monuments in Lyon with a splendid dome facing the river. The Hotel Dieu is a distinctive landmark which was built in the 12th century as a hospital. Further ahead, leaving the river and the buildings behind, we visited the heart of Lyon’s peninsula or Presqu’ile as the area between its two rivers Rhone and Saone is called.

We stayed at the Hotel Royal on the Place Bellecour which is one of the largest pedestrian squares in Europe — surrounded by fine 19th century buildings and with a large statue of King Louis XIV mounted on a horse right in the centre of the open space. Much of our time was spent walking through Vieux Lyon — the historic part of Lyon. Some of our stops included the Notre Dame de Fourviere, the Pont Bonaparte on the Rhone River, and the Theatre Gallo-Romain — a 10,000 seat amphitheater built around 15 BC.

Heading South to Avignon

After spending several days in Lyon, we headed south toward Avignon. We stayed at the Hotel d'Europe, which was built in 1580 and lists Napoleon Bonaparte as one of its prestigious guests. I had stayed there previously when my sister and I took the TGV train to Avignon from Paris several years earlier.

From Avignon, Peter and I visited St. Remy, Les Baux, and Arles over the next few days in our tiny Peugeot 106. It was a beautiful time of year with the plane trees just starting to leaf out and wisteria in bloom everywhere.

Moving to Gordes

After discovering the hill town of Gordes, we moved to the beautiful La Bastide de Gordes Hotel which was perched on the mountainside. We had a panoramic view of the valley from the window in our hotel room. Gordes was also more centrally located among the remaining hill towns that we visited.

Visiting Other Hill Towns

From Gordes, we visited towns of Roussillon, L'Isle-sur-la-Sorque, Joucas, Fontaine-de-Vaucluse, Menerbes, Bonnieux, and Apt.

Heading North

We then headed north via Vaison-la-Romaine and stopped in Grenoble. From there we headed to Annecy where we spent another day. The weather was warm and sunny so we rented a paddle wheeler after lunch for the rest of the afternoon before heading back to the airport in Lyon.

Postscript. We did not have time to visit Aix-en-Provence during this trip which was one of our destinations. However, we returned to Provence in 2013, renting an apartment in Aix-en-Provence for a month. We revisited several of the hill towns which, to be expected, had not changed much in 15 years.