Our Swiss Adventure: South of France Part 1: Avignon, Baux, Gordes, Orange, & Côtes du Rhône

To celebrate our five year wedding anniversary, Kevin and I embarked on a glorious ten day vacation to the south of France. At the end of May/beginning of June we explored the amazing Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and we fell madly in love with it. Seriously, I felt to cry when our trip ended. I didn't want to leave, it was that good. Our fabulous vacation began with three days in Avignon. Here we explored the city and used it as a base to visit the villages of Baux, Gordes, and Orange. And of course no trip of ours would be complete without a wine tour. So it should come as no surprise that we spent one of the three days drinking our way through the Côtes du Rhône wine region.

Avignon Explorations
Our Apartment

We stayed in a great Airbnb apartment. Awesome location with cool views. Click here for the link.

View from the living room

City Sites

Palais des Papes (The Popes' Palace)
We were bad toursits and didn't go in. I mean, come on, look at the line.

Avignon Cathedral (we could see it from our living room window)

Pont d'Avignon
A medieval bridge that leads to nowhere. 17th century floods destroyed the other half.

View from end of the bridge

Our Favorite Restaurants

le Bercail Restaurant au bord de l'eau à Avignon

Why we liked it: beautiful outdoor seating, great food, and shockingly good service. It very well could have been the first time, in the history of European dining, where a waiter has refilled water on his own accord. Here began my love affair for salade aux chèvre chaud (salad with warm goat's cheese).

Chez Lulu

Why we liked it: cool terrace seating, amazing burgers, and friendly service (which may have been due to our waitress's love for Mya).

Baux, Gordes, & Orange

For our second day in Avignon we rented a car to visit the villages of Baux, Gordes, and Orange. Of the three villages we visited Baux was our favorite. It had so many charming restaurants tucked away into all the cozy nooks and crannies of the village. While we were there we visited the Château des Baux-de-Provence. From the Château we were able to take in incredible panoramic views.

Baux

Une Table au Soleil

Awesome restaurant where we enjoyed a glass of wine. Wish we would have eaten there too! Such a cute place.

Views from Château des Baux-de-Provence

Lavender within the Château

Gordes

After Baux we drove over to the village of Gordes. The one thing you have to do there is head over to the La Bastide de Gordes Hôtel & Spa to enjoy some beverages on their kick-ass terrace. Trust me. The drinks might be pricey, but the views are stunning and totally worth it.

Orange

That night we visited the village of Orange to watch a horse acrobatics show that took place in an ancient Roman amphitheater. You heard me right. Horse acrobatics. What the hell is that? Well, it had to be one of the craziest things I've ever witnessed in my life. It involves very animated over-the-top acrobats (think Will Ferrell's Blades of Glory) who perform flips, jumps, and juggle whilst standing on moving horses. Oh, and the horses dance too. My jaw literally dropped when I saw this horse trot in crisp staccato movements exactly in time to Rihanna's "Stay". Nuts.

Côtes du Rhône Wine Tour

Taking advantage of our proximity to the Côtes du Rhône area, we spent our last afternoon in Avignon on a wine tour with a company called Provence Panorama. We visited the villages of Châteauneuf-du-pape and Gigondas. The tour was successful as evidenced by our 6 bottle purchase, which we took with us to enjoy for the remainder of trip. FYI: Stuffing 6 bottles of wine into your already stuffed backpack, and then carrying said backpack as you walk 15min to the train station is no easy task. To say the least it was a sweaty start to Cassis.

Châteauneuf-du-pape