Wine: Cheaper than Water

Reasons to visit Provence

1. The wine is cheaper than water. (2 Euros for a glass of wine, 2.50 Euros for a small bottle of mineral water at the Papal Palace in Avignon today).
2. The wine is really good. And the tasting at a vineyard - a cave - is free!
3. Food is taken extremely seriously; a lunch break lasts for two hours. So although this means that all the tourist information centres are closed from 12 - 2 for lunch, the markets are excellent, and most shops are open until 6.30 pm.
4. The weather is amazing - in September, its warm, almost hot, in the middle of the day, but pleasant and comfortable by 4 pm.
5. Although English is spoken infrequently, pidgin Franglais is common. So if you speak 'un peu Francais' and your communicator speaks 'a little English', it seems to work okay.
6. There's plenty of hiking and cycling, but as no village is more than around 10 km from another, you are never too far from excellent food and wine.

The Papal Palace, Avignon.  Image from Wikipedia - unable to post my own image due to technical issues with wifi and camera!