trvel from Marseille to Mallemort and Mallemort to Paris

If you are going to the Moulin de Vernegues in Mallemort, you absolutely need a car. The resort, which is truly lovely, is out in the country on the route N7 and it’s quite a drive to the nearest real town. Mallemort is a cute little village that used to have a couple restaurants and a bakery. Last November it was down to one mediocre restaurant and a bakery. If you don’t have a car, you won’t see much of the area and that would be a shame because the area is a dream.

See if you can rent a car out of the Marseille airport and drive to Mallemort. It is a very nice drive and not at all difficult. We’ve stayed at that resort four times now and would go back in a heartbeat. You have easy access to the surrounding countryside and being out in the country, you don’ have to fight traffic to get places.

You are aware, I hope, that as timeshares go, this is a bit unusual. They are not apartments with kitchens. It is a resort hotel and it is beautiful but there are no cooking facilities. They have an excellent though expensive (for our tastes) restaurant. If you don’t eat there, you have quite a drive to a restaurant. We usually eat our main meal at noon while sightseeing and sneak a snack into the hotel for evening. This is against the rules, but since there isn’t much choice, we don’t feel badly about it. They do have a bar in the lobby where you can order sandwiches and drinks. It closes around 6:00 PM so it doesn’t compete with their restaurant.

In nearby la Roque d’Antheron there is a wonderful little restaurant called L’Artichouette (the artichoke). The food is always good and the prices are quite reasonable. Our only objection to the place is that they usually have a radio playing a local talk show. It detracts from the ambience! In other words, a great lunch but not an anniversary dinner.

BTW, if you are RCI, their info sheet says there is a laundry on the premises. That is not exactly true. You can have your laundry done for a pretty steep fee. We drive up the road to Senas and on the west side of the market square is a little place called a Laverie Automatique. The lady there will do your laundry for you and charge what you would pay at a regular laundromat. It’s worth it. You drop things in the morning and pick them up on your way home at night. If you’re only going to be in France a week, laundry may not be a concern.

Places to visit: Les Baux, St. Remy & the Roman ruins at Glanum, Lourmarin, Avignon, Aix-en-Provence, Arles (don’t miss Arles!), the Camargue, Roussillon and the ochre quarries, the Pont du Gard. There are zillions of other things there, and I’ll probably be remembering them all night. Do you have any particular interests, like art, architecture, scenery, castles, etc.? Let me know and I’ll make some suggestions.

If you can drop your car in Avignon, you can easily take the train from there to Paris. If not, drop the car in Marseilles where you got it and you can get the train to Paris there. You do not want a car in Paris!!!!!!!!!

Let me know if I can help. We absolutely love the Moulin and can’t recommend it too highly.

I don’t know why this posted twice but I’ll delete one of them. Sorry.

It just occurred to me you are probably flying into Paris and not Marseilles. If so, take the train to Avignon and rent your car there. It’s a very short drive to Mallemort. Just head in the direction of Aix-en-Provence and you’ll find the N7.

If you are actually flying into Marseilles, take the A7 autoroute north toward Avignon and the first time take it to Senas. Exit at Senas and get on the N7 toward Aix-en-Provence. Mallemort is about halfway to Aix. There are easier ways but you’ll be jet lagged and this is not the time to explore the French countryside, no matter how lovely! You can do that after a good night of sleep!!

BTW, Air France is having some terrific sales right now!!

Thank you so much for your advice. I’m sure it will be most helpful to us on our trip.