
A Good Year: A reason for a road trip
How a movie sparked our interest
The movie, for those that haven't seen it, is the tale of a City trader, Max (played by Russell Crowe), who inherits his uncle's tired chateaux in Provence.
Initially, he just plans to sell it, as life is in London. However … well, I won't give too much away, but he is charmed by that little pocket of France, and maybe Fanny Chenal (played by Marion Cotillard) had something to do with it.
A reference guide
If you love Provence as much as we do, you'll want to start planning your visit now. I so enjoy using the DK Eyewitness books, as they are extremely informative, easy to follow and the pictures and maps tempt you into discovering more.
We used a previous version of this book to plan our Provencal road trip, now you can grab the revised copy.
Planning a Provence Road Trip
This was our version
Our planned route for the whole trip was a mix of two-night stopovers at the following locations;
 Beaune (from Calais 378miles/609km)
Avignon (from Beaune 238miles/384km)
Arles (from Avignon 27miles/43km)
Grasse (from Arles 191miles/308km)
Gap (from Grasse 127miles/205km)
Lyon (from Gap 146miles/235km)
Auxerre (from Lyon 188miles/302km, to Calais 296miles/476km)
I'll cover details of the whole trip in a later post, but here we're focusing on 'A Good Year'
Our Gateway to France
Driving to Provence
Our chariot of choice
The very best of Provence
Heading for 'A Good Year'Avignon as a destination was splendid. Granted the sun shone, the food was fabulous & we were introduced to the wine of Lirac. It's also worth noting the village of ChĂ¢teauneuf-du-Pape is just over 10miles/17kms away.
From here we headed towards Gordes & Bonnieux, the key filming locations, all set within the Luberon Natural Regional Park.

A little dated?
Discovering Provence
Sticking with the region


Your own adventure
More of Provence
But the story doesn't end there
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Inspired to visit Provence?
Our inspiration was a movie - hopefully, this post might have inspired you?
Treat yourself, you know you deserve it.

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