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Provence Provence (Vaucluse), Vaison-la-Romaine, townhouse in village, 2 BR

Roz

500+ Posts
https://www.vrbo.com/370928ha (link updated 2022-09)

https://abnb.me/abbG3JKyjtb (link added 2022-09)

Owner's Email: glube6283 at rogers dot com {written like this to prevent robots from picking up the email}

Ten-day stay, October 2014.

This was one of the best vacation rentals Mike and I have ever stayed in. We loved the town of Vaison-la-Romaine, with its mixture of Roman ruins, a medieval hilltop village, a lively square, good cafes and restaurants, a fabulous weekly market, and no end of great day trips in the area.

The house had an amazing view out onto the main street of a former Roman town, excavated only within the last century. It is a 300-year-old building, fully renovated inside. The front door opens onto a fairly quiet, one-way street — we certainly had no noise problems while we were there. The ground floor is mostly an open space with living/dining area and an excellent kitchen. There is a bathroom with shower on this floor, as well as a laundry room with washer and tumble dryer.

On the second floor are two bedrooms. The master (which looks out onto the Roman site) has a comfortable queen bed and full bath with shower. We were staying there alone and used the second bedroom (with two twins) mostly as a dressing room.

The owner lives in Canada, and was very pleasant and helpful. We were able to pay the rental fee (which we thought reasonable for the quality of the house and location) by check in US dollars. Everything in the house was in great shape, and the wi-fi connection was fast and reliable.

Vaison is in the region of the Côtes du Rhône, which are among our favorite wines. We had wonderful food and wine in the area, and we felt the prices were generally more reasonable than in other, better-known, and often more crowded parts of Provence. However, I notice that the town is featured in the latest Rick Steves guidebook, so I’d recommend a visit there before it ends up overcrowded with Rick’s groupies. We would definitely return here, as even after 10 days, we could have spent a lot more time in the area.

Here is a link to my collection of Flickr albums for this trip, showing more photos of Vaison and nearby places we visited: Côtes du Rhône: Oct 2014

P.S. Edited to add: I forgot to mention that there is no parking associated with the house, but we never had a problem finding parking on the street or in one of the nearby lots. I suppose parking might be a bit difficult on market day in high season.
 
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Here is a photo of Vaison, showing the house where we stayed, viewed from the other side of the ruins. The house is on the left side of the photo, just to the right of the tall tree.
vaisonhouse.jpg
 
We also stayed in this apartment in Vaison-la-Romaine and I agree with everything you have written. It is one of the nicest places we've ever stayed and I'd go back in a heart beat. Just seeing your review and pictures makes me nostalgic.
 
Roz,
Some of those flickr photos are amazing!

Does the house have any outdoor living space? We are currently in St. Zacharie in the Var without outdoor space. I hate it! I like the rental just fine, but the lack of our own space to eat outside or have coffee outside is killing me.

Laura
 
Roz,
Some of those flickr photos are amazing!

Does the house have any outdoor living space? We are currently in St. Zacharie in the Var without outdoor space. I hate it! I like the rental just fine, but the lack of our own space to eat outside or have coffee outside is killing me.
Thanks, Laura; I'm glad you enjoyed the photos.

Unfortunately, outside space is the one thing the Vaison house lacks. We haven't missed it much since we've only been there in the fall, when the days are shorter and it can be a bit chilly to sit outside in the evening. We are usually up and out in the morning and during the day. We also like sitting at a cafe in the nearby Place Montfort if we want to eat outdoors. But if a outdoor sitting area is important for you, this house wouldn't be the best choice.

2022-09 Edited to add: There is now a small outdoor terrace. I don’t think it has a view.
 
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Thanks, Roz. Once we can travel off season, maybe it won't matter as much. We love to be out in the village or city, we can spend a long time in parks and even a sidewalk cafe or bar. But I really want to enjoy the a.m. coolness, and my coffee, outside. We almost always have dinner at our gite or apartment and it would be lovely to sit outside.
 
Various posts on both here and ST from trusted informants (hello Roz, Amy, Ann!) had alerted me to the delights of Vaison, and I'm really looking forward to my week there, just 3 weeks from now. Time to start some proper planning, once we've finished unpacking those boxes from our house move, a week ago today...

Anyway, I decided to go for the apartment just a few doors away from Roz's place: the one that Amy stayed in, as mentioned in this thread. And this one does have a smallish outdoor space: photos on the VRBO listing.
 
Anyway, I decided to go for the apartment just a few doors away from Roz's place: the one that Amy stayed in, as mentioned in this thread. And this one does have a smallish outdoor space: photos on the VRBO listing.

What is the address of that apartment? I assume it's on Rue Trogue Pompee, but what is the number? I'd be curious to see what it looks like from the outside when we are there in October. It does look very nice.
 
What is the address of that apartment? I assume it's on Rue Trogue Pompee, but what is the number? I'd be curious to see what it looks like from the outside when we are there in October. It does look very nice.

It's the yellow house on the far right of Roz's photo - the top floor is the rental apartment. Stunning view straight over the Roman ruins. My mother and I spent a week there in April 2013. The front door opens onto Chemin Du Couradou, the pedestrian only walkway along the ruins.
 
I tried to rent the house @Roz recommends a couple of weeks ago. We were in the Luberon and the weather was good and looking good for the next week. We decided to add on another week and that house was available. I emailed the owner. He did not offer much of a savings with contacting him directly and then it looked like rain for a few days, so we said no.

Then the weather changed and we said we wanted it but with only 2 days notice he wasn't able to get his people there to get the place ready. It was our fault - if we had decided earlier he would have been able to get it ready. And it turned out to be one day of rain - not 3 as forecast originally.

It looks like there is an outside space now. Not with a view, but a small terrace.
 
Hi, Pauline,

There has always been an outdoor space of a sort, but not anything we ever found we wanted to sit in. It's completely enclosed by this apartment and the one next to it, and as I recall, is shared by both places, and not a very attractive space. As you say, there is no view, and we always felt there wasn't any privacy from the adjoining apartment. Anyway, if we wanted to sit outside, we'd rather just walk a couple of blocks to the lively Place Montfort and have a drink at one of the many cafes. Or there is a quieter little park just up the nearby footpath.

So did you ever get to Vaison?
 
Various posts on both here and ST from trusted informants (hello Roz, Amy, Ann!) had alerted me to the delights of Vaison, and I'm really looking forward to my week there, just 3 weeks from now. Time to start some proper planning, once we've finished unpacking those boxes from our house move, a week ago today...

Anyway, I decided to go for the apartment just a few doors away from Roz's place: the one that Amy stayed in, as mentioned in this thread. And this one does have a smallish outdoor space: photos on the VRBO listing.

We also stayed there for almost a month several years ago & loved both the place and the Viviani’s. Great memory. So, how was it for you?

ETA: just noticed that Jonathan’s post was over 2 years old.
 
Thanks to Ann from Hawaii, I'm very interested in this apartment. Lovely, is putting it mildly. Getting up there in years now, so I have a few questions. Steep stairs are a problem, (hip and knee replacement). Also, since there is no parking for the apartment, can you drop off your luggage close by? We have always stayed in Beynac, and are really looking for a new area.
 
I believe that the Vaison la Romaine apt that Ann from Hawaii referred to is the one that Roz stayed in, correct? I don’t know that one, but the one that Amy, Anne & we stayed in a couple of doors down (owned by the Viviani’s) has an elevator directly into the apartment and there is free parking (or, at least there was when we were there) just down the block in a lot. Luggage drop off was by temporarily stopping directly in front of the property, then moving the car to the lot when done. By the way, I don’t think the VRBO link works any longer, but I did find them on Tripadvisor (strange, since I thought that VRBO/Tripadvisor were basically the same) https://www.tripadvisor.com/Vacatio...aine_Vaucluse_Provence_Alpes_Cote_d_Azur.html

Hope this was helpful.
 
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Thank you so much Steve. Pictures are lovely, and it does seem like it would work. We would be traveling in late October, as we live on the coast of South Carolina. Can't make any plans anymore in the Spring or early Fall, because of Hurricanes. Always afraid of travel in the middle of summer, because of the heat. Thanks for the website. Got caught in Beynac one year, spent one night and had to hurry home to retrieve our dogs before the storm hit, and then evacuate....Ugh!!!
 

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