Planes, Trains and Automobiles
For most of you, you'll need to take a plane, a train and an automobile to get there. It sounds more complicated than it is – promise. The basic track from the US is to fly into Paris, take the TCG train (3 hours) to Avignon, and then rent a car for the 40KM drive to Saint-Saturinin-Les-Apt. An alternative would be to fly to Nice (there are some direct flights from the US) and rent a car from there (approximately 4 hours). Below are links to where you can make appropriate reservations.
Travel Agent
If you need a great travel agent to make your plans we recommend Kathryn Neher - Kathryn dot Neher at Altour dot Com. She charges a small fee (generally around $35 to make an flight reservation), but in our experience she has access to fares and flights you can't access on your own. The savings and convenience generally negates the fee. She can also be reached at 1-516-953-5232.As always, let us know if we can help: dmd at well dot com
Air Travel to France
From the US, the easiest will be to fly to Paris or Nice (there are many more (direct) flights to Paris. The usual suspects fly there -- United, Air France, American, Northwest, Delta, etc. Here are a few sites that can help you book if you choose not to go directly through an airline:
If you find any particuarly good deals let us know so that we can share with others.
NB: Pease email us at dmd at well dot com if you'd rather go to Nice and need some help with your plans
Train to Avignon
The TCG (French High Speed Train) makes the 400 mile trip to Avignon from Paris in only 3 hours.Booking is simple at the French National Train Website. Click on the British flag, bottom left, for an english version
Most trains depart out of the Gare de Lyon. From the Paris airport it is probably easiest to just take a taxi, but you can visit the English version of the Paris Public Transportation Site if you'd prefer to go that way.
UPDATE: There are now 4 trains a day leaving directly from CDG to Avignon. We recommend you take one of those. Type "Paris CDG" as the "From" field when making the reservation.
Car Rental from Avignon
There are many car rental outfits (dollar, hertz, etc.) at the Avignon TCG station. The drive will take about 40 minutes. We will have specific directions posted here in August.We really recommend renting a car if you want to enjoy the region on day trips etc.
The best value we've found with car rental is Easy Car. If you are getting to Avignon by Train, select Avignon TGV as your car rental pick-up spot.