i spent ten days in provence just last summer (very late june into july) the weather was spectacular, the tourist season hadn't hit yet, and it was one vacation for the ages. prior to going, i had purchased a couple of guide books; cadogan provence being the best. a great feature of this book was the listing of each town/villages' market day. another outstanding source for detailed information is a web site called beyond the french riviera.....i suspect that other 'ziners have used this site for research. now the towns, too numerous to mention but, in northern provence with an exceptional regional market....nyons (regional olive oil town). vaison-la-romaine, st. remy-de-provence, uzes (small but spectacular roman architecture), pont du gard is NOT to be missed (i could have hung out on the river bank all day) avignon was a disappointment (outside of the palace of the popes, not much there, too large...not medieval at all) cassis, a small fishing village with beach, restaurants, boat trips to calanques....i stayed two days and wished it would have been more! there are literally hundreds of other villages to choose from. to truly explore, a car is a prerequisite.

happy hunting!