Just across the Rhone from Avignon this small town can be reached either by going round Avignon on the ring road or heading due west to cross the river and then driving south via Roquemaure. About an hour. Plenty of free parking on the east side between the fortress and the river.
It’s a pleasant discovery. Living in the shadow of its better known neighbour across the Rhone it was fairly quiet when we visited in August. There is a modest and lively market on Thursday mornings and then a short walk through the town and up the hill takes you to the impressive Fort Saint-André. For much of its history this was a frontier post between France and the Papal States in Provence, (which did not become part of France until the Revolution). Within the fortress there is also an Abbaye with beautiful gardens (where we lunched memorably on onion tart and local rosé at the small café en plein air).
The history and structures are interesting in themselves but a large part of the attraction comes from the views all round, particularly of Avignon and the Palais des Papes. Other diversions include Le Chartreuse, a monastery dating from the C14th; the Tour de Philipe-le-Bel, which guards the western end of le Pont d’Avignon and the Pierre-de-Luxembourg museum with French Renaissance art. You get one ticket, valid for a year, that covers all attractions for 17€.
