Travelling from Paris

We would like to spend a few days in Provence in August. We will be travelling from Paris...not planning on renting a car unless we have to. Anyone know what the train situation is? Is there a cheap way to rent a car in France? We%26#39;ll be travelling with 2 adults, 2 kids, ages 11 and 14.

Thanks.

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Hi I use UCAR or ADA for my customers who I find are very reasonable. ADA is in St Ruf avignon by the central station which is very convenient. You do need a car to see Provence , otherwise you miss all the hilltop vilages which are not possible by train or bus.

If you need any further info you can contact me by email

Regards

Escargot

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Check advance purchase ticket prices on voyages-sncf.com for a RT from Paris to Avignon. You can only book up to 90 days ahead so use bogus dates in mid-Aril to find the lowest fares. With PREMs fares I think you should be paying 200€ RT for your entire family. This page by MorganB will help you figure out the system: http://tinyurl.com/qpdef The SNCF site is not exactly user-friendly!

Taking the train to Avignon will certainly save you time and probably money. Fuel and tolls can mount up fast in France over long distances. Go to viamichelin.com to check driving times, routes and estimated fuel and toll costs. Use the options feature to select for the size of car you will be driving and fuel costs — approx 1€35 per liter. (Maybe a bit less for diesel? Anybody know?)

You really do want a car to get about in Provence, especially in August when you will want to seek out some of the less-frequented places. Tourist crowds in August can be pretty horrific! Take a look at autoeurope.com and kemwel.com for the lowest rates. Booking and paying for your car before you leave the US will save you big $$. Also book a manual transmission car (cheaper than an automatic) with a diesel engine to save more $$ on fuel.

Good luck!

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Excellent advice. Thank you! Amal

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Look what I just found! http://www.zagaz.com/index.php

It%26#39;s a listing of current fuel prices as reported by users. Although it%26#39;s only in French, it%26#39;s reasonably user-friendly:

Gasoil is diesel and GPL (gaz de pétrole liquéfié) is LPG.

Avignon is in 84-Vaucluse, and fuel looks good value at Géant and Carrefour,which are both big supermarkets - 1.115 for 95 octane and 0.953 for diesel.

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If you can navigate this French government site you can find average prices for 95 octane and diesel for all the EU countries week by week. Your prices for 95 octane look about right, Diz, but the diesel price llooks kinda low. Would be good if it were so however. Not sure why I had such an inflated price in my head. I think I was thinking of the UK price that being the last place I bought fuel in Europe.

…gouv.fr/themes/energie_mat_premieres/energi…

(You want to follow the links in the third bulleted paragraph, then click on %26quot;Visualiser le graphique.%26quot;)

If you really want to hear something sick I paid $1.91 per US gallon for fuel yesterday — about 0.37€ per liter.

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Prices were on their way down when we were in France late last year and so I was curious about the quoted €1.35/l - I think we were paying about €1.10 for diesel, though obviously prices were higher on the autoroutes. The zagaz site looks to be supplied with contributions by users, so it%26#39;s probably a bit more up to date than the French govt site, but on a fairly random basis (no prices for St Rémy, for example). I%26#39;d deliberately picked out prices for supermarkets in a big town, as that%26#39;s where I%26#39;d buy - Paris prices were eye-watering though!

Ah, no, I don%26#39;t feel sick/envious of US prices, just morally superior - LOL!

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