Le gîte du bonheur

Forty kilometres north of Marseille and fifteen from Avignon's Palais des Papes, Le gîte du bonheur sits on Grand Rue in Boulbon — a quiet Rhône-bank village in the Alpilles foothills, well suited to drivers wanting rural Provence without the walled-city congestion.

Free parking and free WiFi come standard; breakfast is included, keeping early departures towards the Camargue or Les Baux de Provence simple. The three-star property maintains non-smoking rooms throughout. Check-in opens at 15:00 and check-out is by 11:00.

Boulbon's medieval castle ruin crowns the hill above the village, and the Tarascon market runs ten minutes south by car. Avignon's TGV station, with direct trains to Paris in under three hours, is a short drive across the Rhône.