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Residential Workshops in Provence
Travel Details

for Accommodation details:
  La Chartreuse de Valbonne - 12th century monastery
  Gites, Houses and Apartments - to rent for a week or more
  Local Hotels - and Bed & Breakfast places
  Camping - campgrounds, caravan hire, etc.

Travel to/from the Provence Workshops
Of course, check the train, flight and bus times, as these may well have changed since this was written.

By Road –|–  By Train  –|–  By Plane

By Road:   To our house,  to the monastery

To our house and the workshop:

To get to our house where the workshops take place from the North (Paris, Lyon direction) go down the A7 AutoRoute from Paris and Lyon, exit at Bollène (after Montelimar).

From the first roundabout just after the Autoroute toll booth follow the signs towards Pont-St.-Esprit. At a roundabout just before you get to Pont St. Esprit you'll see Bagnols-sur-Cèze  indicated (route N86). Follow that direction. You won't go into the town of Pont-St.-Esprit, but will bypass it and cross the Rhône going through several roundabouts until you leave the other end of the town.

Keep going on the N86 towards Bagnols. About 3 km after you've left Pont St. Esprit (still following in the direction of Bagnols) you'll come to the turn-off for St. Alexandre onto the D311.

Click on the map above for an enlarged version

Follow the directions on the map above (click to enlarge it) starting on the right side of the map from the exit off the N86, or on the diagram below starting at the bottom.

If you are coming from the south (from the direction of Bagnols-sur-Cèze or Avignon), there is a new off-ramp and roundabout as you turn from the N86 towards St. Alexandre. Follow the off-ramp to the left of the highway and when you come to first roundabout, do not follow the sign to "St. Alexandre (Beauvezet)", instead go further around the roundabout and follow the direction to "St. Alexandre (Village)". This will take you down through a tunnel under the N86 road you just turned off from.

To La Chartreuse de Valbonne Monastery:

To get to the monastery from the North (Paris, Lyon direction) go down the A7 AutoRoute from Paris and Lyon, exit at Bollène (after Montelimar). Follow the signs to Pont-St.-Esprit. Start following the signs to Bagnols-sur-Cèze (route N86) as soon as you see them at a roundabout just before Pont-St.-Esprit (you won't go into the town).

Keep going on the N86 towards Bagnols, pass the turn-off to St. Alexandre and go through the small village called St. Nazaire. Just before you get to Bagnols you'll see an intersection with a road (D980) going right (just before a big builder's and lumber merchant called "Marinier Materiaux"). The road sign will point to St. Gervais, Barjac and Goudargues.

After about 4 km you'll pass St. Gervais, then another 5 km you'll pass the little villages of St. Michel D'Euzet 300 metres off on your right and La Roque-sur-Cèze 300 metres off on your left, then you'll come to signs to the village of St. Laurent-de-Carnols. Pass the first sign to St. Laurent and about 50-100 metres down the road will be another sign to the village along with a sign to Chartreuse de Valbonne (the monastery). It is about 5 kilometres along this road and the final turn into the monastery is well marked. From the exit at Bollène it will take you about 20-25 minutes to the monastery.

 
By Train and Bus:

Avignon:

Avignon is the closest train station to the monastery. Trains run north to Avignon from Nice, Marseille and Montpelier and south to Avignon from Paris (with its airports), Lille (with connections to London via Eurostar) and Lyon (with connections to trains to many places in Europe). All these trains require reservations and are considerably cheaper if booked ahead (25% off booked 8 days ahead, 50% off booked up to 60 days ahead, subject to availability). You can reserve seats at the SNCF web site (www.sncf.com). You can book and pay for tickets with a credit card and pick them up in France at any train station just before travel.

*You will need to arrange a train arrival/departure that connects with the bus service between Avignon and St. Alexandre / Bagnols-sur-Cèze. If you have not rented a car, notify us of your arrival times and we can meet you at the bus stop in St. Alexandre (or Bagnols) and transport you to the monastery. If it is not possible to connect with the bus from Avignon, we may be able to arrange to meet you at Avignon train station (please make sure you arrange this with us well ahead of time).

Most of the TGV trains coming into Avignon arrive at the new Avignon TGV station on the edge of Avignon. To connect with the bus to St. Alexandre you will need to get to the old Avignon Centre station in town. To do this, you can take one of the regular shuttle buses (navette) that run every 10-30 minutes between the two stations. The trip takes about 10-15 minutes and costs € 1 or € 2  (buy your ticket in the small building near the bus stop outside the front of the TGV station. The navette schedule is below so you can plan your trip and see which trains connect with which buses.

The bus schedule between Avignon and St. Alexandre is also below. You can buy the ticket on the bus; there is no need to reserve. In Avignon, the bus station (Gare Routière) is beside the train station about 5 minutes from the train. When you get to St. Alexandre, the bus will let you off on the highway near the primary school with the village of St. Alexandre off in the distance up on a hill. If we are not there to get you when you arrive, we will be there shortly.

Instructions to get to the Avignon Bus Station (Gare Routière)

To get to the bus station, come out of the Avignon Centre train station and once outside turn right and walk toward the 4 or 5 storey building which is now ahead of you (Ibis Hotel). As soon as you can, cross over the little road which continues down under these buildings. You'll see a ramp that goes up to the left of this road to the entrance of the Ibis Hotel ahead of you. Take this ramp and follow it around under the first building and over the city street about 150 meters from the station. You'll see an escalator heading down just to your left as you cross over this street. Take this down to the entrance to the bus station (Halle Routière). The bus arrives at and leaves from Quai 7. and it will say either "Montelimar" or "Pont St. Esprit" on the front.

See shuttle bus (navette) times between Avignon TGV and Avignon Centre 

Bus from Nîmes:

There is also a bus service between Nîmes and St. Alexandre if it is more convenient to take a train to Nîmes. The bus station (Gare Routière) in Nîmes is a 5 minute walk from the train station (see map below). You can buy the ticket on the bus—no need to reserve.

Schedule of the shuttle buses (navettes) between the new Avignon TGV train station and the old Avignon Centre train station:

By Plane:   to Paris Charles de Gaulle airport   To Paris Beauvais airport

Flying into Paris - Charles de Gaulle airport:
The simplest way to get here by plane is to fly into Paris and take the train to Avignon. TGV trains go direct from Charles de Gaulle Airport or from Gare de Lyon in Paris and take about 2 hours and 40 minutes. You can also fly into Marseille, Nice or Montpelier and take a train to Avignon, or fly into Lyon and take a train to Bollène which is just 15 minutes from our house. Also, Ryanair flies from London Stansted to Nîmes and is very cheap when booked well in advance.

For those flying into Paris, there are direct TGV trains running between Charles de Gaulle Airport and Avignon many times a day. For instance, the 11:24am train from Charles de Gaulle airport arrives Avignon TGV station at 14:21pm in time to catch the 14:41 shuttle bus to Avignon Centre (arrives at 14:51) and then catch the 15:15 or  the 17:10 bus from Avignon to St. Alexandre (or the 17:30 bus on Sundays or holidays).

Returning, the 07:45am bus from St. Alexandre arrives in Avignon at 08:45am in time to catch the 08:53 shuttle bus to the new TGV station (arrives 09:07) and from there to catch a 09:32am TGV which arrives at Charles de Gaulle Airport at 12:56am.

 
Flying into Paris - Beauvais airport (with Ryanair, etc.):
There are buses from the airport to Paris running each time a flight arrives in Beauvais. The bus leaves the airport 15 minutes after the flight arrival time and takes 1.5 hours (or more if there is traffic) to reach Paris. The bus brings you close to a Paris Metro (subway) stop named Porte Maillot. You can then take the direct subway line to Gare de Lyon where the trains leave for Avignon. It is about a 30 minute subway ride from Porte Maillot to Gare de Lyon. Take the subway in the direction of Chateau de Vincennes and it is 13 stops to Gare de Lyon.

For the return, there are buses from Porte Maillot to Beauvais leaving 2 hours and 45 minutes before the time of the flight departure.

The cost of the bus is €10.00 each way and you can buy the ticket at the airport and Porte Maillot. The phone number of the airport at Beauvais is +33 (0)8-92-68-20-66. The phone number of the tourist office in Beauvais is +33 (0)3-44-15-30-30.

Of course, check the train, flight and bus times, as these may well have changed since this was written.

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