Experience the best of Villeneuve-lès-Avignon

Villeneuve-lès-Avignon sits on the right bank of the Rhône, facing the walls and papal palace of Avignon across the water. In the fourteenth century, when the popes lived in Avignon, cardinals built mansions on this side of the river, and some still line the old streets. The Philippe-le-Bel Tower guards the end of the old bridge, and above the town stands Fort Saint-André, built around a Benedictine abbey.

The Chartreuse du Val de Bénédiction, the largest Carthusian monastery in France, is now a cultural centre with cloisters and gardens. A museum in the town shows Enguerrand Quarton's fifteenth-century Coronation of the Virgin, a masterpiece of French painting. The Pont du Gard lies to the west, and the vineyards of Châteauneuf-du-Pape and Tavel are a short drive away.

Tavel, a dry and sturdy rosé, is made just up the road, and Côtes du Rhône reds are poured in the cafés under the plane trees. Daube, tapenade and fresh market produce fill the tables. On many winter days the mistral wind scours the sky clear and blue.