MAPS

Institut Geographique National (IGN) Maps.  This company offers maps of every aspect of France in every scale, from the country of France to its towns as well as maps of interesting themes such as French monasteries or wines.  We tend to prefer these maps over Michelin: we find them a little easier to read and prefer the way France is "divided up" in the IGN maps.

The essential map for your trip to Provence would be the "Carte Régionale:  Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur" (R18).  On the IGN website, you will see this referred to as "PACA."

Other maps to consider would be a road map of the entire country (to put Provence in perspective) such as the "Carte Nationale" (901) and a detailed map of the Luberon, "Carte Touristique: Parc Naturel Régional du Luberon."

Also relevant are maps devoted to particular topics of interest, such as "France:  Routes Historiques" and "Vins de France." The "Plan de Ville" maps ("city" maps) are also very good.  The "Blue Series" of maps offers exceptional detail for walking and hiking.

Consult the following website for the aforementioned maps and many other possibilities: http://www.ign.fr/rubrique.asp?lng_id=EN&rbr_id=1754.

Michelin Maps.  Some travelers believe that Michelin sets the standard for tourist maps.  Indeed, they are very good and the Regional Map 528 of "Provence, Côte d’Azur" is particularly good.  Michelin also publishes a "Tourist and Motoring Atlas of France" which is very convenient if you intend to do a lot of traveling outside of the bounds of one Regional Map.

In general, they offer the same range of scale in their maps that IGN does.  In this series, the essential map would be the regional map mentioned above.

Hallwag Maps.  The "Cote d’Azur/Provence/Riviera" Road map (3-8283-0011-1) is excellent, but Hallwag maps are hard to find.  Consult the following website for other relevant maps, but there is not as wide a selection as IGN and Michelin: http://www.hallwag.com/english/mainsetd.html.