Rail Europe is offering 30% discounts on TGV tickets purchased between May 14 through 5:59 pm ET on June 10, 2013 (when you enter coupon code FAST30 during checkout). Go to the Rail Europe TGV Booking Page to check out the offer.

Where can you go on the TGV? Some of France's great destinations, including Paris, Nice, Strasbourg, Avignon, Aix en Provence, Bordeaux, Dijon, and Lyon.

For my money, Portugal is the most innovative country when it comes to lodging options. We've long touted the unique opportunities available in Pousada stays, where you might find yourself in a former convent like Convento de Belmonte, where you can eat at a highly rated restaurant serving the most amazing local food presided over by chef Valdir Dudek Lubave, then step out into the Roman ruins at the front of the building or just go back to your room and gawk at the amazing views of the Serra da Estrela mountain range.

But there's another option for those who find lodging to be part of the vacation experience, and that's Solares de Portugal, which Julie Fox tells us about in her blog post Solares de Portugal: Special places to stay:

My first experience of staying in restored Portuguese manor houses came about by accident and now I'm hooked. These lovely old buildings allow me to indulge fantasies of living in stunning historical settings and to find out more about Portugal's past on a very personal level.

These homes are different from the hotel-like Pousadas in that the owners are there to help you; Solares are a sort of historic guest house. If this sounds good to you, I encourage you to get more detail from the fine article linked above.

And if you like ruins (and like imagining what they might become if turned into guest houses) head for the site linked in the article, ruin'arte. Great photography.

Without the amazing contribution of Vincent Van Gogh, who painted some of his finest works while a mental patient there, Saint Remy might have been a sleepy backwater in Provence. Today the small town is alive with art and artists. See the hospital where Van Gogh spent his time in Saint Remy, as well as the abandoned Roman village that became the new town, over which the artist likely trod in making his art: Saint Remy de Provence Map and Guide.

Provence Escapes is offering a very interesting art tour this fall. Judi Janofsky, travel writer and one of the owners of Provence Escapes explains:

"This is the year of the painters. We'll explore Aix-en-Provence where Cezanne lived, with visits to his home, studio and the quarry where he painted, and to St. Remy, where Van Gogh, committed to an asylum, painted his provocative Starry Night and many of his best known pieces".

And there's more, a tour that includes many of the places we covered in our Week in Provence:

During the tour, guests also will visit some of Provence's most endearing sites and villages, including the famous antique market town of L'Isle sur-la-Sorgue, the perched village of Joucas, home of two internationally renowned sculptors, the mountainous town of Brantes and the ochre-colored village of Roussillon. Plus wine tastings, a cooking class and time for shopping.

This sounds like a very interesting tour. See Provence Escapes - Provence Tour for more information. They're also planning a fall Dordogne Tour.

See more: Provence Map |Arles Guide | Provence Gallery Mobile App Review