Day 1 (Sunday) ∼ Welcome to Provence!
Early afternoon pick-up at Valence TGV train station.
Transfer to Nyons. Check-in at the La Villa des Baronnies luxury private property.
Welcome drink and snack. Resting time.
Quiet walk through a nearby hilltop village.
6:30pm – Aperitif and early dinner in the villa.
Overnight.
Day 2 (Monday) – Lavender Experiences – Cooking Class
After breakfast, transfer to Le Poët-Laval village.
Morning visit to a lavender distillery including lavender and Lavandin sensory test, walk through the plantation to discover the history of lavender varieties. You will discover how the plants are harvested and distilled and you will follow the essential oil extraction process.
The visit is followed by a Cosmetic Lesson. You will make your own organic body lotion using lavender essential oil.
1pm will be time to enjoy a vegetarian picnic lunch including an appetizer, a quinoa salad with seasonal vegetables, a goat cheese and a lavender sorbet.
Back to the villa after lunch. Time free at your leisure to relax.
At 4:30pm, join Corinne in the kitchen to experience your first hands-on cooking class, followed by tasting dinner.
Overnight.
Day 3 (Tuesday) – Richerenches Truffle Hunting – Chateau of Grignan – Winery – Goat cheese Farm
After breakfast, transfer to Richerenches, a well-known village for truffles.
You will experience the truffle hunting with the dog.
Lunch in Richerenches.
Afternoon walking tour through Grignan picturesque village to the Renaissance chateau that you will visit.
Built at the 12th century by the Count Adhémar de Monteil, the chateau has been transformed and renovated in the 16th century in a luxury Renaissance residence. It’s well known by the Marchioness of Sévigné, Marie de Rabutin-Chantal, an epistolary woman who lived at the Court of Louis XIV. Her daughter Françoise married the Count of Grignan and lived far from her mother. Madame de Sévigné wrote eloquent letters by thousands to her daughter; these letters which have been published.
On the way back to the villa, you will visit a winery and a goat and sheep farm.
Dinner in the villa
Overnight
Day 4 (Wednesday) – Cooking Class – Baronnies & Ventoux Counties Gourmet and Cultural guided Tour
After breakfast, resting time in the villa.
At 9:30am, join Corinne in the kitchen to experience your second hands-on cooking class, followed by tasting lunch.
Early afternoon tour to the Baronnies and Mount Ventoux counties through Sault (where you will visit an authentic nougat factory), the legendary Mount Ventoux at 6,263 ft altitude, Bédoin, Malaucène, Vaison-la-Romaine.
Back to the villa. Resting time.
Dinner in the villa
Overnight
Day 5 (Thursday) – Nyons Market Tour – Olive oil Mill & Artisanal Weaving Factory – Cooking Class
After an early breakfast, transfer to Nyons.
Morning market tour and shopping
Visit to an olive oil mill.
Lunch in a traditional restaurant
Afternoon visit to La Scourtinerie family-run weaving factory. A scourtin is a coconut fiber weaved cercle placed in the press to extract the olive oil. If synthetic fiber replaces the natural fiber, you will see that authentic scourtins have a second life, used for decoration.
Back to the villa.
At 4:30pm, join Corinne in the kitchen to experience your third hands-on cooking class, followed by tasting dinner.
Overnight.
Day 6 (Friday) – Cooking Class – Dieulefit
After breakfast, resting time in the villa.
At 9:30am, join Corinne in the kitchen to experience your fourth hands-on cooking class, followed by tasting lunch.
Afternoon tour to Dieulefit including visits to the ceramicist museum and to artisans. Time free for shopping in Dieulefit.
Back to the villa. resting time.
Farewell Michelin 4-course dinner.
Overnight.
Day 7 (Saturday) – Check-out – Transfer to the TGV station – End of the tour
After breakfast, check-out.
Private transfer to Montélimar or Valence TGV train station
End of the tour.