Culinary & Cultural Journey in Provence

From hilltop medieval villages to rolling lavender fields, olive groves, fruits orchards and vineyards, you will explore a territory of exceptional beauty while taking time to relax and to engage in a sensory experience each day. You will stroll across picturesque villages, alive open-air markets, visit local producers and artisans’ tiny shops.

You will enjoy Provence magnificent lights, smells of delicately perfumed fresh air by wild herbs and flowers. You will be delighted with the flavorful and healthy local cuisine paired with delicate wines through hands-on cooking classes and gourmet experiences in traditional and Michelin restaurants.

Program Highlights

Delightful Provence itinerary combines the greatest values of the South of France: arts, history, heritage, traditions & culture, food & wine, lifestyle (artistic creations, historic sites). Program includes town historic quarters and picturesque villages walking tours, markets experiences, visits to artisan shops, producers, and cultural sites and museums. You will stroll across quaint hilltop villages such as Vaison-La-Romaine, Les Baux-de-Provence, Pont du Gard, Gordes, Ménerbes, Lourmarin and Grignan.

The last week of June is the best period to see the blooming lavender along daily escorted tours. You will visit the lavender museum to have a better understanding of the plant culture, the different varieties of lavenders, and flowers distillation to get the essential oil.

You will experience the flavorful and healthy cuisine through cooking classes run in the private villa.

Mas des Dentelles private Villa accommodation

Market Tour, Cooking Classes & Gourmet Experiences

Market & Cooking Classes
The south of France is the perfect region for experiencing and enjoying the healthy flavorful Provence and Mediterranean cuisine. You will experience the food shopping with Corinne in Vaison-La-Romaine.
You will partake in a 3-hour hands-on cooking class in the comfort of the private villa in Beaumes-de-Venise and enjoy a delicious tasting dinner accompanied with fine wines. The menu will be created at the market considering your likes, dislikes, food restrictions or allergies.
You won’t miss joining Corinne in the kitchen for two additional cooking classes!
Within one-hour, you will learn how to prepare a delicious 2-courses dinner (main course and dessert) with local seasonal produce from the market.

Gourmet experiences…
Each day of the program is a gourmet adventure.
Aside to cultural visits and walks through the villages, you will be delighted by luncheons and dinners in restaurants and in the villa.
Please remind the wine is at extra cost in the restaurants.

Day 1 (Sunday) – Welcome to Avignon / Transfer to Beaumes-de-Venise
Early afternoon pick-up at Avignon TGV train station.
Transfer to Beaumes-de-Venise. Check-in at the Le Mas des Dentelles private villa.
Welcome drink and snack
Afternoon walking tour through the historic quarter and tour to the Dentelles de Montmirail hilltop villages such as La Roque Alric and Suzette.
6:30pm – Aperitif and early dinner in the villa.
Overnight.

Day 2 (Monday) – Grignan
After breakfast, transfer to Grignan (1-hour away by car)
Walk through the village to visit to the Renaissance chateau.
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 Sevigné, 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.
Lunch at Le Clair de la Plume restaurant in Grignan.
Afternoon transfer to Beaumes-de-Venise through the back roads and lavender fields.
Visit to a winery, one the best in Beaumes-de-Venise or in Vaqueyras. You will meet Alain Ignace or Nelly Boissel (Domaine Vallis Petras). They will explain the wine growing process and why the terroir of Beaumes and Vacqueyras produces the finest Provence wines. Tastings follow the visit.
One-hour cooking class in Villa des Dentelles followed by dinner.
Overnight.

Day 3 (Tuesday) – Vaison-la-Romaine (Market & Village Tour, Cooking Class)
After breakfast, transfer to Vaison-La-Romaine.
Morning market tour and shopping in Vaison. The market is held in the all town!
Noon lunch at O Natur’Elles, a casual restaurant serving home-made organic and vegetarian cuisine.
Afternoon walking tour through Vaison medieval hilltop village.
Transfer to Beaumes-de-Venise. Resting time if necessary.
At 5pm, 3-hour Cooking Class in Villa des Dentelles followed by dinner.
Overnight.

Day 4 (Wednesday) – Luberon stunning Villages Tour
After breakfast, transfer to Lourmarin through Les Gorges Venasque and Roussillon, the ocres site. We will stop in Roussillon to visit the village by walking and admire the colorful countryside.
Noon: Gourmet lunch at La Fenière family-run restaurant in Lourmarin. La Fenière is the only one Michelin-star restaurant serving a 100% gluten-free cuisine.
The chef is a woman: Nadia Sammut.
Afternoon transfer to Ménerbes (where author Peter Mayle lived) and to Gordes then. Walking tour through these stunning villages. Visit to the Lavender Museum in Gordes.
Transfer to Beaumes-de-Venise.
Light dinner in Villa des Dentelles.
Overnight.

Day 5 (Thursday) – Pont-du-Gard & Les Baux-de-Provence full-day Tour
After an early breakfast, transfer to Le Pont du Gard which is 50 minutes away.
Listed at the Unesco, the Roman aqueduct bridge was built in the first century AD to carry water over 31 miles to the Roman colony of Nemausus, the city of Nîmes today. It’s the highest of all Roman aqueduct bridges, as well as one of the best preserved. You will visit the site and the fabulous museum which will take you back to the Roman times…
Transfer to Fontvieille.
Lunch in a traditional restaurant (Le Patio or La Table d’Estoublon). We will stop at the windmill classified historical monument that inspired Alphonse Daudet to write his novel “Les Lettres de mon Moulin”.
Afternoon transfer to Les Baux-de-Provence. You will visit Les Carrières de Lumières quarries to discover the work of the greatest artists projected on the wall over more than 7,000 m². The immersive actual exhibition features the artistic and architectural treasures of the city of Venice.
Transfer to Beaumes-de-Venise.
One-hour cooking class in Villa des Dentelles followed by dinner.
Overnight.

Day 6 (Friday) – Check-out – Transfer to Avignon – End of the tour
After breakfast, check-out.
Private transfer to Avignon TGV train station
End of the tour.

US$ 4,490/pers.
Single supplement: US$400

Price includes:
• Avignon TGV station round-trip transfer
• Daily transportation by private luxury van
• 5-night private Villa accommodation in Provence
• Daily breakfasts, lunch and dinners as detailed in the itinerary
• Market tour and cooking class
• Visits to local producers
• Entrance tickets to the sites and museums
• Daily fully escorted gourmet and cultural tours

Not included: international airfare from your country, train tickets, drinks in restaurants, personal expenses, personal insurance, and everything which is not mentioned in “price includes”.

2023TOUR DATE

June 25-30 (6 spots left)
This tour is limited to 6 people.
Other dates can be added upon request. Please contact us.