Exclusive Culinary & Cultural Tour to enjoy the Lavender Season

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 and open-air markets. You will make your shopping in the tiny boutiques of artisans.

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.

Lavender in Provence tour 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 Grignan, Sault, Nyons, Dieulefit quaint villages.

The end of June is the period to see blooming lavender fields. You will visit a flowers distillery to have a better understanding of the plants culture, varieties of lavenders, and how the precious essential oil is made.
You will experience the flavorful and healthy cuisine through cooking classes run in the private villa.

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 Nyons and at farmers’ markets.
You will join Corinne in the villa’s kitchen to partake in hands-on cooking classes. Menus consider your likes, dislikes, food restrictions or allergies. Each class lasts 3 hours, the right time to learn how to cook a delicious 3-course dinner (appetizer, main course and dessert) prepared 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 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-star 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.

$4,860 per person (DBL occupancy)
Single occupancy supplement: $490
VAT and all taxes included.

Price includes:
♦ Valence TGV station round-trip private transfer and daily transportation for visits and tours
♦ 6-night private Villa***** accommodation
♦ 4 hands-on cooking classes
♦ Daily breakfasts, lunches and dinners
♦ Marketplace tour and visits to local artisans and producers
♦ Lavender experiences, including a cosmetic hands-on lesson and the visit to a distillery
♦ Truffle hunting adventure
♦ Historic sites and hilltop villages guided tours.

Not included: airfare from/to your country, train tickets, wine in restaurants, personal expenses, personal insurance and all which is not listed in “price includes”.

2024 TOUR DATE

June 23-29
This tour is limited to 6 people. Considering the high demand for Provence in the lavender season, reservation is strongly recommended at least 6 months in advance. Thank you for your understanding.