Experiences in South-East of France

Julien — 2013-07-05T13:22:51Z

Date: to be confirmed

Duration: 13 days / 12 nights

People : 15 to 25 (for more people contact us)

PROGRAM

1st day: Arrival

Dinner – Restaurant near the hotel - Lyon

Accommodation – 3* Hotel – Lyon
Exceptional location in the city center of Old Lyon Charming 3 stars hotel, 39 air-conditioned rooms combining nostalgia and design, balconies and terraces, views of the city.

2nd day: Lyon

Breakfast

Welcome to the hotel by a special guide (spanish speaking). He will accompany the group throughout the trip.

In the morning – Guided city tour - Lyon
The historic site of Lyon is a World Heritage Site by UNESCO since1998. The tour invites you to explore 2000 years of history: Fourvière, Lyon's old town peninsula and the Croix-Rousse. Ideal for large view of emblematic buildings and its history from antiquity to the present day. This tour in bus includes stops walking, especially in the Old Lyon to visit pedestrian streets and alleyways. Lunch in a special restaurant "bouchon lyonnais"

In the afternoon – Free time in Lyon

Dinner and overnight – same restaurant and accommodation

3rd day: Gastronomy in Drôme area

Breakfast

In the morning – Guided tour and tasting in a goat farm – Le Grand Serre
The breeder will accompany you on his farm to discover these goats and his facilities. He will invite you to a tasting of cheese production.

Guided tour and Wine tasting – Tain l'Hermitage
It is in the “Pays de l'Hermitage” that you will find one of the largest wineries of the Rhone Valley. “La Maison Chapoutier” invites you to visit its cellar and winery, where you will taste the best wines: Condrieu, Châteauneuf du Pape red, Hermitage, Cote-Rôtie, Crozes-Hermitage….

Lunch in a restaurant – Tain l'Hermitage

In the afternoon – Guided tour, fruits and vegetables tasting – Châteauneuf sur Isère
A farm in the Drôme area, you browse the aisles of fruit trees and vegetable crops to discover the Drôme agriculture. The tasting is a nice moment.

Guided tour and tasting – Nougat's manufacture – Montélimar
Nougat, Calisson, marshmallows and other chocolates... interactive museum of nougat, oldest factory still in operation. Here, you visit the various workshops and witness the making of these delicious candies...

Dinner and overnight – 3* hotel / Restaurant – Valaurie
3 star hotel /restaurant Typical house, in the middle of Provence. Swimming pool, garden, terrace...

4th day: Gastronomy in Provence area

Breakfast

In the morning – Guided tour and tasting in olive grove – Nyons
Welcome on the farm for a walk through the olive groves. Tasting of olive products with the farmers.

Guided tour and tasting in a vinegar manufacture – Nyons
Raphaël welcomes you in his laboratory where he turns wine into vinegar. The vinegars are flavoured with a decoction of local plants. He invites you to tasting his vinegar.

Lunch in a restaurant – Nyons

In the afternoon – Guided tour and wine tasting - Grignan
Old farm of Grignan's castle, the vineyard is a family-owned for three generations. It was made famous by the "Marquise de Sevigné". Wine: Côtes du Rhône, Côtes du Rhône Villages, Vinsobres, Coteaux du Tricastin.

Guided tour an tasting in « Domaine Eyguebelle » – Valaurie
Discover the history from 1880 to current times of the famous syrups and liqueurs of Aiguebelle Monastery. The visit is followed by the discovery of the manufacturing of syrups and liqueurs then a tasting in the exhibition center.

Dinner and overnight – same restaurant and accommodation

5th day: Luberon area

Breakfast

In the morning – guided tour – Gordes
This village can boast about being amongst one of the most beautiful villages in France. It has narrow cobbled streets which thread their way through tall houses; built against the rock, clinging onto its flanks and whispering the tales of a thousand legends. Gordes is also proud of its castle firmly planted in its very core and which reminds the passer-by of a past rich with conquests but also marked with the sufferings of its inhabitants.

Guided tour of the Sénanque Abbey – Gordes
Founded in 1148, the Sénanque Abbey is an exceptional witness of primitive Cistercian architecture. A community of Cistercian monks still lives there. The entire XIIth century building is opened to visitors; this includes the abbatial church, the cloister, the dormitory, the chapter room and the calefactory.

Lunch in a restaurant - Luberon

In the afternoon – Guided tour of the old ochre quarry and the village – Roussillon
It's hard to do justice to the unique splendour of Roussillon. You can say that there are 17 shades of ochre daubed across the houses of the village, drawn from the palette of the old ochre quarry next door. But that doesn't do justice to the flamboyant, technicolor glory of Roussillon, the reds, yellows, oranges and pinks that merge one into the other as you wander around the spiralling streets.

Dinner in a restaurant near the hotel – Avignon

Accommodation – 3* hotel – Avignon
Inside the walls, in the historic center of Avignon. Bar, lounge, restaurant. Air-conditioned rooms, TV, telephone, wireless internet, mini bar ...

6th day: Avignon

Breakfast

In the morning – Guided tour and tasting – Avignon
A city tour while typical provençale accent : its squares, its streets, its traditions followed by the visit of Halls (market) and tasting of regional products.

Lunch in a restaurant - Avignon

Guided Tour of the Pope's Palace and the Bridge – Avignon
The Palace of the Popes stands as the mighty symbol of the church's influence throughout the western Christian world in the 14th century. Construction was started in 1335 and completed in less than twenty years under the leadership of two builder popes, Benedict XII and his successor Clement VI. The Popes' Palace is the biggest Gothic palace in all of Europe.

Dinner and overnight – same restaurant and accommodation

7th day: Gard area

Breakfast

In the morning – Free visit – Le Pont du Gard
Pont du Gard is a giant bridge-aqueduct, a notable ancient Roman engineering work constructed about 19 century to carry water to the city of Nîmes over the Gard River in southern France. Augustus' son-in-law and aide, Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, is credited with its conception. Three tiers of arches rise to a height of 47 m.

Lunch in a restaurant

Guided tour of the amphitheater, The Maison Carrée, The Tour Magne - Nîmes
From the terraces to the interior galleries, discover the best preserved amphitheatre from the days of the Romans and walk in the footsteps of ancient spectators. The Maison Carrée is the only fully preserved temple from Antiquity. Inside you can view a 3D film that retraces the heroic past of the city of Nîmes. The only remnant of the ancient Augustan fortifications, the Tour Magne stands at the highest point of the city.

Dinner and accommodation – 3* hotel / restaurant – Arles
In the city center of Arles, near the amphitheater. House built about 18th century, moved in a typical hotel. Garden, swimming-pool … 38 air-conditioned rooms.

8th day: Camargue area

Breakfast

In the morning – Guided tour in a Manade (breedings bulls) – Les Saintes Maries de la Mer
Welcome by the gardians (typical breeders)
Gathering and driving the herd to the closed sorting
Explanations of sorting bulls and demonstration
Driving a galloping bull by the herdsmen
Bandido : herd to pasture
…

Lunch in the Manade

In the afternon – The « small Rhône » with a boat – Les Saintes Maries de la Mer
Captain welcomes you aboard the boat and you will discover the Camargue. A tipical landscape ... Take your best photos.

Dinner and overnight – same restaurant and accommodation

9th day: Arles

Breakfast

In the morning – Guided tour of Arles
Arles was one of the most important Roman cities of France. Since, the city has kept alive this unique heritage, with a theater, an amphitheater, Roman baths, a stadium, and many other Roman remains. Arles still feels like a relic of the past... Of course, during your Guided Tour, we also walk in the footsteps of Van Gogh, who spent much of his life in Arles, painting its beautiful landscape. From the quiet corners of Arles to the most renowned sites of the city.

Lunch in a restaurant – Arles

In the afternoon – Les Baux de Provence
Les Baux-de-Provence is a charming village in southern France, in Provence. It has a spectacular position in the Alpilles mountains, set atop a rocky outcrop crowned with a ruined castle overlooking the plains to the south. Its names refers to its site — in Provençal, a baou is a rocky spur.

Dinner and overnight – same restaurant and accommodation

10th day: Marseille

Breakfast

In the morning – Guided tour of Marseille
The tour is divided into two stages: a panoramic tour by bus and a walking tour
The Basilica "Notre Dame de la Garde"
The Saint Victor Abbey, founded in the fifth century
The Prado street ("Avenue du Prado")
Old Port
The Canebière
The Panier disctrict (historical area)

Lunch in a restaurant – Marseille

In the afternoon – Le Château d'If (If Castle)
Until the 16th century, It is an uninhabited island and the occasional haven of fishermen. It is François I, who, during a visit to Marseille in 1516, assesses its strategic importance and gives the order to build a fortress on it. In a very short time, the fortress changes its purpose and becomes a prison. Rebels, ruffians and refractory galley slaves stayed there for more or less long periods. The most famous prisoner was without José Custodio Faria, whom Alexandre Dumas immortalized in the Count of Monte Cristo.

Dinner « Bouillabaisse » (a typical gastronomic meal) in a restaurant – Marseille

Accommodation – 3* Hotel – Marseille
In the city center, near the old port. Modern property completely renovated. 45 comfortable rooms.

11th day: from Cassis to Grasse

Breakfast

In the morning – Guided tour of Calanques in a boat – Cassis
The calanques are the astonishing rough diamonds of the Mediterranean coast, an essential highlight of any tourist trip to Southern Provence.A spectacular series of looming white limestone rocks scored through with deep valleys, they're the backdrop to a unique ecosystem, colourful fishing villages, peaceful creeks with intense, clear turquoise water and a wide range of sporting activities.

Lunch in a restaurant – Cassis

In the afternoon – Guided tour – Grasse
Called the «Ville d'Art et d'Histoire», the town of art and history - Grasse has a great cultural heritage. As the town of perfume, it has one of the finest collections of ancient objects connected with the history of perfume. Similarly, the factories, distilleries, soap factories and museums should all be visited.
Located in the hills inland from Cannes, the commune of Grasse includes a large forest estate of which almost a quarter is listed as a natural reserve. As for the undulating, winding roads, these are the delight of experienced cyclists. The town also has the advantage of being close to “La Grande Bleue” – the ocean – and big coastal towns, such as Cannes or Antibes…

Dinner in a restaurant – Nice

Accommodation – 3* hotel – Nice
Hotel situated close to the sea and the Promenade des Anglais and close to the old town. Terrace, TV.. Bedrooms with bathroom, WC, telephone, TV, WiFi, air conditioning.

12th day: Free time in The Riviera

Breakfast

In the morning – Free time – Nice
Located on the shores of the Mediterranean, in the heart of a region of timeless beauty, it is both a coastal and mountain resort which cultivates the charm of its originality and its contrasts. Nice reveals itself to you in all its diversity.
Take the time to discover it fully and taste all the experiences it offers. According to your mood, your desires and your expectations. Nice will know how to seduce you.
A city where everyone can find what they are looking for.

Lunch in a restaurant – Nice

In the afternoon – Free time in Monaco
The Principality of Monaco, a historic city looking towards the future. You will be dazzled and amazed at each turn, at the heart of the City of Princes. From the old town, a veritable open air museum, to the Place du Casino, unique in the world, discover the history of the Grimaldis. A modern town, Monaco has extended its territory by reclaiming land from the sea; do not miss the Fontvieille district rising up from the water, where technology sits side by side with art. Immerse yourself in the heart of the teeming town by strolling around the typical market of la Condamine and discover the Moneghetti area.

Dinner and overnight – same restaurant and accommodation

13th day: Departure

Breakfast

Back to Marseille Airport (or TGV train station).

End of our services

Price per person: Ask us Price per person, based on 15 people minimum, valid in 2013, depending on the availability of the services at the time of booking the trip.

Price included:
12 nights in 3* hotels in double room
12 breakfasts
11 lunches
12 dinners
Guided tours, tastings et entries only for the program
A special guide (spanish speaking). From the day 2 to the day 13, only on extra.
Transportation by bus from the day 2 to the day 13
Local taxes

Price not included :
Insurances
Transport from your residence
Personal expenses
Services not mentioned in the programme

Booking : Contact us

PJ: Generals conditions of sales

Destination Provence - Agence de voyages Drôme provençale Ardèche - week-end découverte séjours

Experiences in South-East of France

PROGRAM