 2006
Provence Walk
May 28-June 3
7 Days / 6 Nights Price: $2400.00
Level: A/B
Trip Start: Avignon
Trip Finish: Avignon
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Overview: Discover Provence! Experience the lavender-scented gardens, vineyards & villages of France’s most famous region as we walk along the ancient byways of Vaison-la-Romaine, the Luberon Valley and St. Rémy-de-Provence. A trip which is rich in equal measures of history, culture and sun-clad scenery, the highlights include quaint hotels and glorious provincial cuisine.
DAY
1: Meet inAvignon.
Our meeting time is 2:45 pm at the T.G.V. train station in Avignon where you will be met by the Europeds tour leaders and escorted to St. Remy de Provence and our base for the first three nights, the Hotel du Soleil, about a 30 minute drive. (If you already happen to be in St. Remy, then meet us in the hotel lobby at 4 pm.) After everyone's luggage is settled into their rooms you'll be free for a couple of hours to relax, freshen up, or stroll through charming downtown St. Remy. There is plenty to explore here, and much that will please all the senses, easily within walking distance of our hotel. We will gather together on the outer terrace of the hotel at 6:30 pm for the initial orientation meeting and map session. Dinner will be in an excellent restaurant in town, (outdoor seating, weather permitting) for our first taste of Provence’s delectable cuisine.
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DAY 2: Market day in St. Remy - Arles in the afternoon.
After our breakfast at Hotel du Soleil, we’ll warm up the legs and our senses while we explore the weekly morning market in St. Remy. We’ll be sure to purchase some of the local delicacies for tonight’s aperitif before dinner. We’ll meet the local farmers and taste some of the delicious products that are so famous in this region.
 Delicous breads, olives, fruits and cheeses taunt us as we mix among the weekly market goers here in St. Remy. Eventually we’ll have to pull ourselves away and return to the hotel to board the vans for the shuttle to Arles and its lively streets, captivating as ancient roman antiquities abound. We’ll have a short tour of the Roman arena before sneaking off towards Café de la Nuit, for a real life Van Gogh lunch in one of the many restaurants that surround the famous Place Mistral. After lunch we’ll head out into town for more walking and exploring before meeting the vans for our transfer back to St. Remy. Dinner tonight will be “on your own” in any of St. Remy’s outstanding restaurants. Be sure to ask your EUROPEDS guides for reccommendations. Walking mileage for the day between 3 and 5 miles. |
DAY 3: Les Baux to St. Rémy de Provence.
Our van will shuttle us from the hotel this morning up to the medieval village of Les Baux-de-Provence, the most famous sight in the Alpilles. The entire village was built as a fortress on a precarious precipice above what is called the Valley of Hell (so named for the fantastic, gargoyle-like formations of the surrounding limestone cliffs). After looking around Les Baux we’ll walk a short distance to the nearby Cathedral of Images for one of our favorite stops in Provence. The “Cathedral” is a series of large rectilinear rooms carved inside a limestone cliff, the result of a large quarrying project in the 19th Century. Within these rooms numerous slide projectors are set up to project images on the smooth white walls, floors and ceilings, and each year a new theme is chosen for presentation (recent years have included Van Gogh’s paintings, the rainforests of the world, wild animals, astronomy, and sacred architecture).
Leaving the Cathedral we begin our walk down the Alpilles to St. Rémy, about a two hour walk. The views of the surrounding landscape are quite lovely, pine forests interspersed with limestone outcroppings. We should arrive in St. Rémy in time for a late lunch in one of the many cafés in town, or perhaps a picnic lunch under the shade trees in the city park. We plan for a free afternoon to visit the numerous charming sights in town and perhaps the nearby excavations of the Roman market town Glanum, which we consider to be among the finest of the many Roman excavations in France. We’ll dine together tonight in one of our favorite restaurants in St. Remy. Mileage for the day is 3 or 6. |
DAY 4:
Into the Luberon -Oppède-le-Vieux, Ménerbes, and Lacoste.
(For fans of A Year in Provence, today’s walk is all in Peter Mayle’s neighborhood.) After breafast we’ll pack our bags and bid “Adieu” to quaint St. Remy. We begin the day with a short shuttle from our hotel to the nearby hilltop village of Oppède-le-Vieux, nestled in a series of terraced limestone promontories surrounded by ruined ramparts on a rocky spur. The name comes from the Latin oppidum (military fort) and the French vieux (old). The village was mostly abandoned for several hundred years but recent efforts of inspired restoration have produced remarkable results. The short walk from the tiny village square to the upper terrace where a 13th Century church lies at the foot of a 16th Century castle (in ruins) offers glimpses into another world. The view over the Luberon Valley towards Gordes and off to Ménerbes shouldn’t be missed, and Oppède is often cited as one of the best stops on our trip.
After an hour or so of exploration we begin our morning walk along the foot of the Petit Luberon, a small mountain chain which defines the southern edge of the Luberon Valley. A couple of hours of scenic and easy walking brings us then to Ménerbes. Ménerbes’ charm is also tied to the houses and a large church clinging to a precarious perch on a limestone abutment. Our arrival here should roughly coincide with the lunch hour, and 2 or 3 little restaurants are available and recommended. After lunch we continue our walk to eventually end up in beautiful Lacoste, site of another castle in ruins, but one which has the distinction of having once belonged to the Marquis de Sade, the infamous 18th Century writer, revolutionary and sexual dilettante. Lacoste is the last of this day’s triad of perfect Provençal villages. We’ll then drive the short distance up to the hlltop village of Gordes and our hotel for three nights, Le Gordos, to enjoy the swimming pool and relax before another great dinner. Mileage for the day is about 6. |
DAY 5:
Walking the Vineyards of Rasteau and Séguret and Vaisone-La-Romaine.
Today’s walk is a relatively easy stroll in the ocean of vineyards near Vaison-la-Romaine which cover the foothills below a small chain of mountains called Les Dentelles de Montmirail. Dentelle means “lace” in French, and the name comes from the unique outline of the local peaks which form a sharp, white limestone escarpment against the sky. Beginning our walk on the hillside above the tiny wine village of Rasteau, we’ll pass across cultivated fields of vines interspersed with patches of the garrigue, the wild herb-scented landscape of Provence. The path brings us to the next wine village, Roaix, and from there we’ll cross the Ouvèze River and head for Séguret along a foothill path past the Romanesque Chapel of Notre Dame d’Aubune, famous for its ancient belltower. Séguret will be our lunch spot for the day. A ruined castle and a network of steep, tiny streets lined with stone houses lend their character to this little village.
One may picnic in this idyllic spot, or head straight for the marvelous restaurant, La Table du Comtat, for an unforgettable lunch experience à la Française. The restaurant offers local delicacies in a dining room that we believe has the best view of any in Provence. After dining one may enjoy the garden pool while listening to singing cicadas in the nearby pines (the tour leader will determine the previous evening how many, if any, of the group wishes to eat at La Table du Comtat, and make the necessary reservation). Regardless of the dining option chosen, we plan to shuttle the short distance back to Vaison in time to explore the famous Roman ruins before our shuttle back to St. Remy. Dinner will be together at a restaurant in town where we’ll toast our walk with wines from the villages through which we walked today! Mileage for the day is about 5. |
DAY 6: Apt to Buoux and Seguin.
We propose an early start to our last day’s activities, beginning with a 20 minute shuttle from our hotel to downtown Apt, the largest town in the Luberon region. Founded by the Romans at the time of Caesar’s conquest of ancient Gaul, Apt is most well known in France as the place where the best crystallized fruit (a French specialty) and fruit preserves are made. It has a charming Old Quarter where we will spend an hour of strolling to look around before beginning our walk from the edge of town. The walk itself is a pleasant excursion through woods and fields, some of which are dedicated to the cultivation of lavender. We come across several large mas (the Provençal word for farm house) next to our path which present an appealing aspect in their idyllic country settings.
Observing them, one dreams of quitting the rat race for good and moving to Provence! After several hours of walking we arrive in the tiny hamlet of Buoux, and from there follow an easy path down the face of a huge and dramatic limestone cliff into a box canyon. In the bottom of this canyon, next to a rushing creek, we discover the Auberge de Seguin. By this time we should all be possessed of a fine appetite, the perfect preparation for sitting down to one of the finest country lunches we have found in France. The outdoor seating below towering cliffs is superb, and to cap it off, one may swim in the nearby swimming pool which is fed by the waters of the creek. After lunch and an idle linger we will then board our van for the drive back to Gordes and our farewell dinner together at a restaurant in town! Mileage for the day is 7. |
DAY 7:
Au revoir to Provence.
After breakfast, Europeds will provide a shuttle to the TG.V. train station in nearby Avignon in time to catch the 9:36 TGV train to Paris (arriving in the Gare de Lyon at 12:55). Other trains from Avignon head for Marseille, Toulouse, Barcelona, Cannes or Nice. And so ends our wonderful week together in Provence! |
Of Special
Note:
Average daily walking mileage for this trip is about 7 miles (4-5 hours of walking time). Some days are somewhat-more or somewhat-less than the average. While we feel that all the walking activity on this trip is indeed just that--a walk-- some may find that one or two of the days border on what, for them, is a hike. Keep in mind that throughout this walking trip, we offer full van support and you may, at various times, opt to just hop in the van and enjoy the scenery while giving the legs a rest. Our experience suggests that lightweight hiking boots are more appropriate for this trip than tennis or running shoes would be. We designed this trip to give you a feeling of accomplishment at the end of each day. Regardless of your age (previous Europeds Provence walkers have ranged from 18 to 75 years young), if you are in reasonably good shape and enjoy staying active, then this trip is for you!
Of Special Note:
Any train times listed in this itinerary are based on the best information available at the time of publication and are thus subject to change. Definitive schedules will become available as the trip’s start date nears. We suggest that you check with your travel agent approximately one month prior to your trip’s start date to purchase your train tickets and make any necessary reservations.
Europeds reserves the right to modify published routes due to any unforeseen circumstances. In the event that one or another hotel is unable to accept our reservation for a given date (rare that this may be), we assure you that EUROPEDS will endeavor to book another hotel of comparable class and charm. |
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