Some ideas for group tours (to package)

Wine in Provence - Coteaux d'Aix en Provence

• Departure for the village of Meyrargues where you are welcomed by the owners of the “château”, the Binet family.
• Then a wine specialist will invite you to taste and appreciate the value of wine. Locally produced wines will be offered as an aperitif and lunch will be served in the “château”.
• Following this initiation you will put into practice your recent knowledge at the “Château de Val Joanis”, a vast domain in the Luberon. The domain was founded in 1730 by Jean Joanis, secretary to King Louis III of Naples and today the Chancel family continues to exploit the vineyards in the same meticulous way. A short history of the domain and its running will be explained, followed by a tasting of the different wines produced.
• Late afternoon:back to the hotel and free time for dinner.

Provençal Cuisine

• At 8.30 a.m.Marc Heracle will meet you at the hotel to drive you around the food markets in the old town of Aix. A transfer to the Arnajon bastide will allow you to be entertained by our host and discover while watching his preparation, a typical local Provençal meal in a traditional kitchen.
• An aperitif and lunch in the wonderful dining room, or if weather prevailing under the plane tree,situated in front of the orange grove.
• The afternoon will be spent meeting another provençal family, owners of several gardens created in 1751 known as the Albertas gardens.With great architectural ability, showing terraces, walls, water features, giving references to the traditional french gardens with an italian influence.
• Back to the hotel by the end of the afternoon, dinner.

Life in a “château”, traditional agriculture and aromatic plants

• In the morning, departure for Lourmarin, a typical provençal village perched at the bottom of the Luberon mountains.
• Visit of the Gerbaud farm where one still practices the traditional growing of dried aromatic plants and plants for dyeing. Different workshops allow you to learn to identify these plants and to discover their properties.
• Lunch can either be taken at the farm where you can taste traditional provençal home cooking or at one of Lourmarin’s gastronomic restaurants.
• In the afternoon you will visit the first Renaissance Château to be built in Provence:the Château of Lourmarin. Exceptionally, the curator will take you to visit the library and show you his collection of priceless 17th and 18th century books and furniture. A conference on the history of the “château”and the region will be followed by tea or an apéritif.
• Finally, a ‘botanic’walk around the “Château”will enable you to discover the history of Provençal plants.

Wine and Olive Day

• In the morning: departure for Salon-de-Provence where "La Maison de Nostradamus" awaits you. A genuine museum which helps you to understand the character and his era – the Renaissance.Afterwards,you are invited to discover the "Quartier des Savonniers" (Soap merchants district) where the architecture and urban development enhance the treasures and splendours of the "Oil,Wine and Coffee Capital" throughout the 19th Century.
• Visit of the "Savonnerie Marius Fabre" (Marius Fabre soap manufacture):the making of the "Savon de Marseille" (Marseilles’ soap) and the well-known olive oil soap bar using the traditional Chaudron method. For a soap to be labelled "Pure Olive Oil", it must contain 72% of pure olive oil.
• Lunch is served at the restaurant "La Salle à Mangeré", an ancient soap manufacturer’s house, where you can taste traditional and "provençal" cooking in an exceptional setting.
• In the afternoon, a sensorial analysis lesson in olive oil and wine is available at the Château Virant ,a unique location in France where, on the same site, you can discover the elaboration of wine and olive oil: 220 acres of vineyards and 44 acres of olive groves. 1 to 3 hours of sensorial analysis lessons according to the level of knowledge desired. (available from 4 to 30 people).

The Provençal Cloth

• The Souleiado Museum has been created in a private mansion which housed an indian cloth-printing factory from 1806. This social museum blends the history of Provence with the tradition of cotton cloths. These textiles, printed with coloured motifs known as "indiennes", are today's "Provençal fabrics". Accompanied by the curator,in groups of 10 and more on request, you will see rare examples of Provençal costume, wonderful piqué work, charming recreations of old daily life in Provence,and an exhibition of 18th Century plates. Various workshops: “boutis” (fine quilting), embroidery, lace, "santon" figurines, available throughout the year.
Oct 1st – April 30th ,Tuesday to Saturday, 10:00 a.m.– 05:00 p.m.
May 2nd – Sep 30th ,every day including bank holidays, 10:00 a.m.– 06:00 p.m.
• Lunch in a provençal restaurant will allow you to taste the Provence-style “farniente”.
• In the afternoon, a guided visit of the town of Arles will lead you to the Arlaten Museum,where Frédéric Mistral set up the Grand Museum of provençal Culture and where, in particular, one can admire the traditional costumes. In the oldest part of the city, you will notice that a lot of shops are specialised in provençal clothes.

Living in Provence

• Departure from the hotel with a guide-lecturer to the small village of Ansouis.The owner of the castle will welcome you to his stately home and together you will relive the glorious past of the De Sabran family and its castle since 1160.
• Lunch will be taken in a traditional restaurant in Lourmarin, a small village nearby. The afternoon will be spent leisurely discovering the typical provençal village of Menerbes and Gordes, the guide will attempt to trace the way of provençal life from the 17th century up to nowadays
• A transfer to Isle-sur-Sorgues in the late afternoon will allow you to discover a village famous for its antiques; you will become more familiar with provençal interior design and able to discover a large selection of provençal furniture. Back to the hotel in the late afternoon, and free time for dinner

Unexpected Aix: our curious ancestors

• Half-day: a walk with anecdotes, humorous and sometimes wicked... "Unexpected Aix" is a walk through the city with street storyteller Jean-Pierre Cassely. Using the names of streets and monuments and the commemorative plaques on buildings, he will describe great and small moments in the life of Aix past and present: anecdotes that are sometimes unheard of, sometimes surprising, at times comical, but always fascinating.

Let him take you back in time like an unseen observer, listening to the people and stories that stirred “the loveliest city in France”. Behind the thick walls of the Cours Mirabeau mansions flows a history that is sometimes as warm as the water of its fountains.

Aix ville d'eau, ville de Zola

• Aix, city of water, city of Zola Half day: the city with many fountains owes its reputation to the thermal water which feeds them. Even in the time of Zola and Cézanne,official analyses had already shown that it could be drunk or used for bathing in the treatment of illnesses. In 1858 Emile Zola,who was then only 18, left Aix-en-Provence for Paris. He had grown up in Aix from his early childhood to the end of his teenage years, and it was the place of his best and worst memories.
• "Aix, City of water, City of Zola" is your chance to discover the world of the young Zola before his decisive departure for Paris which was to mark the start of his writing career. "Stubborn and unsociable, puny and pensive", Cézanne wrote of his friend Zola. As you sit at the edge of the most beautiful fountains listening to a storyteller, you will relive Zola's young years, discovering events in his life that will give you a better understanding of his work and personality.
• The tour of Aix and its fountains will offer you a glimpse of the artist's passionate relationship with the city, and particularly with its water, the recurring theme of his youth, a symbol of both pleasure and suffering. Water reminded him of jaunts in the Aix countryside after school with his friend Cézanne along the banks of the Arc: "We fled far from the world... children's unreasoned adoration of the trees, the water, the hills…" Listen to the gentle, soothing sound of the water of the fountains and embark on a discovery of Zola as you never imagined him.

"I have already swum in the water of the Seine. But here, there is no cool spring to freshen the wine; here, there is no Cézanne with his great imagination, his cheerful and spicy conversation!"
(Letter from Emile Zola to Paul Cézanne, 14 June 1858).

Provençal Bastides (Country houses)

• Parliamentary town and provençal capital of the Ancien Régime, Aix-en-Provence is the favourite place of Bourgeoisie and noblesse de robe. Fortune and extravagance characterise the early 16th century, thus rich owners started building Bastides which were both holidays’residences and agricultural domains. They became more and more numerous through the 17th and 18th centuries. Besides, the Pavillon Vendôme is a genuine illustration of these authentic Bastides.

The circuit "Bastides and Gardens of Aix surroundings", commented by a guide-lecturer highlights the happiness, splendour, and gentle way of life in the shadow of the most outstanding dwellings of Aix surroundings.

The circuit lasts about 5 hours; for a group,a coach is needed. The guided tours are given by qualified guides registered with the Ministry of Culture and the Tourist Office. The choice of the Bastide depends on the owners’approval and availability.

• Circuit n°1: Gardens of the Bastide "La Violaine", "la Mignarde" Park and Castle, Gardens of "La Gaude" Castle (wines tasting) and Gardens of the Bastide "Romégas" (light meal).
• Circuit n°2: Gardens of the property "Val Joanis" (wines tasting), those of Fonscolombe Castle, of the Bastide of Arnajon and Beaulieu Castle (wines tasting).