France: Slow Road through Provence

Depart from home and travel to France. The particulars of your arrival overseas are detailed with your flight itinerary.

Upon arrival at Marseilles (MRS) Airport, claim your luggage and clear customs. If your luggage is lost, fill in a PIR form before leaving the customs area—VBT representatives are not allowed into the customs area. Make sure that your VBT luggage tags are attached to your bags. This helps the VBT representative to identify you.

After exiting customs, enter the arrival hall and look for your VBT representative, who will be holding a VBT sign. Your representative will welcome you to France and arrange for your transfer via taxi or van (approximately 45 minutes depending on traffic) to your Aix-en-Provence hotel. (Please verify with your VBT Trip Leader the time of your transfers at the end of your trip, from your Aix-en-Provence hotel to the Marseilles airport, or your Paris hotel to the Paris airport if you are taking the post-trip extension). Important: If you are delayed in meeting your VBT representative at the Marseilles Airport, please call 04 42 93 01 44 from within France. Outside of France, call +33 442 93 01 44.

VBT provides you with City Information that includes information and recommendations on what to see and do in Aix-en-Provence during your stay. Use the rest of the day to relax or to begin exploring the city.

Please note: If you arrive early, your hotel room may not be available until 2:00 pm. You may store your luggage with the reception desk.

Hotel: Aquabella Hotel

VBT Walking Vacation Only guests: Enjoy lunch on your own before meeting your VBT Trip Leaders, who will be wearing VBT staff garments, in the lobby of the Hotel Aquabella, 2 Rue Des Etuves, Aix-en-Provence (tel. 011 33 4 42 99 15 00) at 12:50 p.m. Be dressed and prepared to start the warm-up walk upon your arrival at Vaison la Romaine, as we will not visit the hotel first. You’ll transfer via private coach to Vaison la Romaine (a journey of approximately 90 minutes, depending on traffic).

If your arrival in Aix-en-Provence is later than 1 p.m. or if your arrival is delayed, you must make your own arrangements for travel to our hotel in Vaison la Romaine. A taxi from Aix-en-Provence to Vaison la Romaine costs approximately 150 euros one way. Please contact the hotel to let them know if you are delayed. The hotel will pass your message along to your VBT Trip Leaders.

VBT Air Package and Pre-Trip Extension guests: After breakfast, check out of the hotel (your luggage can be stored with the reception desk) and enjoy a morning at leisure in Aix-en-Provence. Enjoy lunch on your own before meeting your VBT Trip Leaders, who will be wearing VBT staff garments, in the hotel lobby at 12:50 p.m. Be dressed and prepared to start the warm-up walk upon your arrival at Vaison la Romaine, as we will not visit the hotel first.  You’ll transfer via private coach to Vaison la Romaine (a journey of approximately 90 minutes, depending on traffic).

Upon arrival in Vaison la Romaine, you’ll embark on a walk that loops from the center of town into the countryside and back. As you make your way to our hotel in the medieval section of town, you’ll walk along cobblestone streets and through small squares, passing by fountains and a belfry featuring a wrought-iron campanile.

Enjoy time on your own to relax and settle in before regrouping for tonight’s welcome reception and dinner in the hotel.

Hotel: Hostellerie Le Beffroi
Meals: B (included for Air Package guests only), D
Daily Options: 2.2 mile (3.5 km) warm-up walk on dirt paths and roads through town.

After a very short transfer this morning to the village of Sablet, you’ll start your walk to one of the official “most beautiful villages in France,” Seguret. The village lies at the foot of a hill topped by the ruins of its feudal chateau. There will be time to explore the charm of this village, with its typical Provencal atmosphere and medieval character.

Just outside of the village is located the Domaine de Mourchon, where you will stop to taste their wines. Your walk then continues to the home and workshop of potter Alain Berthéas. He is famous for producing large clay pots for both wine storage and as pieces of art. Here we’ll all enjoy a picnic lunch in his garden.

Later, we return to Vaison la Romaine, where the remainder of the day is yours. Enjoy strolling through the medieval town and trying one of its many wonderful restaurants for dinner on your own.

Hotel: Hostellerie Le Beffroi
Meals: B, L
Daily Options: 4 or 6 miles (6.4 or 9.6 km) with slight incline, then slight decline on paved roads and dirt paths.

After breakfast, you’ll walk straight from the hotel to the market of Vaison la Romaine, where you can immerse yourself in the wonderful scents, colors, and sounds of Provence. You’ll be tempted by the local produce such as white asparagus, purple artichokes and a huge array of olives. Sample baked goods and artisanal cheeses. Or pick up some dried lavender, fragrant handmade soaps, or the colorful tablecloths, napkins, and other linens that are emblematic of Provence. You might wish to pick up few local delicacies for your lunch, which you’ll pause to eat later during your walk through open countryside to the pretty hilltop village of Crestet. As you stroll its narrow, winding cobblestone streets, you’ll be treated to magnificent views of the Ouveze Valley and majestic Mount Ventoux.

After leaving Crestet you’ll meet our bus and shuttle to your next hotel in Villeneuve les Avignon (a journey of approximately 60 minutes, depending on traffic). Upon arrival you will enjoy free time to settle in before we regroup for dinner in the hotel’s restaurant.

Hotel: Hotel La Magnaneraie
Meals: B, D
Daily Options: 4.7 miles (7.5 km) with slight incline and decline on paved road, paved path, dirt path, and cobbled lanes.

This morning, you hop on a local bus for the center of Avignon where you’ll meet a local guide for a walking tour of the famed “City of Popes,” so named for the 67-year period during the 14th century when seven popes, beginning with Clement V, abandoned Rome and made the city their permanent residence. During your stroll, you’ll tour Avignon’s historical center, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and view the fortified Palais de Papes, or Palace of the Popes, the magnificent Gothic complex where the popes lived.

After free time for lunch, the rest of the afternoon is yours to do as you please. Perhaps you’ll venture inside the Palais de Papes, or browse for pottery or handmade tablecloths at the many shops and market stalls. Wander over to the city’s signature Pont de St. Bénézet, the medieval bridge upon which the famous children’s song “Sur le Pont d’Avignon” is based.

Later, you’ll regroup with your Trip Leaders and walk (or take the public bus) back to your hotel. Your leaders also can offer an afternoon walk from the hotel through the outskirts of Villeneuve and its historic sights, rewarding you with magnificent views over Avignon and Villeneuve les Avignon. After returning into Villeneuve, you can relax by your hotel’s pool before dinner on your own.

Hotel: Hotel La Magnaneraie
Meals: B
Daily Options: Avignon city walk on town sidewalks and paved roads. Afternoon optional walk of 3.1 miles (5.5 km) on town sidewalks and walking paths.

Today’s discoveries begin with Les Baux, another of the official “most beautiful villages in France” that is perched on a rocky plateau more than 800 feet high, and which can only be reached on foot. In the Middle Ages its court was famous for the minstrels and troubadours who came here to sing songs of courtly love. Enjoy some free time to explore on your own, admiring the village’s carefully restored medieval facades, browsing its art galleries and craft shops—and delighting in the sweeping views of the surrounding countryside.

You’ll then transfer to a nearby ridge to begin your walk near Les Alpilles, or “The Little Alps.” This chain of limestone peaks running east to west is where bauxite was first discovered (and named after the village of Les Baux-de-Provence), and is an extension of the Luberon Mountains. With their exposed white rocks and sparse vegetation, the Alpilles region nevertheless has been a rich producer of almonds, apricots, olives and grain since the Middle Ages. Your walk treats you to magnificent views of the mountains and surrounding plains before you drop down through the wooded slopes into the charming small city of St. Rémy. Here you’ll be invited into the home of Odile Mifsud, a renowned pastry maker. She’ll give you a taste of her considerable talent during a memorable home-cooked lunch—including delectable pastries, of course! After checking in to your hotel, you’ll shuttle a short distance to the Moulin à Huile du Calanquet and have the opportunity to learn all about the production of olive oil during a tour, starting in the olive grove and finishing with a tasting session.

Tonight, enjoy dinner on your own at our hotel’s restaurant, or venture into St. Rémy and choose from among its many inviting bistros.

Hotel: Chateau de Roussan
Meals: B, L
Daily Options: 6 miles (9.6 km) on a rocky limestone path, gradually declining on a dirt path, and finishing on a paved road with some steep downhill sections.

Today you’ll have a short shuttle ride to your trail head, where you’ll follow an undulating footpath that skirts the bottom edge of Les Alpilles through olive groves and vineyards. From a distance, before you arrive in the village, you’ll see Eygalières perched on the summit of a small hill. As you approach, you’ll be able to make out the small houses that make up the village and the busy Friday market. Stop here to explore the village and market, perhaps buying some local produce for a picnic lunch.

Returning to St. Rémy, you’ll meet up with another local friend, historian Mathilde Duvillier, who will escort you on a walking tour following in the footsteps of Vincent van Gogh. The artist’s paintings come alive as you visit the very scenes he immortalized. One of Van Gogh’s most famous paintings, The Starry Night, is believed to have been inspired by night views of St. Rémy. You’ll also visit inside the sanitarium where the layout and furnishings of Van Gogh’s room have been reproduced.

You’ll return via shuttle to St. Rémy, which you’ll have time at leisure to explore before returning to your hotel.

Tonight, toast your discoveries of southern France with your fellow travelers during a special farewell dinner at the hotel.

Hotel: Chateau de Roussan
Meals: B, D
Daily Options: 5 miles (8 km) on a flat to undulating rocky limestone path.

VBT Walking Vacation only guests: After breakfast, transfer to the Aix-en-Provence Hotel Aquabella, arriving at approximately 11 a.m. Your tour ends here. If you need to depart at an earlier time, please make your own transfer arrangements.

VBT Air Package guests: After breakfast, say goodbye to your Trip Leaders and transfer to Aix-en-Provence. Upon arrival, transfer to your centrally located hotel. You may spend the rest of the day relaxing and discovering this magical city on your own. You may wish to head out immediately to visit the large morning market that sells wonderful fruit, vegetables, flowers and spices, as well as Provençal goods such as soaps, tablecloths, aprons, pottery and clothes. There’s a flea market, too.

Hotel: Aquabella Hotel
Meals: B

After breakfast*, transfer to the Marseilles airport for your return flight. Please ensure you are ready in the hotel reception area at the designated time.**

*Please note: For guests with early-morning departures, breakfast at the hotel may not be available. Please check with the front desk to verify the times that breakfast is served.

**Please note: VBT transfer times and departure points are finalized in advance and cannot be modified for individual guests. If you extend your stay beyond the scheduled program dates, return transportation to the airport will be at your own expense.

Meals: B