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.

 

Castle living at La Barben (from the Middle Ages to the 18th century)
General tour:

Guides in period dress bring the past to life throughout your visit. Arriving on the state balcony after climbing a monumental staircase is a thrilling moment for anyone who loves Provence. The tour of the chapel and 12 fully furnished rooms shows the history of Provence and the castle: its architecture and furniture, as well as the lives of famous people of Provence and France.
 

And/Or

Private Tour on the theme: "Marius Granet and Château de La Barben".

Visit the boudoirs painted by this famous painter, his bedroom (first self-portrait in front of the mirror), the bedroom and boudoir of Pauline Borghèse, and a superb drawing-room decorated with mural paintings of Versailles and its copses.
 

Light meals are available at the Château, or eat at one the restaurants in the village.
 

In the afternoon, Mediaeval tour of the underground passages, "the corridors of time". Sir Thibault de Saint Hilaire will lead you through the underground rooms and passages dating from the Middle Ages. Through the guided tour of the guard rooms, the dungeons, the bread oven and the secret passages, you will learn fascinating facts about daily life in the Middle Ages and the history of chivalry, weapons of war, and the equipment of knights. Then enjoy a tour of the one-hectare French gardens: the romantic sound of a waterfall as you walk along the box-tree avenues, the perfection of the classical design and the beauty of the ponds and statues, the 17th-century outer ramparts and the Vallon de Maurel river flowing below ancient plane trees.

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).