PROVENCE LAVENDER TOUR

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1 Longitude 180 Small Group Walking Tour Active Travel Specialist PROVENCE LAVENDER TOUR What can be more ubiquitously Provençal than lavender? A sea of fragrant purple flowers carpeting the rolling hills and extending into the horizon. It s the stuff dreams and postcards are made of, and your chance to check it off the top of your bucket-list. voyageur@longitude180.ca 1

2 Day 1 Arrival in Avignon Walk: 8 km, 2 ½ hours of walking time. 100m of elevation gain Hotel **** Chateau de Mazan. Meals included: picnic lunch, dinner at the hotel Welcome meeting with guests at 9:30am at the Hotel Cloitre Saint Louis in Avignon. Direct transfer out to Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Loop walk through the vineyards of Chateauneuf. Picnic lunch during the walk. Visit a wine estate at the end of the walk with wine tasting. Late afternoon transfer to Mazan. Welcome drink & dinner at the hotel. Day 2 Vaison la Romaine Walk: 6.4 km, 2 hours of walking time. 100m of elevation gain Hotel **** Chateau de Mazan. Meals included: breakfast, dinner. Transfer to Vaison la Romaine. Free time to discover the morning market and pick up your picnic. Around 11:00am transfer to the upper slopes of Mont Ventoux, Provence s highest mountain. We ll stroll around the paths at the ski resort of Mont Serein, with awe-inspiring views of the snowpeaked Alps and the chance to see wild mountain goats (chamois). We ll picnic among the larch trees and wildflowers before transferring to the summit itself, where we can enjoy a café at a restaurant that has been run by the same family for three generations, with views of the Rhône valley and the Mediterranean Sea. On our way down the southern slopes of Ventoux we ll visit a family run fruit and vegetable farm, where we ll walk through the greenhouses and taste the produce right from the source. In the evening we eat dinner at a local restaurant. Day 3 Sault Walk: 8 km, 2 ½ hours of walking time. 100m of elevation gain Hotel **** Chateau de Mazan. Meals included: breakfast, wine & cheese dinner. It s a little known fact: lavender at least in its true medicinal form is not a Mediterranean plant, and is not grown in much of Provence, at least not at lower altitudes. That is why in the morning we transfer to the village of Sault at 800m on the plateaus where the lavender fields will be in full bloom. We walk around the lavender fields and learn everything there is to know about the precious flower. Our walk takes us along a botanical path, lined with fragrant lavender plantations, along the foothills of Mont Ventoux. We have free time in the village of Sault for a leisurely lunch before a visit voyageur@longitude180.ca 2

3 to a working lavender distillery. In the evening we have a special treat: a wine and cheese evening hosted by a master cheese-maker, where we learn all about the more than 365 cheese of France and how to pair them well will local wines. Day 4 Bonnieux - Forcalquier Walk: 12km / 3hr45min /1,033-ft elevation gain and 820-ft elevation loss/easy to moderate Hotel **** Bastide St Georges. Meals included: breakfast, picnic lunch, dinner at a local restaurant. This morning, you transfer from Mazan and over the Monts du Vaucluse mountains to the lovely mountain village of Lacoste. Overlooked by the castle ruins of its most famous resident, the Marquis de Sade, it is the start of a walk to the nearby hilltop town of Bonnieux. The walk takes you through the valley through cherry orchards, vineyards, and truffle oak plantations to Bonnieux, crowned by its 12th-centurey church, and a shady picnic site for lunch. This afternoon, you visit a lavender distillery that has been in the same family for five generations above the village of Apt. You are invited on a private tour of the operations and a stroll through the fields, learning more about the delicate purple flowers and watching the distillery in action. In the late afternoon, you continue on just over a half hour to the village of Forcalquier, near the vast plateaus of lavender, for a three-night-stay. Your hotel is idyllically set in a landscape of rolling hills. After settling in and perhaps taking a dip in the pool, you enjoy dinner at your hotel. Day 5 Saint Michel l Observatoire Walk: 9.6 km, 3 hours of walking time. 150m of elevation gain Hotel **** Bastide St Georges. Meals included: breakfast, picnic lunch, dinner at a local restaurant. We head to the lost village of Saint Michel l Observatoire, amid a garrigue vegetation of aromatic herbs and sparse oak and pine. The air is so pure and the skies so clear that a center for astronomy was built in the 1930s, giving the sleepy village its name. We ll stroll along the timeless paths in a landscape of rolling hills, and in a Provence far from the beaten-track, with wafts of thyme and winter savory permeating the air. We ll enjoy a picnic lunch at the family-run goat farm that produces prized Banon goat s cheese. The delicate goat s cheeses are individually wrapped in chestnut leaves and taste of the herbes de Provence upon which the goats roam. In the evening we enjoy dinner at a local restaurant. voyageur@longitude180.ca 3

4 Day 6 Valensole Plateau Walk: Valensole Plateau, 9.6 km, easy to moderate, 450-ft. elevation gain Hotel *** Bastide St Georges. Meals included: breakfast, picnic lunch, dinner at a local restaurant. Today, after croissants and café au lait at your hotel, you transfer across the Durance River to the Valensole Plateau, where the lavender fields stretch out seemingly infinitely to the horizon a giant sea of light purple here in the valley of the sun. Up until the early 20th century, the more than 300 square miles of land making up the plateau around the village of Valensole was covered in almond orchards; now it is almost entirely dedicated to lavender production. Your walk plunges you into the fields of lavender, overlooking the surrounding hillsides and valleys, all the while accompanied by lavender-scented breezes. You choose an ideal picnic spot before proceeding to a family-run lavender distillery. Here, you learn the difference between true lavande and lavandin, and their respective medicinal virtues and commercial uses. Returning to your hotel in the later afternoon, there is time to relax with a drink before gathering for a festive farewell dinner at a favorite local restaurant. Day 7 Avignon Transfer to Avignon Au Revoir beautiful Provence! voyageur@longitude180.ca 4

5 Includes TRIP INFORMATION 6 nights double occupancy in 4-star hotels 1 guides for 8 guests All transfers from the start in Avignon All activities described in the itinerary Meals noted in the itinerary welcome drink day1 & day4, wine with all dinners, local juice and soft drink, and tea or coffee during meals. Insurance Trip cancellation and interruption insurance is optional but highly recommended. Travel insurance offers peace of mind and financial protection against unforeseen events that might prevent your travel or completion of your trip. So please let me know if you wish to receive a quote. Price from in CAD $ 3390 based on double occupancy Hotels 3 nights at Château de Mazan **** in Mazan 3 nights at la Bastide St Georges **** in Forcalquier Level of Difficulty You enjoy walking as a means to get fresh air and see the countryside, without considering yourself as a "real hiker". You like to walk to get exercise on your holidays, and enjoy strolls in the countryside and discover Provence in a different & fun way. Walks are generally FROM 2-4 HOURS / day on easy terrain, with some climbing up to perched villages.. You don t need to be an athlete at all to enjoy this trip! Arrival and Departure Avignon is connected with the following airports: Avignon: 40 Km, Nimes: 40 Km, Montpellier: 80 Km, Marseille: 90 Km, Lyon: 280 Km. By Trains please contact us for timetables and prices or you can consult the following website: voyageur@longitude180.ca 5