EPICURIOUS FRANCE

Take the direct morning train from Paris Gare de Lyon to Avignon where you will be met and transferred to your boutique country house with cosy all en suite rooms set in rolling farmlands just out of the city.
After a light lunch in town, take a guided walk around this gorgeous city.
A pre-prandial pastis or cocktail will be enjoyed at Hotel Nord Pinus, the former cult hotel that was the haunt of bullfighters and artists. Privately catered dinner tonight 'at home'.

Today, enjoy the centrally located museums of Arles: Museon Arlaten is dedicated to the ethnography of Provence; Fondation V van Gogh explores the impact of van Gogh and a bridge between contemporary creation and the artist; LUMA the most recent addition to Arles’ cultural scene designed by Frank Gehry; Musee Departemental Arles Antique is an important archaeological collection devoted to antiquity in all of Provence; Musée Réattu, an art museum that holds exhibitions of contemporary art.
Dinner this evening at the bistro of a renowned chef with wine.

Today venture out into this picturesque region. Stop at an ancient chateau for a wine and oil tasting. Continue to the chic city of Saint-Rémy. After lunch, return to Arles via Les Baux, a tiny medieval citadel clinging to a rocky outcrop that overlooks the Val d’Enfer, and enjoy the extraordinary audio-visual installations at Carrières de Lumières (quarry of lights), set in a vast former limestone quarry.
A fabulous dinner tonight at Chassagnette, where the menu elevates the fresh offerings of his garden and the bounty of the nearby Mediterranean Sea.

Saturday is the lively market day on Bd. des Lices where the heady aromas of Arabic spices will assail you and where we shop for the casual collaborative cooking session at the stunning relocation to a contemporary house in the heart of the Camargue.

This morning stroll the glamorous city of Aix en Provence, that spills out from a core of 18th-century buildings made of the golden Bibémus Quarry stone with tall plane trees lining the Cours Mirabeau, a boulevard with splashing fountains.
Continue to one of the most thrilling domaines of South France, Château la Coste where Irish owners have created a visionary and special place where art, architecture and land have come together. Artists and architects as famous as Tadao Ando, Frank Gehry, Alexander Calder, Louise Bourgeoise, chose a place in the domaine and were given the freedom to create something that would live there. The visit will include a self-guided walking tour, a wine tasting and lunch.

En route to Lagrasse, stop in Sète, that is bordered by the Étang de Thau, a biodiverse saltwater lagoon and the Mediterranean, the setting for the famous production of seafood. – mainly oysters and mussels. Stop for a lunch enjoyed with the local Picpoul de Pinet wine.
Later visit Via Narbo Museum designed by British architectural firm Foster + Partners to house the display of Roman antiquities found in Narbonne that was once a major Roman port.
Settle into your refined accommodation Bouquerie, before apéritifs and le dîner d' acceuil of local cheeses, and regional charcuterie.

This morning, shop for the ingredients for this afternoon’s cooking class and enjoy a typical lunch at Les Halles de Narbonne, one of the best food halls in Languedoc, known for its outstanding selection of fishmongers, butchers, local wines, and patisseries.
Dinner tonight will be the culmination of our cooking class held in the beautiful new culinary studio created by Christoff and Peter, accompanied by fine local wines.

Today is a more leisurely pace – time for a walk or gentle trek with a picnic lunch.
Later in the afternoon, a guided tour of the Abbey followed by beautiful sung evening vespers.
Dinner at a local restaurant with wines.

Today, set off for Famille Fabre au Chateau de Luc (whose family spans fourteen generations since 1605) – a vineyard located on the stony terraces of the Orbieu expressed in their organic wines by a beautiful concentration and an harmonious balance. Visit the stables / tasting cellar dating from the 14th century.
Lunch will be at a surprising Italian outpost near Carcassonne where the Antonini family have established a buffalo herd in the Corbières hills, and a restaurant that celebrates their mozzarella and authentic soulful rustic dishes a la Italiana. Later a tour and tasting at the very unique Chateau Maris. Farewell dinner at the village's finest restaurant.

After a leisurely breakfast bid Adieu to new found friends.
Suggested departures:
Train from Narbonne back to Paris
Drive 90 minutes to Toulouse International Airport from which 25 airlines fly including Air Canada, Air France, British Airways, KLM, Lufthansa. Or Drive just over an hour to Perpignan and take the new fast train (1hr 20 m) to Barcelona.
Join Marieke’s Magnificent Morocco tour that commences in Rabat 4 October