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Day 1: (Hotel in Arles)
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Your guides will meet you at the
train station in Avignon.
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Drive to Arles,
settle into your hotel, rest.
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Apéritif and orientation.
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Day 2: (Hotel in Arles)
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Morning
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Guided tour of Arles,
one of the oldest towns of Provence, its history dating
back to the ancient Greeks. It became a metropolis
of Roman Gaul and was a cultural center throughout
the Middle Ages.
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Late Afternoon
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Discover the Camargue,
rich delta of the Rhône River,
a wildlife sanctuary and home to the celebrated white
horses, pink flamingos and black bulls.
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Day 3: (Hotel near Gordes)
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Morning
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Free time in Arles.
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Afternoon
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Explore the hillside fortress
of Les Baux-de-Provence
and the ancient Roman settlement of Glanum.
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Visit the tranquil monastery of
St-Paul-de-Mausole, the
sanitorium where Vincent Van Gogh
spent the last year of his life.
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Discover Saint-Rémy,
birthplace of physician-astrologer Nostradamus
and of the Provençal poet Frédéric
Mistral.
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Drive to the Lubéron.
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Day 4: (Hotel near Gordes)
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Morning
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Guided tour of Gordes,
classified as one of the "most beautiful villages
of France," and the 12th century Cistercian Abbey
of Sénanque nestled among its surrounding lavender
fields.
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Lunch followed by free time at
the hotel for a siesta or a swim.
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Late afternoon
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Short driving tour of the area
on the way to dinner in the quaint village of Vénasque.
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Day 5: (Hotel near Gordes)
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A day in the
Provence of Peter Mayle.
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Morning
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Drive to Roussillon,
another of the "most beautiful villages of France,"
a painter's palette village where all visible nature
and every structure of man is colored in shades of
ochre. Explore the village and possibly walk along
part of the Ochre Trail outside the town.
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Explore and walk in other villages
of the Lubéron that Peter
Mayle describes so vividly: tiny Oppède-le-Vieux;
Lacoste, site of the Marquis
de Sade's château; Ménerbes
and Bonnieux, clinging to
craggy hillsides.
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Evening
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Dinner in one of the favorite
sites described in "A Year in Provence."
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Day 6: (Hotel in Châteauneuf-du-Pape)
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Morning
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Drive to the wine village of Gigondas,
walk in the beautiful hills of the Dentelles
de Montmirail ("Montmirail Lace"), for panoramic
views of the region.
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Lunch
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Visit the village of Beaumes-de-Venise
in the foothills of the Dentelles, and taste the sweet
apéritif wine named for the village.
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Mid-Afternoon
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Visit Orange
and its immense Roman theater, which held 10,000 spectators
and is still used today for special performances.
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Walk through vineyards of Châteauneuf-du-Pape
and the village that produces this famous full-bodied
red wine.
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Day 7: (Hotel in Châteauneuf-du-Pape)
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Morning
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Visit the spectacular Pont-du-Gard,
a Roman aqueduct dating from 19 BC. The well-preserved
structure, part of a 31-mile-long water system, bears
witness to the engineering genius of the ancient Romans.
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Afternoon
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Leave for Avignon
and a tour of the city, followed by a visit to the
14th-century Palace of the Popes,
a magnificent setting for the 7 French popes who lived
there.
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Day 8:
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Morning
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Breakfast, then "au revoir."
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Departure
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Those returning to the States
will go to Avignon to take
the high-speed train (TGV)
to De Gaulle Airport.
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Those continuing on to Brittany
will take the train to Rennes.
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