 . . . and discovering
the heart of the Luberon
"The
year began with lunch", stated Peter Mayle in his
famous book A Year in Provence, and so begins
your wonderful week in Provence as the guest of Chef
Patrick Payet - Patrick even gets a mention in the book!
Everyone
has in their mind's eye an image of Provence but not
to have experienced the real Provence, away from the
coastal strip, is not to have experienced Provence.
If you travel just a brief half an hour beyond the busy
beaches and coastal towns, you will find lonely hills
and steep mountain passes, water falls, clear mountain
lakes, villages shaded by hosts of hundred-year-old
trees and a fraction of the people. A region of wonderful
colours, wonderful smells and a magic landscape. The
deep blue skies of summer are seldom clouded and the
sun has baked the houses, that gregariously crowd together
in the little villages, to shades of ochre and rose
whilst the deep red soil has provided roof tiles that
remain a rich red.
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The
many olive trees found throughout Provence provide one
of the staple ingredients of the local cuisine, a fine
olive oil used extensively in the cooking of local food.
Garlic is used more here than in any other part of France
whilst the tomato is very much a part of Provencal cuisine.
Wine is not grown as extensively in Provence as it is
in other parts of France, although some are quite good,
especially those produced in the Luberon region.
And
right in the heart of Provence is the Luberon where
you will find your host for the week, Chef Patrick Payet and his partner Babeth.
Patrick and Babeth will greet you in his superbly restored and furnished house in Cavaillon, which offers you incomparable comfort. Well sheltered between the Luberon and the Alpilles, Cavaillon offers picturesque scenery, tradition and history.
Day by day the team will help you to discover the characteristic way of life of the Provencal people. You will visit some traditional markets of this region offering all the local produce for which Provence is renowned - from olive oil to fine wines, chesses, fruits and vegetables. Also on the itinerary will be visits to the surrounding countryside and neighbouring villages . . . that are the very essence of Provence.
They want to offer what they belive is the perfect combination for a vacation - a fantastic cooking experience, fine food and wine, a comfortable and relaxed atmosphere and time for exploration of all the great things that make Provence famous!
Your
hosts:
Patrick and Babeth are very delighted to welcome you in their Provence and will make their best to make your stay unforgettable with each day full of new surprises and visits.
They will guide and inspire you, and your spare time will be filled with new places to discover and good restaurants to enjoy!
During the afternoon, Chef Patrick will be displaying his culinary art and disclosing the secrets of Provencal cuisine.
Patrick graduated from the school of Roger Verge and has run his own restaurant for twenty years in the town of Goult in Provence. He has even had a cameo mention in
Peter Mayle's famous book "A Year in Provence" . . . as well as a small role in Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe's movie released summer 2006!
Patrick and his team are very happy and pleased to welcome you to Provence and with their different programs, it is now your turn to choose your own way to discover all the tastes of their amazing Provence! Decide if you want to cook and visit or cook and walk.
Cooking
in Provence
Highlights of this trip includes:
- Wine tasting: wine of Luberon, Domaine de la Citadelle, Domaine de Marie and Chateau La Canorgue, where Ridley Scott's movie, A Good Year, was shot!
- Visit to the Lavender Museum in Coustellet and the Corkscrew Museum in Menerbes and Truffle and wine House in Menerbes.
- Fun hands-on cooking classes
- Cheese tasting (selection of the best cheese from France and Provence) and Provencal olive oil tasting
- Visit to the beautiful and antique villages of Luberon such as Gordes, Menerbes, Roussillon or Les Beaux de Provence . . . and the beautiful landscape of Provence
| Cooking
in Provence Program |
| DAY 1 |
Guests are welcomed and shown to their rooms. Lunch is offered and the itinerary is discussed. Guests are able to arrive at any time of the day. The usual means of arrival are via Marseille Provence Airport, by car or by train to Avignon. There is free time in the afternoon to rest, go for a walk or to discover the village.
Dinner is served at about 8:00 pm. |
| DAY 2 |
8:30 am Breakfast.
10:00 am Depart for the country market of Coustellet, where the local produce for all your cooking is purchased. Antique dealers are also to be found here, revealing some
hidden secrets of yesteryear.
Visit to Lavender Museum Afterwards there will be drinks in a local cafe, followed by free time during the afternoon to visit the Antique Market of L' Isle sur la Sorgue.
5:00 pm Cooking Class hands-on.
8:00 pm : Aperitif and dinner. |
| DAY 3 |
Breakfast
10:00 am Leave for the village of Menerbes, an ancient fortified town which was once a Protestant centre in the Vaucluse. It was this village where the author, Peter Mayle chose to settle and write his best selling book 'A Year in Provence'. Here too can be found the Corkscrew Museum, which displays history, sociology, technology and the arts from the Seventeenth century to today.
Visit to the winery of Domaine la Citadelle and wine tasting
If there is enough time, you will also visit the ancient village of Oppède le Vieux and visit the Olive Mill.
12:30 pm Lunch at Babeth's house: Cheese and olive oil tasting and free time in the afternoon. Some suggestions for your free time: visit of Cavaillon's Synagogue or Roman cathedral, some shopping or swimming at Babeth's gorgeous home.
5:00 pm Cooking class hands-on.
8:00 pm Aperitif and dinner. |
| DAY 4 |
Breakfast.
10:00 am You will visit the village of the Bories. These dry stone shelters, built by the local peasants and shepherds, constitute a real ethnological museum in the open air on the plateau of Gordes.
10:30 am You will visit the village of Gordes, with its local village market and its castle which was rebuilt in the mid Sixteenth century. Dominating the valley of the Coulon, this village was built on a spur of a mountain range.
12:30 pm Free time for lunch and in the afternoon.
Some suggestions for your free time: discover the beautiful village of Bonnieux and the cedar forest . . . a lovely place to walk. Also very close to Bonnieux can be found one of the oldest working Roman structures, Le pont Juilen . . . year 111 BC.
5:00 pm Cooking class hands-on.
8:00 pm Aperitif and dinner. |
| DAY 5 |
Breakfast.
10:00 am Visit Roussillon, a picturesque hilltop village perched on a bed of red and yellow ochre, which has been used to colour the facades of its local buildings for many hundreds of years. Also worth a visit is the Provencal Colorado on the southern side of the Doua Valley, where there are some spectacular walks through some old ochre quarries. No other village looks so warm and rich so harmonious and inviting.
We will pass by the Abbey of Senanque, a superb Roman building, located in the heart of the small valley of the Senacole. A place for meditation thanks to the silence and the surrounding beauty.
Then we will visit Fontaine de Vaucluse, a medieval village, tucked in a closed valley and its truly amazing and unique sight of a river gushing up out of the ground into waterfalls.
12:30 pm Free time for lunch and in the afternoon.
5:00 pm Cooking class hands-on.
8:00 pm Aperitif and Dinner. |
| DAY 6 |
Breakfast.
10:00 am A visit to Avignon, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Avignon's architecture is marked by papal history. Going through any of the seven doors of the superbly preserved walls one discovers the city of the Popes. Visit the Poe's Palace "the most beautiful and strongest house in the world" (Froissart). It is the symbol of the Church's influence over the Western world during the Fourteenth century. In July Avignon is the greatest theatre festival in the world. Then visit to the Bridge of Saint-Benezet.
12:30 pm Free time for lunch and for shopping in Avignon. Take your time wandering about the streets of Avignon. The ancient streets, the courtyards of the private mansions, the renovated facades will all charm you!
5:00 pm Cooking class hands-on.
8:00 pm Aperitif and Dinner. |
| DAY 7 |
Breakfast.
9:30 am A visit to Les Baux-de-Provence, a classified beauty spot and historical monument. Here there is much to discover of the old village. The old castle, dungeons, towers, etc. Another place full of magic is the Cathedral of Images located in the antique quarry of Les Baux-de-Provence.
12.30 pm Free time for lunch and in the afternoon. Some suggestions for your free time: visit the Roman archaeological site of Glanum, where extensive excavations reveal a district of Roman houses, all constructed with inner courtyards and lined with columns. Or shopping in Saint Remy de Provence.
5:00 pm Cooking class hands-on.
8:00 pm Aperitif and dinner then Diploma ceremony |
| DAY 8 |
Breakfast
with Patrick and preparations for your departure
during the morning, with the hope that you
will return again soon! |
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Arrival
& Depart:
Avignon TGV or Marseille Airport. Guests
need to rent a car for free time and transportation
to Cavaillon.
For
an additional fee, Patrick can provide transfers
to and from Avignon TGV station as well
as transportation during the week.
Seven
nights accommodations, welcome lunch, apertifs,
all breakfasts and dinners, unlimited wine,
cheese tasting, all excursions and fees
associated with planned itinerary, six hands-on
cooking lessons.
FOR
PRICES AND DATES PLEASE CONTACT PATRICK
<CLICK
HERE>
7
NIGHTS |
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Cooking
and Hiking in Provence
Highlights
of this trip include:
- Wine
tasting: wine of Luberon (Domaine de la Citadelle)
and famous wine of Chateauneuf du Pape (Cellar
of Château les Fines Roches)
- Dinner
at le Chateau les Fines Roches
- Visit
to the Lavender Museum in Coustellet and Corkscrew
Museum in Menerbes and Truffle and Wine House in Menerbes
- Fun
hands-on cooking classes
- Cheese
tasting (selection of the best cheese from France
and Provence) and Provencal olive oil tasting
- Beautiful
and ancient villages of Luberon, each different from
the other and the beautiful landscapes of Provence
- The
Pope's Palace in Avignon.
- Two
great hikes in The Luberon
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| le
Chateau les Fines Roches |
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| Cooking
and Hiking in Provence Itinerary |
| DAY 1 |
Meet
with your host in Cavaillon in Provence. Guests
are welcomed and shown their rooms. Lunch
is offered and the itinerary and program
are discussed. Guests are able to arrive
at any time of the day.
There is free time in the afternoon to rest, to swim, or to go for a walk in the pine forest with Patrick or to see the chapelle of Saint Jacques with the view over the valley . . .
Aperitif and welcome dinner are served at
about 8:00 pm. |
| DAY 2 |
Breakfast
10:00 am Depart for the farmer's market
of Coustellet where the local produce (vegetables
and fruits) for your cooking are purchased.
Antique dealers are also here, revealing
some hidden secrets of yesteryear.
Visit to the Lavender Museum where you can
buy perfumes, soap and essence of Lavender.
Afterwards there will be drinks in a local
café (a typical Provencal drink is
Pastis or wine) followed by free time during
the afternoon.
4:00 pm Hands-on cooking where you prepare
your own Provencal dinner
8:00 pm aperitif with Tapenade (olives,
anchovies, capers, basil, garlic and olive
oil) and dinner. |
| DAY 3 |
Breakfast
10:00 am Hiking and picnic. There are two
possibilities depending on the weather
Walk number 1: Discovery tour of the water
mills around Gordes. This last for two and
three-quarter hours and goes all along the
gorge of the Veroncle, from the village
of Murs to the hamlet of Grailles, where
youwill discover the remains of various
water mills from the Sixteenth to the Nineteenth
century
or
Walk
number 2: History of stone around Goult. This last for
two and a half hours.
Leaving from the beautiful village of Goult,
you will walk on footpaths bordered by typical
old stone walls, finding Marie-Madeleine
and Saint-Michel Chapels and discovering
a wonderful landscape which has been shaped
by terraced cultivation, built in the traditional
way with stone. Return to Goult at about
2.30pm for a rest.
4:00 pm Visit to Roussillon a picturesque
hilltop village perched on a bed of red
and yellow ochre, which has been used to
colour the facades of its local buildings
for many hundreds of years. Also worth a
visit is the Provençal Colorado on
the southern side of the Doua Valley, where
there are some spectacular walks through
some old ochre quarries. No other village
looks so warm and rich, so harmonious and
inviting.
8:00 pm Dinner |
| DAY 4 |
Breakfast
10:00 am You will visit the village of the
'Bories'. These dry stone shelters, built
by the local peasants and shepherds, constitute
a real ethnological museum in the open air
on the plateau of Gordes. They dated from
3500 BC and were regularly rebuilt, using
ancient methods.
You will visit the village of Gordes, the
local village market and its castle which
was rebuilt in the mid Sixteenth century.
The building was bought and restored by
the Op Art painter Victor Vasarely. Dominating
the valley of the Coulon, this village was
built on a spur of mountain range.
Free time in the afternoon.
4:00 pm: Hands-on cooking class
8:00 pm: aperitif and dinner. |
| DAY 5 |
Breakfast
10:00 am to 1:00 pm cooking class
Lunch
3:00 pm Walk number 3: Charming stream hiking
in Sivergues, at the top of Luberon with
a duration of two and three-quarter hours.
You will depart from the magical village
of Sivergues, built by the Lord of Provence
in the Sixteenth century, from where you
will follow the course of the charming Aiguebrun
stream.
You will be able to admire on the right
bank of the brook, perched on a dizzy and
inaccessible cliff, the blue lavender, and
the dry and stony plateau de Claparèdes.
On the left bank, the wood and pastures
of the Big Luberon. During the walk you
will be fascinated by the troglodyte houses,
farms and refuges.
Back to Gianni's farm-auberge in Sivergues
at 6:00 pm to admire the beautiful sunset
on the Luberon Valley
Around 7:00 pm Aperitif and Dinner with
authentic produce made on the farm. |
| DAY 6 |
Breakfast.
10:00 am Leave for the village of Menerbes,
an ancient fortified town which was once
a Protestant centre in the Vaucluse. It
was this village where the author Peter
Mayle chose to settle and write his best
selling book 'A Year in Provence'. Here
too can be found the Corkscrew Museum, which
displays history, sociology, technology
and the art from the Seventeenth century
to today. The corkscrew museum has more
than 1,000 pieces on exhibit . . . starting
with the first corkscrew forged by hand
in steel, to the decorative objet d'art
in solid gold. Let yourself be guided through
the centuries and across countries whilst
discovering this unique collection.
You will also visit the ancient village
Oppede le Vieux of which the dominating
ruined castle belonged to Jean Maynier,
Baron of Oppedes, whose bloody crusade against
the Luberon Vaudois in 1545 destroyed eleven
villages. Then a visit to the olive Mill,
Moulin Mathieu, and visit of the winery,
Domaine de la Citadelle, and wine tasting
of red, white and rose wines . . . these
fresh and smooth flavours reveal a typical
Luberon soil character.
12:30 pm Lunch and a cheese and olive oil
tasting.
Free time in the afternoon.
4:00 pm Hands-on cooking class
8:00 pm aperitif and dinner. |
| DAY 7 |
Breakfast.
10:00 am Visit to Avignonm and the Palace
of the Popes, "the most beautiful and
strongest house in the world". The
Palace of the Popes is the symbol of the
Church's influence over the western world
during the Fourteenth century. In July Avignon
holds the greatest theatre festival in the
world and you can visit the Bridge Saint
Benezet. The legendary bridge was built
during the Twelfth century . . . the famous
song Sur le Pont d'Avignon goes back to
the Fifteenth century and is known the world
over.
1:00 pm Free time for lunch and shopping
in Avignon.
3:30 pm Departure for Chateauneuf du Pape
to visit the beautiful wine cellar in the
castle, Chateau les fines Roches, and wine
tasting followed by dinner in Le Château
des fines Roches |
| DAY 8 |
Breakfast
with Patrick and preparations for your departure
during the morning, with the hope that you
will return again soon! |
| |
Arrival
& Depart:
Avignon TGV or Marseille Airport. Guests
should consider renting a car for free time
and transportation to Cavaillon.
For
an additional fee, Patrick can provide transfers
to and from Avignon TGV station as well
as transportation during the week.
Seven
nights accommodations, welcome lunch, apertifs,
all breakfasts and dinners, unlimited wine,
cheese tasting, all excursions and fees
associated with planned itinerary, four
hands-on cooking lessons.
FOR
PRICES AND DATES PLEASE CONTACT PATRICK
<CLICK
HERE>
7
NIGHTS |
|
The House on top of the hill
Patrick will greet you in his newly and beautifully restored house in Cavaillon, which offers you incomparable comfort, large and well equpped kitchen, and swimming pool with Jaccuzzi in its pine tree garden.
Situated in the heart of the Luberon and well sheltered in a pine forest, this beautiful house has an exceptional panoramic view which includes the Mont Ventoux and the hills of the Luberon . . .
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