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Day tour.
Registered guide, entrance fees.

Available from April 1st to November 18th.

ROUSSILLON / GORDES / SENANQUE ABBEY / CALISSONS
Pick up: 09:00 Aix en Provence Tourist Office. (Tuesday and Friday).

At 9.00 AM, meet your guide at the tourist office in Aix-en-Provence. Our 8 passengers minivan has air conditioning and comfortable seats. The journey to Roussillon is the nicest occasion to have a view on the famous perched village of inland Provence, such as Lacoste or Bonnieux. Pastels and ochre colors will attract your eyes as well as the beautiful hills of Luberon area. The contrast between warm and cold colours is overwhelming.

Ochre trail in Roussillon

Ochre has become the cornerstone of Roussillon's popularity. The village is today a highlight of Luberon, beguiling visitors thanks to its vivid colors. Sculpted by storms, this former ochre deposit today present enchanting scenery, which combines men and nature work. Cliffs, earth pillars, ochre-colored sand hillocks, after being dug out by shovels and picks, are henceforth shaped by the winds and rain.

It’s time now to leave Roussillon to go to Gordes, through a dramatic, narrow and winding road.

Gordes

Known as one of the most beautiful villages in France, Gordes is absolutely captivating. The town is located east of Avignon and just west of Roussillon, and like the latter it was built on top of a hill. The village’s 2,000 inhabitants live in stone houses with terracotta roofs. Gordes also has an impressive castle. The beauty of Gordes on top of the cliff and its panoramic views of the surrounding landscape were not lost on the many famous artists who frequented the village, such as Marc Chagall.

Sénanque Abbey

Notre-Dame de Sénanque Abbey is still a Cistercian monastery, since the mid-12th century, and not a museum or a tourist site. It’s allowed to walk around the valley and the abbey. Stretching out from the abbey buildings is a valley of lavender fields, which are in full flower and fragrance during the summer. The lavender is then harvested by the monks themselves to produce essential oil and other products. The Abbey went through trouble times in history and was ransacked a few times, alternating between flourishing time and destruction. Today and only since 1989, the abbey is again an active monastery. The church is unusually aligned to the north, instead of the east, because of the limited width of the valley in which is sits.

The next, lost in lavender fields is certainly one of the most famous postcards of Provence.

Lunch at your leisure.

Guided tour and wine tasting at a local domain.

Confiserie du Roi René

Created in 1920 in Aix-en-Provence by a master nougatier, the traditional candy store of the king René makes Calissons d’Aix, Nougats from Provence and many other types of local sweets. The use of delicious and local products is the key of their recipes; almond, honey, thyme, lavender, candied fruit...

Managed by the third generation of the family, the candy store is now leader in provençal high quality sweets and export in 24 countries!

Each generation brought his own innovations to the sweets, keeping the old way of making the Calisson ( a candy made from a paste of ground almonds, candied melon and orange peel on a thin layer of wafer, all covered with bright royal icing) and creating new sweets.

In 2012 the King René’s candy store got the label “company of alive heritage”, thanks to its excellence in its culinary tradition.

06:00PM: Drop off at Aix en Provence Tourist Office. End of the tour.

This tour includes

Transportation in a comfortable full options minivan for the day, English speaking escort guide, walk on the Ochre Trail in Roussillon, sightseeing in the top of the hill village of Gordes, photo stop at Senanque Abbey, guided tour and wine tasting at a local domain, guided tour and tasting of artisanal Calissons d'Aix. 8 passengers maximum per vehicle.

This tour doesn't include

Personal expenses, extra, other drinks, meals, hotel pick up 15.00 € per person (hotels located in Aix en Provence surroundings).