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Our Tour "Themes"...

The Bike Tour
The Roman & Castle Tour
Art and Beach Tour
Camargue and Féria Tour
Le Lubéron Tour
The Wine Crush Tour
The Fall Colors Tour
The Marmiton Cooking Class
The Avignon Festival Tour
The Senior Tour of Provençe
American Student Tour of Provençe
Abbeys and Cathedrals of Provençe
The Dive Trip

Other...

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The Manse
The Cloisters
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Biking & Hiking

Although this is THE land of culture, the reason I was first attracted here was the park trail-system, which I discovered in its November foliage, exquisite, sun drenched, and many-hued.When a place has been inhabited since the Phoenicians and Greek City-states (1500 BC) you can imagine that the village-to-village trail system is intricate and secretive, and a great way to get in touch with nature.

All our tour dates are open to each theme, and the Bike/Hike Theme is a favorite twist that many of our guests like to add. Sometimes we only have a couple of people on a theme, and this is particularly true of our bike/hike tours. More often than not, we assign you to our trusted & gnarly local guide.

ALTERNATIVELY, we can show you how to get all the biking or trekking you might need during your 5 free days, and still be able to partake of all the Van Day Trips. Sometimes we take you out with the bikes on top of the Van, and let you explore Van Gogh's countryside while we visit Van Gogh's town.

We have the guide, we have the maps, we have the flexibility to provide this theme to you ANY time of the year. The summer tours are the best months for this theme, since we personally take our 15-18 year old guests on treks that allow us to cool off in the countryside's meandering rivers and streams. In the Fall, we drop hikers off so that they can climb a wooded path along a dry creek bed to the abbey where we join them two hours later.

Most of these trails are used as horse trails, such as the ones near the Pont du Gard. One of Europe's great treats, this remarkably well-preserved Roman aqueduct was built before Christ. Walking across this 160 ft-high behemoth is second only in thrills to following the long trail that lounges the banks of the Gardon River (12 mi from Avignon).

There are Bike Touring Companies who will guide you on marvelous single-day trips, with ground support, or on easier strolls in the beautiful countryside, if you want to do this on your own. Planning your own out of the way jaunt is possible when you have "free" days of your own. In August, the Parish Tour always includes a bike trip to Daudet's Mill and the ancient roman mill towns. Be aware that biking is much safer here than in the US. Drivers look out for bikers here and will give you a short honk to warn you that they are coming up behind you.

I am always amazed that bike tours have not figured out the kind of roads Americans like to be on; the best advice I can give you is to take our carefully designed bike tours, which accommodate all levels of ability.

On your own, take a bus or rented car, go north 15 miles to Carpentras or Orange ($4 bus ride), then return to Avignon via the vineyards of Chateauneuf-du-Pape, a hospitable & relaxed wine-tasting region.

Once you've been out and about in the van, you can point out places you'd like to go back & see on your own; we're there to help you. But if you think that asking a concierge at a hotel for the same info will be adequate, think again; 3/4ths of Avignonais don't even know that there are Roman ruins inside Avignon! Head for Carpentras and go north again to Rasteau village, where my friends at Domaine des Girasols will open their cellars to your palate.

Have lunch in Gigondas at the only outdoor café‚ in town, and finish off at St.Cécile or Sablet. You're still only one hour from The Parish's front door. Closer to home, just walk out the back gate or bike in 5 minutes to L'Isle de la Bartelasse and its poppy fields.

In any direction, from the lush (flat) grasslands south of Arles, Camargue, where wild bulls, pink flamingos, and the native white horses wander freely in rice fields and lagoons, to the hill towns of the Lubéron on country roads with practically no vehicular traffic, to Arles' secret architectural treasures, to cross-country panoramas, stop-overs at a monastery, riverside restaurant or prehistoric cave, nothing replaces local know-how to exploit your time in Provençe.

Compare and contrast with other bike tours, how they deal with the wind, the poor restaurants on main roads, and traffic. Ask yourself: what is the point of going between progressive geographic points?  Isn't the point to have fun, safely, with a nice viewing of Provençe along the way?

For more information, please contact me at:

toursofprovence@aol.com

or call

970.241.5034