PROVENCE AND THE CAMARGUE
Avignon - Aigues-Mortes on even weeks
Reverse itinerary on odd weeks
For Golf players excursions are replaced by Golf playing
Your cruise itinerary
Day 1
Transfer from a defined picking point to Le Phénicien which is moored close to the Avignon ramparts. Time for a little nap or a free visit of the town. Our first dinner on board gives an indication of the high standard of cuisine that will be served during the cruise and the accompanying wines have been specially chosen from top-notch local vineyards.
Day 2
History and wines are our centers of interest today. We start with a visit of one of the best cellars of Châteauneuf-du-Pape. After the vineyards and the cellar visits, a wine tasting is organized. Then we take a guided tour to learn about the religious and artistic importance of the city's prestigious past with the palace of the Popes visit. This afternoon, we sail down to Vallabrègues, a quiet and charming little port where it is good to rest and play the pétanque. The wines tasted in the morning are back on the table at dinner.
Day 3
Spots of legend are many in the surroundings and we have the choice between the monumental Pont du Gard and the charming mediaeval village of Les Baux de Provence for example. After lunch we cruise down to Arles. Thanks to its wealth of Roman and mediaeval monuments, many of which are classified world heritage sites by UNESCO, the city could be called an open-air museum.
Day 4
Our guided visit in Arles will delve deep into antiquity and, at the same time, unravel the joys and despair of Van Gogh who painted 300 canvases during his year here in 1888. And so to the Camargue as we head west on the Canal du Rhône à Sète that links the Petit Rhône with the étangs, those inland seas that nudge the Med to the south of Montpellier. We moor in Bellegarde, a typical village proud of its bull fights traditions.
Day 5
After a guided tour to Beaucaire or Tarascon, the twin towns separated by the Rhône river, and their famous castles from the middle age, we set off for a heady visit of a famous Costières de Nîmes cellar. There we shall learn about how the ancient Romans made the wine, 20 centuries ago. The tasting session promises to remain in our memories for long. We navigate on the canal down to Saint Gilles, a city famous in the middle age for its Christian pilgrimages.
Day 6
For our last day of excursion, what would you say about a nice trip by calèche to visit the wild Camargue? There we reach a manade, a typical ranch, where the gardians à cheval, the local authentic cowboys, show us how they tend the herds of bulls on their superb white horses. Our final destination is Aigues-Mortes, a 14th century walled city rising from a flat landscape. This was the port from which St Louis set sail on his Crusades and it now provides us with a paradox - a perfectly preserved mediaeval fortress yet with a rectangular grid structure reminiscent of a new world town - the Camargue never fails to surprise.
Day 7
After breakfast, morning departure to the defined transfer point.
Return to Barge Tours
Please email us if you would like more information.
