Day 1 Thursday
Meet in Aix
We'll meet at either the Aix/Marseilles Airport or TGV train station, your choice. Then we'll transfer to our hotel in Aix en Provence. Aix en Provence (often shortened to Aix and pronounced like aches) is a classy city with a university, numerous religious, historical, and architectrural sites, museums, and great shopping. The artist Cezanne lived here, and you'll see some of the places in his paintings. You'll have time to look around a bit before we have our first wonderful dinner.
Hotel in Aix

Day 2 & 3 Friday & Saturday
In Aix
You'll have ample time to explore Aix. This is a vibrant city with wonderful art and architecture and a different outdoor market everyday of the week. We'll have two full days to shop and explore. We can also go for a hike near Mont Sainte-Victoire, the mountain that Cezanne included in many of his paintings, or just come to the base of the mountain and enjoy a drink in the cafe there. You can also take an optional Saturday afternoon tour to Cassis, a small town on the coast known for its special liquor and the tiny rocky bays lining that stretch of coastline.
Hotel in Aix

Day 4 Sunday
Transfer from Aix to the Carmargue area
In the morning you can relax or see more of Aix. There is a different outdoor market everyday here, so that might be on your agenda, or we can always decide to go on the hike up Mont Sainte-Victoire this morning instead of Saturday. In the afternoon we transfer to our hotel just outside Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer in the Carmargue region with a brief stop to see the top sites of Arles on the way. The Carmargue is the large wetlands area at the mouth of the Rhone River known for rice, salt, birds, white horses, bulls, and a bit of gypsy heritage. The town of Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer is the main town of the area on the coast with a sandy beach and lots of fun shops and restaurants. We'll be staying just a few miles out of town in a comfortable hotel that has a great restaurant with local specialties and is right next door to a bird sanctuary complete with flamingoes and storks.
Hotel near Saintes-Maries-de-la-mer

Day 5 Monday
Carmargue area
Today is market day in Stes. Maries, and you'll have plenty of time to look around and see the sites. There's also the option of going horseback riding this afternoon on one of the white horses that this region is known for or of taking an optional boat ride up the mouth of the Rhone.
Hotel near Saintes-Maries-de-la-mer

Day 6 Tuesday
Transfer from the Carmargue area to St. Remy
On our way from Stes. Maries to St. Remy we'll stop and see Les Baux, where tiny shops line the streets on the way up to where you'll see ruins of a fortified city and a giant catapult. Afterwards, we'll stop at the Cathedral of Images, which is an amazing show of images on the walls of a huge cave. Then we'll continue on to St. Remy and, after checking into our hotel, we'll have time to look around town, see the ancient Gallo-Roman ruins of Glanum just at the edge of town, and walk in Van Gogh's footsteps.
Hotel in St. Remy

Day 7 Wednesday
St. Remy
Wednesday is market day in St. Remy, which has the best market I've found anywhere. You'll find soaps, spices, Provencal fabrics, napkins, and tablecloths, wines, cheeses, olives, street musicians, and on and on. After enjoying the town and market in the morning, we'll have a picnic lunch at the Roman aquaduct, Pont du Gard, on the way to the Chateauneuf du Pape wine region. Here we will visit a wine cellar and sample some wines of this well-known region before enjoying dinner in the area.
Hotel in St. Remy

Day 8 Thursday
Transfer from St. Remy to Saignon
After breakfast we'll head for Saignon. On the way we'll stop in the hill-top village of Roussillon for lunch and a look around this amazing town. Roussillon was famous for its ocher, which provided red pigment for artists throughout the world until synthetic pigments were produced. You can walk up to see the ocher quarry and you'll see the various red tones in the buildings throughout the village. After lunch and a good look around, we'll head on to Saignon (pronounced like señor but with an n instead of the r at the end). Saignon is a tiny hilltop village with a lot of charm just a few miles out of Apt in the Luberon area of Provence. From the ruins of a castle at the highest point in the village you can often see Mont Ventoux (on the Tour de France route) in the distance. Our hotel has a lot of character and charm plus a very good restaurant, so this will be a great place to spend the last two nights of our trip.
Hotel in Saignon

Day 9 Friday
Saignon
After a short drive this morning, we will visit the perched and picturesque village of Gordes. After lunch we'll see the Cistercian Abby of Senanque, then, if the group would like, stop at a Bories village showing how conical-shaped rock buildings were used in the past. On the way back to our village we can stop and see another hilltop village or visit a winery in the area if everyone would like to. Back in Saignon you can relax or go for a hike.
Hotel in Saignon

Day 10 Saturday
Transfer from Saignon to Avignon; end of trip

We'll leave mid-morning for Apt, the small city down below our hilltop village, for one last outdoor market. Apt is famous for its Sunday market and for the candied fruit it produces. Then we'll continue on to Avignon for a look at the Palace of the Popes, built for the summer residence of Popes back when Rome occupied the south of France. Finallly, I'll take you to theTGV train station in Avignon for a late afternoon high-speed train back to Paris or down to the Aix/Marseilles Airport.