Need suggestions on best location in Provence for outdoor activities such as biking, hiking, canoeing in October. Also, does anyone know of a location for cooking classes in Provence. I emailed cuisineprovencal.com (recommended by Rick) and received no answer. When I tried to contact by phone, the phone has been disconnected.
Posted by
Springfield, VA, USA
283 posts
Suggestions for outdoors activities:
Pont de Gare has great canoeing and Rick discusses the locations, etc. in his books. Mt Ventoux offers great hiking, etc. There is a fantastic hike through vineyards between Sablet and Seguret. Also, you can rent bikes almost everywhere and the biking is great, as the land is pretty flat.
There should be lots of cooking schools. Just google "cooking schools provence france". I got a ton of hits. Also, you might email the wine cave in Chateneuf de Pape that Rick recommends. I know that when I have been there, a lot of cooking schools bring students to visit them. They might be able to give you a recommendation.
Enjoy!
Posted by
US Pacific Northwest
10344 posts
You say October. Depending on when in October--early, middle, or late October--the weather for mountain hiking (someone mentioned Mt Ventoux) may be a bit coolish and mountain areas tend to be windy as well. October is a transition month in weather there, thus realistic expectations and appropriate clothing will help if you plan to do hiking in the hills/mountains. Also, you mentioned vineyards--just so it's understood that by October the vineyards probably will have that brown barren look that vineyards have after the harvest, which is in September in most French wine regions. And the nearest urban area to Pont du Gard is Avignon.
Posted by
OP
Atlanta, GA, USA
11 posts
As of today planning to travel mid October, but no firm travel arrangements yet. Open to suggestions. I really liked the offerings and the feel on the website for cuisineprovencal.com but of no value if they do not answer their phone or email. Does anyone know if they are still in business?
Posted by
Lebanon
711 posts
Hi Nancy... I got your PM ,but after people PM back and forth a while Steves limits the conversation, so I found your post and I am answering here. I see you are going in October, which is a lovely time, but can be cold. We usually go at the end of September , so we can see the people picking grapes.. Now last year, inProvence the grapes were still on the vines until about October15, but I think it was an unusual year. It is beautiful when the grapes are still on the vine. We always drive down from Paris and I have not flown into either Nice or Marsaille. We photograph markets and small villages and have not really gotten into the Riviera, so it is easier to drive down fromParis for us. I guess I would fly into Nice and return the car to Orly if I were driving to Paris last. The only cooking classes or similar I know of is at the Chateau Vaulx . I believed I told you about that. This is in Burgundy.We did a lot of hiking through vineyards and small villages to photograph, but nothing set up .Also, we have biked along the Burgundy canal, but Provence is pretty hilly, big hills, and we had a lot of camera gear. Sorry I cannot be of more help. Jane
Posted by
US Pacific Northwest
10344 posts
Travelers visiting Provence and departing from Paris usually do one of two things for flights: 1) Fly open jaw into Marseilles-Provence Airport and out of Paris; or, 2) if they can get a sufficiently lower airfaare, they round trip into and out of Paris, taking the TGV to Provence (and often renting a car in Provence, if they want to see sights in the country not served by rail). If Provence and Paris are your only destinations, flying into or out of Nice is not necessary and involves extra travel time and cost, since Nice is far east of Provence.