Provence - A Family Vacation in France

After lunch and a visit, we leave Sénanque Abbey by way of an easy walk to Gordes that winds through the Village des Bories. Bories are amazing corbelled vaults of stone created by layers of flagstone with no mortar to secure them. Similar construction has been found through out remote parts of Europe, often dating to Neolithic times. Local experts date these bories to the 18th and 19th century, making them contemporary with the Renaissance château in Gordes. Kids love to get inside and scramble around them. (We've seen perfectly reserved adults do the same thing.) We arrive in Gordes mid afternoon with time for an ice cream and shopping. Returning to the hotel ,there's time to challenge one of the kids to some a game or two (boules anyone?) or lounge about before the adults head into town for dinner and the kids enjoy a cooking lesson at the hotel, along with the chance to enjoy their culinary creations. Overnight: Orange (countryside) Meals: B, L, D (kids only)

After lunch, we head off a short distance to visit the ruins of Château des Papes, the former summer house of the popes. The château was damaged in 1562 during the Wars of Religion and then finally destroyed in 1944. Clambering over and around the remaining walls gives the kids an up-close chance to see the scale of the original château and its magnificent views across the Rhône valley. Later this afternoon, the kids return with our guide to our château hotel for games around the pool, while adults head off a short distanceto the vineyards and village of Châteauneauf-du-Pape. Here, friends at an excellent winery welcome us for a tasting in the cellars, preceded by a tour through the vineyards of this famous wine-producing region, where grapes were first planted in the 14th century by the Avignon popes. We return to the hotel later in the afternoon in time to relax as a family, play games and read by the pool. Overnight: Orange (countryside) Meals: B, D

Mid-morning, we take an easy walk to the Pont-du-Gard. Built over 2,000 years ago, it was both a bridge and an aqueduct, and is now one of the remaining Roman wonders of Provence. The walk takes us first through vineyards and past remains of the old aqueduct system, finally arriving at thePont-du-Gard, which magnificently spans the Gordon River. Here, we have a special treat waiting for us- a picnic lunch along the banks of the river, and kayaks for an afternoon of paddling and exploring. We have available one and two man kayaks so that you can paddle on your own or with your kids, along with an instructor to keep us all under control during our leisurely afternoon on the water. 

This afternoon, a visit to an old olive oil mill offers us the opportunity to taste its products and learn about the age-old techniques in olive production. While summer is not olive picking season, we can often convince our guides to giveus a demonstration on how olives are harvested, by smacking the trees with long poles to make the olives fall into harvesting nets. We return to our château hotel in the late afternoon to relax before our farewell dinner together. Overnight: Orange (countryside) Meals: B, D