Gastronomic Provence - La cuisine du soleil, history and art in the South of France

Fly at c. 12.15pm from London Heathrow to Nice (British Airways). An introductory talk precedes dinner near the hotel. First of four nights in Nice. 

A guided food walk through Nice is an opportunity to sample local delicacies such as socca, chickpea batter baked in a ferociously hot oven, and pissaladière, a sort of Provençal pizza. In the urban appellation of Bellet, in the steep wine hills above the city, taste a rare wine produced in the tiniest quantities. Dinner is at two Michelin-starred Flaveur. The chefs, brothers Mickaël and Gaël Tourteaux, who earned their second star in 2018, create characterful, delicate dishes. Second of three nights in Nice.

Mary Lynn Riley, MRT lecturer, resident of the Côte d’Azur and specialist in modern art joins the tour today. Drive first to the Maeght Foundation, renowned for its collections (Picasso, Hepworth, Miró, Arp, Giacometti, but not all works are shown at once) and for its architecture and setting. Lunch is at La Colombe d’Or in St-Paul-de-Vence, long famous for the artistic crowd that it attracts as well as its fresh regional cuisine. In the afternoon visit the Chapelle du Rosaire, a Dominican chapel designed by Matisse. 

The Marché Forville in Cannes is a vast covered market whose colourful stalls are laden with seasonal fruits and vegetables, flowers, locally caught seafood, cheese and charcuterie. From Cannes take a short ferry to the Île Saint-Honorat. On this small island is the Abbaye de Lérins, a Cistercian monastery with a small community of monks who cultivate the surrounding vineyards. We walk through the vineyards, have a wine tasting and picnic lunch before returning to Nice.

An early departure from Nice for the pretty port of Cassis. Accessible only by boat, visit the hidden bays of the calanques that are home to the bony rock fish traditionally thrown into the fisherman’s pot. Afterwards, overlooking the water, feast on that amazing festival of the sea, la bouillabaisse. An evening wine tasting at the hotel in Avignon (situated in a former 16th-century residence) celebrates the wines of the Rhône, a mighty river of wine since the times of the Greeks and Romans. First of three nights in Avignon.

Morning visit to the Pont du Gard aqueduct, an astonishing feat of Roman engineering. The area’s Roman heritage is celebrated at Mas des Tourelles, a winery built on the site of a Gallo-Roman wine cellar where ancient wine-making techniques are preserved. Tasting and picnic lunch at a nearby family-run winery in the Costières de Nîmes. Return to Avignon via an olive oil producer in the heart of the Alpilles; the mill, dating to the 12th century, has been run by the same family for 10 generations. Dinner at Restaurant Sevin (formerly Christian Étienne). Chef Guilhem Sevin, who worked with Étienne for nearly two decades before taking over the restaurant in 2016, creates modern menus in a striking historical setting in the shadow of the Palais des Papes. 

Drive through the Camargue, a windswept landscape home to wild horses, and where salt has been harvested from the flats for thousands of years. Lunch is within the medieval city walls of Aigues-Mortes. Return to Avignon for some free time before a final dinner at one-Michelin-starred La Vieille Fontaine within the hotel. Chef Pascal Auger creates refined, beautiful dishes paying particular attention to seasonality.

Late morning departure from Avignon for Marseille airport. Fly to London Heathrow arriving c. 4.00pm.