home about us reviews videos travel tips travel services eco shop ezine blog contact us

Provence cooking & walking holiday

country:France
location:St Jeannet, Provence
price:From €430 - €790 (3 days) excluding flights. Price includes all accommodation, meals, transfers and activities
 
description
A 3 day/3 night package in the south of France in our home with a maximum of 6 people to guarantee a convivial and friendly atmosphere. This package will give you the rare opportunity to live with local people and meet their friends in rural France, taste the regional products, admire the beautiful landscape, get off the beaten track and experience the French culture from the inside.

This trip includes:
  • 3 nights accommodation in our lovely house
  • 4 French breakfasts. The “must” of our breakfasts are the home made jams prepared by Corinne, with very original flavours: banana and coconut, strawberry and geranium, peach and rose etc. It depends mainly on the fruits of the season. We try to provide everything you could want for breakfast, with fresh bread, croissants, viennoiserie, cereal, yogurt, fresh fruits, juices etc.
  • 3 lunches, with two “pique-nique à la française” and a Nice-specialty lunch on the cooking day, including drinks. It is possible to have lunch outside during visits to the local villages in which case lunch is at own cost.
  • 3 three-course dinners, including the apéritif (usually home made) with little apetizers, a main dish, a magnificent platter of cheese of course and a desert! All is homemade, with local and fresh vegetables of the season purchased at the local producers. The wine of St Jeannet is the only thing extra, but we sell it at the same price we buy it at the local vineyard to give our guests the opportunity to drink a fantastic and unique wine at a very reasonable price.
  • Visit to a local market (or two) with Corinne for half a day
  • One afternoon cooking session with Corinne, in our home (Benoit doesn’t cook but he does the washing up!)
  • 1 hiking-day with Benoit around the hills surrounding the area, including the historical visit of our lovely village
  • 1 day tour with Corinne & Benoit around the little villages in the “arrière pays” of Nice
  • Depending on the season, there will be at least one visit to a local producer, like the visit to an olive oil mill, an olive tree plantation, a local cheese factory and the local vineyard of St Jeannet. Of course sampling is part of the experience…
  • All the transport during the stay with our Renault Traffic, from the rendez-vous point in Nice on the first morning, back to the same point on the fourth morning. Depending on the situation, a meeting at your hotel or at the airport is possible
  • And of course, friendliness and authenticity which have no price
  • If needed, internet connection is also available with no charge
    itinerary:
    Day 1:The first day will be devoted to exploring the gastronomical delights of French cuisine: we will take you to a market held by local producers in the morning and enjoy the nice atmosphere of cooking together while sampling a nice glass of wine in the afternoon.
    Day 2:On the 2nd day we will go on a walking tour to discover the charming village of St Jeannet. And for the slightly more adventurous there is an opportunity to hike up the "Baous" (the local Mediterranean hills) where the best views are to be had over all the French Riviera. Hiking tours can be tailored to various fitness abilities.
    Day 3:On the 3rd day we will discover the outlying villages typical of the area off the tourist track. Sampling the local red wine at St Jeannet's vineyard, the last one in the all area led by the same family for the last four generations will be the outstanding experience for the day.

    We also offer “à la carte sojourn” to meet up with our guests expectations and own schedules.
  • how this holiday makes a difference
    We are keen supporter of local farmers and artisans. All the produce is sourced locally and the fruits and vegetables are mostly organic. We only serve local St Jeannet wine in order to encourage the local industry and also arrange visits to the local cellar.

    Having grown up in the region Benoit is understandably enthusiastic about the village and its surroundings. He is an excellent guide and willingly shares information relating to the history, culture and geography of the region. A stay here is a wonderful way to explore French culture.

    The best action we can take to respect our environment is to let people know how to behave while walking in the countryside or in the mountains, such as keeping our litter with us, not taking flowers, respecting wildlife habitats etc. As a certificated walking guide and a professional mountaineer, this is Benoit’s duty. He also offers his guests walks in the National Park of the Mercantour just an hour and a half away from home, which is a protected area in term of plants and animal species. There are nearly 60 “endemic” plants species, and the guards of the park have already reintroduced animal species such as the “gipaete barbu”, a huge raptor bird that had been hunted until it disappeared, and vultures that travel now between this park and the regional park of the Verdon. Also, wolves have come back in the park via Italy through the Alps and are now protected as well. Guardians of refuges in the National Park sometimes have the opportunity to observe them.

    Tourism can be good and bad for destinations & local people.

    We carefully screen every holiday against our criteria for responsible travel.

    'Look behind the brochure' to find how each holiday makes a difference (see left).

    We don't claim to be perfect - there is no global accreditation - but we've led the way since 2001 and screened 1000's of holidays.

    We invite every traveller to write a review about their experiences and responsible tourism.

    This valuable feedback is sent to the people who run the holidays. We keep a very close eye on it and take off holidays that don't live up to our standards.

    Convert currencies