Provence

Your Guardian Angel meets you in Avignon and accompanies you to your hotel. The remainder of the day is at leisure to take a first look at this historic Provençal town.

Join your local guide for a half-day walking tour in the magnificent papal stronghold of Avignon, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the capital of Christendom in the Middle Ages. Visit the Clock Square and the huge Palais des Papes, where seven exiled popes lived between 1309 and 1377. Its main rooms are decorated with stunning 14th-century frescoes.

The medieval village of Les Baux-de-Provence is dominated by the ruins of a magnificent fortress hidden between the craggy hilltops of the Alpilles. Explore the village, admiring the ancient houses that have been carefully restored, and view some of its 22 historic monuments. Visit the "Quarries of Light," an old monumental limestone quarry that hosts an extraordinary multimedia sound and light show in which images are projected onto the rock walls, bringing the works of various artists to life. Then continue to St-Rémy-de-Provence with its Roman antiquities. Van Gogh immortalized the countryside around St. Rémy in more than 150 paintings. Nearby is the archaeological site of Glanum, a unique Gallo-Roman site which features fascinating both civic and religious edifices. Also, visit St Paul de Mausole, the asylum into which Vincent Van Gogh admitted himself and the subject of many of his canvasses during his respite there. Time permitting, return to Avignon via the town of Arles.

You are transferred by private vehicle to Avignon's train station.