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Baux de Provence

The weekend of 14-16 December 2007 there is the “Petit Marché du Gros Souper“, (Christmas market) in St Remy-de-Provence (13 Bouches-du-Rhone, Provence) where you can find the traditional ingredients for the your festive celebrations.
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At this time of the year, all of the shops are magnificently decorated, full of gifts and buzzing with activity.
Saint Remy de Provence is the home of a number of excellent santon makers, and first-rate producers of candied fruit, chocolates, biscuits, bread, cakes, honey, nougat and many other objects of delight, some of which are part of the symbolic Christmas thirteen desserts.

With strong links to Vicent Van Gogh and just 15 miles south of Avignon, St Remy is a lively and attractive Provencal town - close to the olive and grape vineyards of Les Baux de Provence and the Alpilles.
Recommended vineyard - Mas Sainte Berthe at Les Baux

Eurostar connections direct from London St Pancras International, Ebbsfleet. Ashford to Avignon:

For more info on the Christmas Market in St Remy-de-Provence CLICK HERE

St Remy-de-Provence (13, Bouches-du-Rhone, Provence) holds it Fête du Vin et de l’Artisanat - featuring the local wines of Les Baux de Provence and Coteaux d’Aix-en-Provence and local crafts - market stalls with olivesm foie gras, cheese, oysters and honey - music each night in the town.
See www.saintremy-de-provence.com

Heading from Provence into the Languedoc the route starts at Marseille (13 Bouches-du-Rhône, Provence) finishing in Montpellier (34 Herault, Languedoc-Roussillon) joining two of the major cities of southern France, and crossing through the Baux-de-Provence Appellation - see Domaine de Valdition and Mas Sainte Berthe before heading into the Coteaux du Languedoc AC region

For more info on the Tour de France 2007 see www.letour.fr or UK Eurosport where there are some good interactive maps of the route.

For some Canadian friends we put together some ideas from our experience to demonstrate how best to do a few days wine touring in the southern Rhône Valley. This is such a rich area to visit - scenically, historically and from a wine (and food) perspective.

We chose to base the tour in St Remy de Provence (13, Bouches-du-Rhône, Provence) a few miles south of Avignon for easy access to Les Baux de Provence, Beaumes-de-Venise, Vacqueyras, Gigondas, Cairanne, Lirac, Tavel and Chateauneuf-du-Pape.

Others will choose different start points and other vineyards - importantly we think wine tours need to be paced, as an over-indulgence can dull the senses and diminish the enjoyment. And there are so many other things to do in the region, as well as just relax in the delightful climate and atmosphere of Provence.

For more info see www.frenchduck.co.uk