In 2016, Caroline and I visited friends who had moved to Southern France, to the village of Vic, near Uzes.
I had been most interested in this area after reading about it. It was a great opportunity to go to the area and see it with “a local”. We had a great time and the visit exceeded all of our expectations.
Our friends, Richard and Sue asked us if we could bring a group over in 2017 to share these experiences.
The WOW tour thus became our new project. We called it WOW tour as every day provides another WOW experience.
Meticulous planning by Richard and Sue meant all we had to do was arrive and enjoy. We had a small group of eight, which was perfect and we set up in a lovely villa in the Medieval Town of Uzes. Uzes oozes charm and character, history and fantastic markets. We used this as a base to visit many surrounding areas, all with their own history and charm. We visited Arles, famous for its arena and home to Van Gogh in his latter years; Nimes which has many remains of Roman influences and Avignon which is home to the Popes’ Palace and much more.
We kayaked down the Gardon River and paddled right under the Pont du Gard which is a World Heritage site. We also visited numerous Provence villages whilst passing by beautiful rural properties with grapes and lavender ….. so purple! The hilltop villages all have their own character and are stunning. We stopped at Menerbes, Bonnieux, Rousillon and Gordes. On another day we drove to the Camargue district and stopped at Aigue Mortes, which is a massive, intact, walled city. What a magnificent place this is and just something you must see to appreciate.
So far I haven’t mentioned the food and wine. Richard had sourced all of the best restaurants for us to try, as well as prepare many other meals for all to enjoy at the villa with local ingredients. Our friends found themselves eating foods they had never tried, for example: snails cooked four different ways, Tieles (traditional octopus pie), an abundance of fresh local fruits, and of course fromage! What a feast we enjoyed each day and the wines were superb! There were a few other surprises and everyone agreed that he tour was brilliant and one so different to normal tours. It is also one that no one else really offers, but it is very well worth it. We plan to go back gain in June 2018, so if you are interested in having this WOW experience with us, which is largely fully inclusive, please contact me in the office end I will forward you all the details.
Caroline now claims this to be her second favourite place in the world, besides home!
