YOUR PROGRAM

Departure with your guide for a day tour towards the south of our region: the province of Ardeche.

Stopover in a family factory baking chestnut cookies and other products, made from chestnut flour. Chestnut trees are very numerous and popular in this region and a wide range of products are made from the fruit: chestnut cream, marrons glacés, jam, cakes… but also used as stuffing in many kinds of meat dishes such as roast beef, game or poultry.

Continuation with the guided walking tour of a middle-aged village, one of the 20 classified villages in Ardeche, built as an amphitheater or perched on a cliff. Enjoy a stroll through a labyrinth of little narrow streets intersected by arcades and their ancient houses.

Arrival in Vallon Pont d’Arc and lunch in a typical local restaurant.

In the afternoon, guided tour of the remarkable UNESCO World Heritage site of the Cave of Pont d’Arc: the first masterpiece of humanity dating from 36000 BC. Located on a limestone plateau of the Ardeche River, the property contains the earliest-known and best-preserved figurative drawings in the world, dating back as early as the Aurignacian period, making it an exceptional testimony of prehistoric art. Over 1000 images have so far been inventoried on its walls, combining a variety of anthropomorphic and animal motifs. Of exceptional aesthetic quality, they demonstrate a range of techniques. Before or after admiring the cavern, explore freely the prehistoric world in the Aurignacian Gallery. A captivating film, interactive touch screens, life-size woolly rhinos, mammoths, and bison from the steppes, all help you to understand the environment, flora and fauna of men and women who lived in our land 36 000 years ago. 

On the way back to Lyon, passage through the impressive classified protected area of the Ardeche canyon and its famous “Pont d’Arc”, a majestic natural arch over 30 meters high. The river steps into the deep gorges surrounded by cliffs reaching 300 meters in height and shape meander interspersed with numerous rapids. Photo stops on the way.

Other sites to seen in Ardeche :

The cave of Aven d’Orgnac, the lavender museum, the Roure middle-aged castle and its silkworm nursery.