Faucon, Vaison La Romaine & The Vaucluse
Faucon is in the Vaucluse department of south east France. It is a beautiful medieval village situated on a hilltop just 5km from the larger town of Vaison la Romaine.
In the village we have great restaurant and there is a bar just around the corner and a fantastic bakery where we buy fresh bread and croissants every morning for breakfast. Across the road there is a wine bar which is open from June until September.
Vaison La Romaine is a much busier market town and is famous for it's Roman ruins. In particular it's 1st century AD theater which is still used today for concerts, operas and choral singing.
Vaison is also famous for a number of local products and much of the surrounding countryside is given over to the production of olives and olive oil as well as apricots, cherries and lavender.
Every Tuesday morning a large Provencale market takes over the town and it is a great place to buy all the products mentioned above and also local cheeses, cured meat from The Ardeche and walnut oil from the Isere valley. On Sunday between May and September a craft market also lines the streets of the old town.
To the west of Vaison are the Cotes du Rhone vineyards and famous wine villages such as Gigondas, Rasteau, Sablet, Seguret, Vinsobres and Chateauneuf du Pape are just a stone's throw away. Needless to say wine tasting is a popular passtime in this area!
We will happily arrange wine tasting trips to some of the best local vineyards and if you happen to go wine tasting while you are out cycling we can arrange to collect any wine you buy later.
There is masses to do in and around Vaison la Romaine for non cyclists and cyclists on a rest day. One of the main attractions is walking in the surrounding countryside and visiting some of the scenic perched villages in the region. Most villages have waymarked circuits for ramblers and local "randonee" maps can be found at the local tourist offices.
For a fully guided Trekking holiday in our region we highly recommend Trekking in Provence run by Hilary Sharp. Hilary offers great walking holidays in the stunning and unspoilt Barronies hills in the northern part of Provence close to us here near Mont Ventoux.
Rock climbing is also popular in The Dentelle Mountains and in the nearby village of Buis les Baronnies.
Horse riding is also very popular and there are many local equestrian centres offering half and full day trekking packages.
There are two large waterparks close by, Nyonsoleido and la Saggataire are just 10km away and are open from June to September. There are waterfalls, slides and a large pool to keep the kids happy and quiet areas for sunbathing.
Further afield there are some great tourist attractions. More notably the Pont du Gard just an hour away and the historic cities of Avignon and Aix en Provence. The famous Old Port in Marseille is just one and a half hours away.