* France - Drome Region and Vercors National Park

Arrive in Valence then Romans in time for lunch. We visit with the group the International Shoe Museum whose collection dates back to antiquity. Next stop Hauterives to visit the surreal "Palais Idéal du Facteur Cheval", postman Ferdinand Cheval's Ideal Palace. Cheval was the local postman who spent years building this intricate and highly decorated mini palace to his own design using stones he came across on his rounds. Dinner and overnight.

We leave for Grignan and its miniature Provencal village. Then onwards through olive groves to Nyons where we visit with the group its museum dedicated to the culture of the olive. Provencal style lunch. At St Paul Trois Chateaux we stop at the Truffle and Tricastin Centre, dedicated to all aspects of this much sought after delicacy as well as to the region's Tricastin wine. A wine tasting session follows.  Finally we visit a nougat factory in Montelimar and sample the produce.  Dinner and overnight.

We head for Pont en Royans with its houses hanging onto the cliff wall. We visit the Water Museum which explains all things to do with water's importance and how resources are managed in the region. On to Vassieux en Vercors, and time for lunch. At the Chau pass we visit the Vercors Museum and Resistance Memorial. Our return journey takes us via the Rousset pass and the decidedly Provencal southern face of the mountain chain. In Die we stop for a tasting of the famous "clairette", a naturally sparkling wine. Dinner and overnight.

We head to the outskirts of the Ardeche region and the « Arche des metiers », a fun and educational centre designed to introduce people to the crafts and industry that have contributed the region's development - weaving, knitting and jewellery creation, the bottling of mineral water from the spring to the end product. Lunch follows.