Paris to Provence: Eating in the Footsteps of the Impressionists

We are excited to announce a new tour that will marry art and food in France this fall. You will have the experience of eating like a famous artist, in the same restaurants, enjoying the same foods the impressionists did in the 19th century as you sketch your memories throughout this unique adventure.

Chef Kelly Unger of The Rooster & The Carrot Cooking Studio in Doylestown, Pennsylvania will lead this tour along with Artist and Founder of ArtsNewsNow.com, Mandee Hammerstein. Generationally, Onward Travel has a longstanding relationship with Chef Kelly as our grandmother and mother have both attended her cooking classes and have loved each one of them. So, when Kelly approached us about preparing a tour for her students, we were thrilled to work with her. 

“I’m a Francophile, and I teach a lot of French classes. Over the years, my students have asked for guided trips to France. It was always a goal of mine, so it was really nice to hear people ask for it. Using Onward Travel to coordinate the logistics was a natural fit. I love supporting small, women-owned businesses,” said Kelly. 

This unique first tour is inspired byn a radio show that Kelly and Mandee host every other week called Eat Like an Artist on WDVR FM. You can listen to the latest episode from February 26, 2024 online here where they announce this trip to their audience. Kelly lives in the food world and Mandee lives in the arts world, so combining their talents will allow our small group of travelers to explore the food and art of the Impressionists through multiple unique lenses.  

Fifteen travelers will live and cook through the eyes and taste buds of some of our world’s prized creatives as you travel from Paris to Provence. We will reacquaint ourselves with the Impressionist artists and their works – think Claude Monet, Henri Toulouse-Lautrec, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Vincent Van Gogh although considered a post-Impressionist artist), and many more and Mandee will lead some impromptu art lessons throughout the trip. 

“Even if you aren’t a great artist, sketching your memories throughout the trip will allow you to relate more to the artist and memorialize your way through the trip creatively. We are constantly snapping photos with our phones, but sketching allows us to connect to what’s happening and savor memories in a personal and different way. It’s not about how good of an artist you are, but rather being open to a fun artistic exercise,” said Kelly and Mandee in a shared statement.. 

Paris to Provence: Eating in the Footsteps of the Impressionists will kick off with three days in Paris, the City of Light. You will see Marc Chagall’s ceiling for the Paris Opera which consists of 2400 square feet of frescoes and took him a year to complete.

You will have dinner at Au Petit Riche where many Impressionist artists and Opera staff dined. The restaurant opened in 1854 when chefs started becoming popular and dining out became fashionable. This particular spot was a favorite of Renoir, and you will enjoy the same classic French cuisine that the artists did in their day.

Of course, no trip to Paris is complete without spending some time around the beauty of the magnificent Eiffel Tower. Tour guests will explore it both during the day and enjoy dinner at a restaurant with some of this historical monument’s most beautiful, close-up views at night.

There will be a museum visit to tour the permanent Impressionists Collection at Musee D’Orsay and lunch to take in the museum’s opulence. We also have a boat ride down La Seine so you can get even more different perspectives of the city. 

The group will then move on to Provence via train where you will tour Atelier de Cézanne, a biographical museum about the painter Paul Cézanne. You will learn the secrets behind traditional Provencal cooking and prepare a hearty feast during a cooking class at La Belugue in Beaumont- de-Pertuis. This 18th-century farmhouse offers the perfect venue for a cooking lesson in dishes that could have also been prepared during the artists’ time.  

We’ll explore the market in St-Rémy, enjoy a modern immersive exhibition into the world of Van Gogh, enjoy a wine tasting and dinner at a restaurant just next to the 14 century castle of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, the summer residence of the popes during the Avignon Papacy. The views, food and wine in this special restaurant are unparalleled! 

On this trip, you will visit other historical sites such as the Pont du Gard,  the tallest of all Roman aqueduct bridges. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site because of its historical importance, architectural ingenuity and exceptional preservation. We’ll also visit an abbey near a medieval town.

This trip offers experiences of a lifetime such as a truffle hunt and lunch as well as a visit to one of the most beautiful villages in France, known for its distinctive red cliffs, created by the world’s largest known iron ochre deposit.

Paris to Provence: Eating in the Footsteps of the Impressionists will commence Wednesday, October 16 in Paris and end on Thursday, October 24, 2024 in Marseille. Utilize pencils, paintbrushes and culinary tools to create a memorable experience as you follow in the footsteps of creative geniuses and create your own works of art and food along the way.

See the itinerary

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