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chopparsleygroup
Learning to chop parsley the "Arlesienne" way.


Packing Suggestions
We suggest you bring comfortable clothes and shoes for cooking, standing, walking outside and through the markets. Less is more, as you may be distressed at the end of your stay if you've not enough room in your luggage for all the goodies that tempt you. A trick is to bring 2 bags with you, one folded up and nestled inside the other. At least one hard-sided suitcase is highly recommended should you want to carry home honey, olive oil, wine, pottery, and other fragile objects. I try to travel with a hard-sided small suitcase that I can put in the over-head carrier in the airplane, that way I have my valuables with me, and don't tempt fate by putting them in the hold. A pair of walking shoes such as sneakers doubles as protective padding for pottery cups or jars of honey...

cooking workshops schedule
Directions to the Association Cuisine et Tradition in Arles:

Telephone from within France: 04 90 49 69 20

From outside the country 33-4 90 49 69 20

To get to Arles you can come by Plane, Train or Car.

a map of Arles and Provence

If by Plane
We are 30 minutes from the Nîmes domestic airport (which would mean switching planes in Paris to the domestic line, Air Litoral, or coming in from London or Ireland on Ryan Air -- and having much less baggage in the latter case)

We are 45 minutes from the Marseille International Airport - for clients from America you still must take another plane and switch in London, Paris, Amsterdam, Brusselles, Munich, Barcelona, Madrid...etc., there is not yet an American airline that flies direct to Marseille.

In the above situations, there is not as yet a public transport with reasonable fairs from the airports to downtown Arles. The taxis generally cost 50-60Euro from Nimes to Arles, and 100Euro from Marseille to Arles day time, 140Euro evening.

If by Train:
The Arles Train Station is right outside the walls of the old city, just 10 minutes by foot from our door. There are 2 TGV from Paris that arrive directly in Arles per day during the high tourist season (April through September). Generally, you can count on an evening train leaving Paris at 18:30 or so, arriving in Arles at 22:30 or so, the times alter by a few minutes every year. The round-trip is in the 50-100 Euro one way per person - depending on day, time, class etc.,. First class tickets are more, but the seats are definitely more spacious and the cabins more comfortable. - There is also a direct train from Marseille, or Lyon, or Barcelona... though it would be a regular train, not a TGV (train grande vitesse).

There are many trains from Paris (the Gare de Lyon) and from the Charles de Gaulle International Airport that come down to Avignon during the day. There is a "navette" small bus from the Avignon TGV station to Arles that leaves frequently throughout the day. Depending on the train, the wait between trains can be from 10 minutes - 1 1/2 hours, so be sure to ask the ticket agent at SNCF (the train people) for the ideal "correspondance", I use the phrase, "Est-ce que vous pourriez me trouver une correspondance pas trop pénible s'il vous plaît".

From the Arles train station the taxi fare is generally 8-10 Euro to the local hotels. Be warned that the train station does not have elevators or escalators and you arrive on the far side of the tracks... heavy luggage can be a problem at the Arles station.

a street map of Arles

If by car:
The major highway from Marseille to Nîmes passes right through Arles (well, a little to the side, so much for city planning). This is useful to the traveler by car.

Coming From Marseille:
The exit is precisely "Arles/Pont du Crau" you exit here, and are led to a roundabout which cuts through a renaissance aqueduct. Follow the roundabout 3/4 around and exit at the direction "Arles, centre ville".

  • Follow this road past 2 lights to the Blvd. Emile Combes on your right.
  • Turn right (you will see the old city up on the cliff above you as you turn). Follow Emile Combes as it passes the cemetery, and turns left onto another roundabout (this is the Place Lamartine) with the Monoprix supermarket on your right.
  • Go into the roundabout and follow it 3/4 around, enter Arles through the short Sarrasin towers.
  • Go straight towards the mosaic, bear left at the mosaic and you will enter the Place Voltaire, bear left to park on the parking lot.
  • From the Place Voltaire, on foot take the street named : rue Portagnel (to the left of the Café de la Paix). Our door is number 11, painted blue. Ring the bell, knock on the knocker. If we don't come running, then please turn the corner onto rue Pierre Euzeby, and pull the bell on number 30, under the honey-suckle vine. Pull hard (it's attached to a real bell!)

    Coming from Nîmes

  • The exit is "Arles Centre-ville" and is just after the bridge over the Rhône. Follow it down the ramp and under the autoroute, and around to the right as it leads you into town.
  • Follow this road through town, it will first be called Blvd Clemenceau, and then become Blvd des Lices.
  • Follow it through 4-5 lights, till the garden is on your left.
  • Turn just after the garden onto the Blvd Emile Combes.
  • Follow Emile Combes as it passes the cemetery, and turns left onto another roundabout (this is the Place Lamartine) with the Monoprix supermarket on your right.
  • Go into the roundabout and follow it 3/4 around, enter Arles through the short Sarrasin towers.
  • Go straight towards the mosaic, bear left at the mosaic and you will enter the Place Voltaire, bear left to park on the parking lot.
  • From the Place Voltaire, on foot take the street named : Rue Portagnel (to the left of the Cafe de la Paix). Our door is number 11, painted blue. Ring the bell, knock on the knocker. If we don't come running, then please turn the corner onto rue Pierre Euzeby, and pull the bell on number 30, under the honey-suckle vine.. Pull hard (it's attached to a real bell!)

    Coming from Avignon, St. Rémy, Fontvieille, Les Baux

  • Follow signs out of the city/towns for Arles and continue taking every turn and roundabout following the signs for Arles, then Arles Centre Ville. This will bring you to the Place Lamartine, a large roundabout with a fountain in the middle, the Rhône to your right and a Monoprix to your left.
  • Go into the roundabout and follow it 1/2 around, enter Arles through the short Sarrasin towers.
  • Go straight towards the mosaic, bear left at the mosaic and you will enter the Place Voltaire, bear left to park on the parking lot.
  • From the Place Voltaire, on foot take the street named : rue Portagnel (to the left of the Cafe de la Paix). Our door is number 11, painted blue. Ring the bell, knock on the knocker. If we don't come running, then please turn the corner onto rue Pierre Euzeby, and pull the bell on number 30, under the honey-suckle vine. Pull hard (it's attached to a real bell!)

    • Cuisine et Tradition School of Provencale Cuisine
    Erick & Madeleine Vedel
    Arles, France
    33 (0) 4 90 49 69 20
    actvedel@wanadoo.fr