Family: Provence Nature and Discovery

Five days in Provence pitched at children's height, between water, rock and sky. Fontaine-de-Vaucluse combines France's most powerful spring, a working paper mill and kayaking on the Sorgue; the Village des Bories, with its dry-stone huts, makes old rural life tangible. The Colorado Provencal at Rustrel offers an easy trail through red ochres that look like the American West, Lake Sainte-Croix its pedal boats and swimming in turquoise water, and the Haute-Provence observatory its astronomy evenings under one of the country's clearest skies. The ochre trails permanently stain clothes and pale shoes. Observation evenings must be booked and run mainly in summer, so bring warm layers.