Le Couvent des Minimes Hotel & L'Occitane Spa is the only hotel in the world owned by L'Occitane. This location was chosen for a reason – it was here that the company founder Olivier Baussan had been creating and selling his first beauty products. And to this day, all cosmetics and perfumery of L'Occitane is being created in a small town of Manosque not far from our hotel.

The hotel has only 38 rooms and they are all different in size. Since the former convent building was founded in 1613, French legislation forbids changing its layout. Furthermore, the rooms differ not just in planning – each has its unique colour, design and special features: whether it is a terrace exit, a bath right next to bed or a wardrobe with zipper.

The hotel Le Couvent des Minimes offers gourmet cuisine in the Michelin restaurant Le Cloitre and bistro Le Pesquier, that attract guests from all around and far away.

In the former monastery church, there is now a hall, which can be reserved to organize a conference or a high-level event. The interior furnishings have been reserved the way they looked centuries ago.

The outdoor heated swimming pool is available even at the end of October! A bottle of excellent French wine coupled with the pool and sunbathing – isn't it a bliss?

The hotel supplies L'Occitane SPA with indoor pool, sauna and hammam as well as a separate entrance for the guests who come especially for spa treatments. In L'Occitane boutique hotel guests can buy products with discount.

There are, of course, lavender fields on the property – we are in Provence after all! A large number of visitors arrive at the hotel in late June and early July to take pictures against the lavish purple background of the lavender in bloom.

Take a look at the arch at the entrance – long ago a small train used to pass through it to bring ingredients needed for Provencal cosmetic and perfumery production.

InterContinental Marseille Hotel Dieu is a 5-star hotel situated in the historic quarter of Mareseille, near the Old Port. The building used to house the Central hospital founded in 1833 by Napoleon III. After 170 years, the property was acquired by the city and the hotel began to receive guests in 2013.

The hotel offers 194 rooms of various categories, Michelin restaurant Alcyone, a 1000 m2 Spa by Clarins, conference-center with 10 rooms covering a total area 1000 м2, including a banquet hall with a capacity of up to 400 people.

The hotel features breathtaking views of the Old Port and Notre-Dame de la Garde cathedral, one of the main attractions of Marseille.

The office skyscraper La Marseillaise Tower (Tour La Marseillaise) by the famous architect Jean Nouvel is one of the major landmarks of Marseille. The façade is painted in the shades of the French tricolor, which at the same time represent the landscape of Marseille: blu sky, white clouds, red tile roofs and brick walls.

On the 31^st floor there are conference rooms where guests are greeted by a robot that can be used for different events: it is able to recognize people by face, welcome customers and inform on navigation and program timing.

The space consisting of 6 conference rooms with a total area of 900 м2, offers incredible panoramic views over the city and the sea and can accommodate up to 500 people for cocktail. The building itself is very close to the center of Marseille, in the area of the port, which is now being thoroughly renovated.

Aix-en-Provence, Paul Cézanne's home town located in 30 minutes' drive from Marseille, is an excellent place to explore the life and work of the renowned artist. There is a studio, where Cézanne spent every morning working over dozens of paintings that now comprise the collections of world-famous museums. It is here that his last art work the "Bathers" (Les Grandes Baigneuses) was created.

There is also a school where the best friends Paul Cézanne and Emile Zola used to study.

While walking through Aix-en-Provence, one can see many confectionary shops selling calissons – traditional sweets made of almonds and candied fruit. The calissons are believed to be shaped as women's eyes, though some think they are diamonds, boats and birch leaves.