Take Vacation Lessons in Traditional Wickerwork from a French Artisan

Basket weaving never seemed so glamorous as it does under a Provencal sky

Wickerwork is more than basket weaving in France. This traditional skill forms the basis of all kinds of wickerwork furniture, sculpture and decorative pieces. In fact, the traditional craft of wickerwork is taken so seriously here that there is even a National School of Osierculture and Wickerwork.

Graduate Daniel Benibghi will pass on some of his skills during two day courses at his Wickerwork Museum and Shop in Vallabregues on the Provence-Languedoc border in the South of France. This small village, beside a Rhone backwater a few kilometers from the historic town of Beaucaire, specialises in wickerwork and basketry and its Fete de la Vannerie, the second week in August, is one of the South of France's biggest annual wickerwork and basketry festivals.

Wickerwork Class in The South of France

• The Class 2 full days, 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. with an hour and a half lunch break, for 3 or 4 people. Participants are introduced to the craft of wickerwork and its specialized tools and make a cherry basket with a round handle to take home.
• Price 150 Euros per person.
• Requirements Reservations are confirmed on receipt of 50 per cent of the fee, at least three weeks before the start of the course.

The Wickerwork class can be booked through the Beaucaire Office of Tourism , Tel: 011 33 4 66 59 26 57 which can also provide English-language information and can make suggestions and reservations for hotel or bed and breakfast accommodation.

Ferne Arfin is London-based, American travel writer and About.com's guide to United Kingdom for Visitors. She writes for the Sunday Telegraph and other national papers about France and the USA, and is the author of Adventure Guide to Provence and the Cote d'Azur.