European officials announced this week that vaccinated Americans will be able to travel to Europe this summer.

Specifically, the European Union’s Parliament agreed to the creation of a "vaccine passport" likely to be called the "EU COVID-19 certificate," enabling the bearer to travel from the United States to Europe without additional testing, self-isolation or quarantine, and also to travel freely within the European Union. They'll be used both by European citizens and visitors from abroad.

The "vaccine passport" is not finalized, but the parliament agreed to finalize it before the summer travel season. To get one, you'll need to be vaccinated or have recovered from Covid-19.

Meanwhile, French President announced this week that outdoor cafés and restaurants will be allowed to reopen on May 19, along with museums, cinemas, theaters and concert halls under certain conditions. The announcement is part of a four-step plan to re-open the country.

As part of this plan, France will open the country to vaccinated foreign visitors on June 9. Also on that day, cafés and restaurants will be allowed to resume regular service, including indoor dining. They'll have to close by 11pm each night, according to the new rules. Events of up to 5,000 people will be allowed.

The timing is perfect for our Provence Experience, which takes place June 21 through June 26. (The Provence Experience is nearly sold out — we have one room available! Book here now.)

Provence, with its wide outdoor spaces and plenty of room, is inherently covid-safe anyway. In fact, Conde Nast this week published their list of the 12 best places to travel in June, and one of them is Provence.

Our Provence Experience would be covid-safe even without the vaccinations required by both Europe and by us for all participants. We stay in a spacious remote farmhouse in the countryside. We don't do activities with anyone else except our group. Everything we do is outdoors, or in large open places separate from others.

So we're happy to announce that after a year and a half, Gastronomad Experiences are roaring back to life, starting with the glorious, delicious, beautiful Provence Experience!