8 Best Sights in France

Built in 1782, this perfume factory is open to the public daily for free guided tours, and it has the best boutique: look for the Ma Fougassette (My Sweet Fougasse)—your home will have the wonderful scent of a Provence sweet, soft fougasse bread. Sign up for a do-it-yourself-perfume (DIYP) workshop for a more specialized memento of your visit.

Tracing its pedigree back to 1747, Galimard is one of the world's oldest perfume houses. Today, its factory—open to visitors 365 days a year—is where you can create and name your own perfume in one of the two-hour workshops (€62) held daily at 10, 2, and 4 in Galimard's Studio des Fragrances around the corner ( 5 rte. de Pegomas). For a premium experience, try the Haute-Couture perfume creation workshops (€279) with your very own nez to guide you and a decadent Champagne break.

Although the town of Manosque, 9 km (15 miles) south of Forcalquier, is not itself a draw, its main employer is. This where you'll find the factory of L'Occitane, the renowned Provençal purveyor of botanical skin-care products. You can make reservations for a one-hour tour of the production facility or just visit the gardens and shop in the company shop.

On the edge of town, follow the pink signs to La Verrerie de Biot, which has developed into something of a cult industry since its founding in the 1950s. Here you can observe the glassblowers at work; visit the extensive galleries of museum-quality glass art (which is of much better quality than the kitsch you find in the village shop windows); and start a collection of bubbled-glass goblets, cruets, or pitchers, just as Jackie Kennedy did when the rage first caught hold (she liked cobalt blue). Despite the extreme commercialism—there is a souvenir shop, an eco-museum, a boutique of home items, audio tours of the glassworks, a bar, and a restaurant—it's a one-of-a-kind artisanal industry, and the product is made before your eyes.

Established in 1849, Molinard offers an extensive tour that includes visits to the Soap Factory, the Distillery (witness "the nose" at work concocting new fragrances), and the Cream Room, where the packaging team hand-labels each bottle or pump. For €35, you can create your perfume in a few basic steps at Le Bar des Fragrances.

Fontaine was once an industrial center, but its mills and factories were closed by strikes in 1968, and most never recovered. To learn more about this aspect of the town, consider visiting this working paper mill. Its reconstructed,15th-century waterwheel drives timber crankshafts to mix rag pulp, and its artisans roll and dry thick paper à l'ancienne (in the old manner). The process is fascinating and free to watch, though it's almost impossible to resist buying the pretty note cards, posters, and even lamp shades in the on-site boutique. If you're feeling creative, you can make your own sheet during the paper-making experience (€15 per person). There are also 30-minute guided mill tours (€7, minimum of 10 people). Book either option online in advance.