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Paris, Champagne and the Loire Valley
offered by supplier M07510 (view this supplier profile)
Key Information:
Tour Duration: 11
day(s)
Group Size: 8
- 16
people
Destination(s):
France
Specialty Categories:
Food & Wine
Cultural Journey
Season: March - October
Airfare Included: Yes
Tour Customizable: No
Minimum Per Person Price: 4799 US Dollar (USD)
Maximum Per Person Price: 4799 US Dollar (USD)
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This tour is not scheduled to run in 2008, but it is available for custom tours. If you would like us to set up this itinerary for you to travel on your own or with your own group, we would be happy to do so. We can do all the reservations and trip planning for you and can customize the tour for you to meet your individual wishes and budget.
Tour price includes:
- Round trip airfare from Boston or New York (airfare price can be deducted)
- 2 nights in Paris's Left Bank St. Germain Des Prés Quarter, 5 nights in Loire Valley, 3 nights in Champagne and 1 in Burgundy
- Country manor house and hotels are ***excellent quality with great atmosphere. All rooms have modern private bathrooms.
- All breakfasts (11), 3 lunches, 9 dinners (several meals include wine)
- Wine and champagne tastings and guided tours of caves
- Visits to Chambord, Chinon, Azay le Rideau, Cheillé, Truyes, Chenonceau, Langeais, Loches, Tours, Epernay, Hautvillers, Reims, Chalons, Troyes
- Gourmet cooking class in the chef's kitchen
- Tour medieval villages and magnificent historic châteaux with private guides
- All tour guides, museum and monument entrance fees, tips, and taxes.
It is a small group luxury tour at a relaxed pace, where we give our guests total personal attention. Hotels are luxury but also small and full of regional charm. In the Loire Valley we stay in a 15th century manor house and dine with our French hosts. We have five days visiting the chateaux, ancient villages and private wineries of the Loire Valley, and four days exploring La Route du Champagne and the quaint champagne villages of this region. Wonderful company, meet wonderful local people, learn about the exciting history of this beautiful region of France.
Your Itinerary
Day 1:
Spend the day in the charming Left Bank, where our hotel is located in a wonderful neighborhood, Saint Germain des Pres. You are free to see Paris on your own to let us guide you. Dinner in a gourmet restaurant.
(B) (D)
Day 2:
Our second day in Paris. Take part in a boat ride down the Seine, explore the city and dine again in a gourmet restaurant.
An optional excursion to Monet's home in Giverny makes a wonderful day trip.
(B) (L) (D)
Day 3:
We leave Paris and head to the Champagne region. We stay in a beautiful small hotel in the tiniest village along the "Route touristique du Champagne." We explore this enchanting region, touring large and small cellars and educating our palates to learn what makes Champagne's product so unique.
(B) (D)
Day 4:
We travel the Champagne Route to the capital of the champagne region, Epernay, where we drive up the elegant Avenue de Champagne to see the world's greatest Champagne maisons - Moet and Chandon, Perrier Jouet, de Venoge, Pol Roger, De Castellane and Mercier. After a tour, tasting and lunch in Epernay we visit the tiny village of Hautvillers, where we can see Dom Perignon's tomb. Tonight we have dinner in a lovely restaurant in the charming town of Chalons en Champagne.
(B) (L)
Day 5:
Today we visit the city of Reims with its famous cathedral and have a guided tour of the Pommery champagne cellars. Here we see the spectacular chalk caves where the Romans first started storing their wines. In the afternoon we take a scenic drive along the Champagne route to visit a family owned champagne cellar and taste their excellent product. For dinner tonight we dine in grand elegance at a magnificent chateau.
(B) (D)
Day 6:
After visiting a monolithic monument to the veterans of WWI in Mondemond, we spend the day in the fascinating medieval city of Troyes. Later in the day we head south toward the Loire Valley, stopping overnight near the town of Chablis to sample some Burgundy wine with a gourmet dinner.
(B) (D)
Day 7:
Our first stop in the Loire Valley is the awe-inspiring Chateau Chambord, known as the first Renaissance chateau in France, built by King Francois I. Continuing on to Truyes, we will check in to our beautiful 15th century manor house and have a home cooked meal with the family.
(B) (L) (D)
Day 8:
Today we drive through the scenic countryside and visit Azay-le-Rideau Chateau, and then have lunch at the home of some French friends. Later we drive to the ancient town of Chinon, where we have a guided walking tour by a charming French local guide. Time for a wine tasting on the way home to dinner.
(B) (D)
Day 9:
Today our guide walks us through the medieval village of Loches and its ancient chateau. Also in Loches is a wonderful market, which we can wander through before we indulge our every whim at our gourmet French pique-nique. In the afternoon we visit the Loire Valley's most famous chateau, Chenonceau, built by two women competing with each other to design the most spectacular palace and gardens in the world. Dinner tonight is in an elegant gourmet restaurant in Cormery.
(B) (D)
Day 10:
This morning we visit the medieval castle of Langeais. This is the site of the historic wedding between Anne of Bretagne and King Charles VIII. We will lunch at a creperie, tour a Vouvray winery and dine at an elegant medieval chateau.
(B) (D)
Day 11:
Today our French hosts take us for a tour of the city of Tours, ancient capital of the Aquitaine region and steeped in fascinating history. We see the Basilica built for Saint Martin, who died in 397, the great arch built by Charlemagne and finally the beautiful St. Gatien Cathedral. We also have time to see the market and shops. For dinner, we return to our manor for our cooking class, followed by a visit to the family's underground wine cellar.
(B) (D)
Day 12:
After breakfast, we drive to the Paris airport for the return flight home.
(B)
Notes:
Airfare is included in the tour price.
Single supplement TBD.
Also see tour packages in:
Europe
France
Food & Wine
Cultural Journey
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