contemplating this RS 14-day tour. can anyone from previous tour give me some pros and cons? 4th trip to france for us so looking for somewhat of a "backroads" experience. tour starts in reims so i guess we get ourselves by train from paris? thanks for your help!
Posted by
Lake Oswego, Oregon
1315 posts
I enjoyed the tour. Yes, there are several trains to Reims from Paris, and we flew home from Nice. We did the tour in October and I'd recommend doing it a bit earlier. We had two lunches indoors due to rain and/or wind that previous groups had outdoors. We had the mistral for three days in Provence, which was cool to experience, but not good for outdoor meals. Also, the weather was bad for going to the top of Mont Blanc in Chamonix, and the cable car to Italy was closed for the season. I know you can have bad weather at any time but I still think earlier is better. We had three wine tastings: champagne at Reims which was good, a tasting at a Burgundy chateau with the countess in residence which was very good, and a tasting in Provence which was fabulous. The tour covers several distinct areas of France and it's interesting to see the highlights of each area. The pace of the tour is good and there is enough free time to do things on your own. I felt like I had enough time in each place, and did not feel rushed. Of course we could have used more time in the Nice area but you can stay extra days if you haven't been there before. In addition to the towns we slept in, we had stops in (Edit) Verdun, Kaysersburg, Hunawihr, Annecy, Antibes, and St Paul de Vence. The only cons I can think of are the weather and some in the group thought we should have had an additional wine tasting in the Colmar area. The guide was terrific, as always. Loved the hotels and we had a wonderful group of fellow tour members. If you have specific questions, let me know.
Posted by
Lake Oswego, Oregon
1315 posts
Also, you can read the tour feedback and look at the tour scrapbooks. Go to the Tour tab and there is a scrapbook from this tour.
Posted by
Virginia, USA
5513 posts
I took this tour last spring. It was done at a more relaxing pace than some of the RS tours that I have taken previously. I thought it was a very nice tour. My tour differed slightly from Grier's. For example, we did do a wine tasting at a winery near Colmar. Also, my tour did not stop in Riquewihr, Hunawihr, Antibes, or St Paul de Vence (although I'm sure that we had some other stops that weren't on prior tours). They adjust the tours (often based on feedback from prior years) so no doubt that some things will be different this year. The TGV from Paris to Reims is only about 45 minutes. I spent some time in Paris prior to the start of the tour and arrived in Reims on the day of the trip.