Eastern France June 16th

I’m not on your tour but I took it a few years ago (September). One tip is to dress in layers — be prepared for hot, cold and possibly wet weather. The morning we left Chamonix it was 30 degrees and snowing. We arrived in Vaison la Romaine that afternoon where it was 98 degrees and sunny. I wasn’t prepared and had to buy a pair of “souvenir” shorts. I’ve done 10 RS tours and this one had the craziest weather. Great tour with a nice variety of sight-seeing (and good wine)! Hope you have a great trip!

Hello! We are also on the June 16 Eastern France tour, and can't wait! This will be our 4th Rick Steves' tour (previously 2006 Paris & Provence, 2010 Village Italy, 2016 Switzerland). Looking forward to meeting you. Have you done any RS tours before?

Glad to hear that you are also on the June 16th tour. This is our 4th tour too. 2018 we did small villages in Italy, 2017 was Scotland and 2016 was Switzerland. I wonder if we were on the same trip to Switzerland. We were the crazy Bernese Mountain Dog people. I know we went in the summer, but don’t remember the exact dates. We are arriving in Reims on the 15th, so we have a day to deal with jet lag. We are staying over night in Paris on the 14th and then taking the train to Reims on the 15th. We look forward to meeting you. We get the list this Friday and it looks like the trip isn’t sold out.

Donna
Thank you for the helpful information. When we pack, we think of layers so that we can accommodate all kinds of weather. We are getting pretty good at only traveling with carry-on no matter where we go, learning travel efficiencies. We are meeting some friends in Chamonix and will do some hiking with them and their Bernese Mountain Dog. We are looking forward to the trip. And yes, lots of good wine will be in our future.
Fran

I took this tour back in 2014! Probably my favorite RS tour in terms of sights and activities. You're really immersed in French culture and the towns are beautiful. I've got a scrapbook up from my travels.

I’m going on this tour in July and I am looking so forward to it!

Have a wonderful time in June!

I hope we have good weather in June. Enjoy the trip in July.

Hi there, We (Daina and Bob from Eugene) are also on the June 16 tour and can't wait. This will be our third RS tour, having been on the Paris and the Heart of France (2014) and Loire to the South (2017). We had a great time on both trips. We are also wondering about packing--what kind of jacket for Chamonix?

We have friends who have a home in Chamonix. We are hoping to do some hiking with them and their Bernese Mountain Dog. They told us that it can get cold at higher altitude. They suggested that we bring a fleece and a windbreaker. They also said to bing long pants because there are ticks. It can warm in town, but cold hiking in the Alps.
Looking forward to the trip and meeting new people. See you in Reims. This is our 4th tour. We have done Switzerland, Scotland and villages in Italy.

Fran and Tim

New information on shopping opportunities

We heard from our friends who have a home in Chamonix and they told us there is a store near our hotel where we can purchase a fleece or other clothing items very reasonable if we need something. This is good information so we don’t have to over pack.

We did this tour in late August 2017. I was going to comment about the sporting goods store in Chamonix (we also used the laundromat in town) where prices were relatively inexpensive. We bought wine at every wine stop and it was worth the haul. We also ordered some from the winery in Seguret that shipped to the states.

You already know about dressing in layers and you’ve done other tours, so this should be fun and easy. Prepare to have a great time.

Patty
Thank you for your response. We plan on enjoying wine on this trip, but won’t be bringing any home, since we really like just doing carry on for our luggage. We have learned to travel that way exclusively. Thank you also for laundry information, since that it sort of mid point. Our friends that have a weekend there told us about the store. We met them on our trip Switzerland through our Bernese Mountain Dog international group. We hope to do some hiking with them on our free day in Chamonix with their Bernese Mountain Dog.

Fran