Trip Report- Eastern France Tour- Oct 3-22

The tour hit my history nerd buttons and lets you see so many different parts of France. Verdun battlefield, the Alsace area, the mountains at Chamonix and on down into Provence. Also we saw 2 amazing pieces of art which is very important to me. Those were the reasons I chose this tour but it also gives you many, many times to sample and learn about French wine and champagne. There were 4 separate tastings and 3 different vineyards. I do enjoy wine (especially champagne) but I don’t have a refined palette and knew I wouldn’t be ordering anything to send home. There were quite a few folks on tour that knew what they were tasting and loved these stops.

So it’s a tour that offers a lot of different things for different tastes. I liked all the hotels and we ate well. We spent the last night in Aix at a spa hotel, the Aquabella. That hotel was pretty sweet and we had a great final meal there. It probably was the swankiest hotel I’ve ever had on a RS tour. Super breakfast spread too.

I switched to Hotel Escaletto that was much cheaper and very nice. Friendly staff, rooftop bar, cute room, comfortable bed etc. The weather was now warmer and no rain. It was nice to stop wearing my coat. Aix is a cool place to linger and I enjoyed my time there. Slowed down, no alarm in the morning, walked a lot, ate slow meals outside and enjoyed the relaxed vibe. The only disappointment was the Cezanne studio was closed for renovations but, sigh, it usually happens at least once on every trip you take so I try to stay philosophical.

I’m happy to answer any questions

Thank you for sharing! We took this tour two years ago, in May, and loved it. How cold was the weather, and it rainy? Was Chamonix snowy yet? (Showing my lack of wine growing knowledge here) was it harvest time at the vineyards?
I enjoyed this trip down memory lane with you.

Thank you for posting. Love reading trip reports from tour members. Sounds like a very nice tour.

This sounds like you had a wonderful time on this tour, Lyndash ! It really sounds appealing. Great info on the hotels too. Thank you for sharing your trip report.

Great trip report. We did this tour in 2015 and really loved it. It is one of our favorite RS tours. I am sorry we didn’t go to Mass at the cathedral in Reims if they were doing Gregorian chant. That must have been really special and atmospheric. Did you get to go up to the summit of Chamonix?

Thanks for the nice comments. The more I think about this tour I realize it was an all around happy and relaxing trip. That may sound funny but the Prague Budapest tour I took last October was terrific but because of the history of both of those places it was more serious and thought provoking. I love history so I’m all for absorbing as much as possible but on this tour Verdun, in the beginning was the only more serious place to really ponder. And then after that it was lovely countryside, ‘cute’ villages and drink some more wine! Thank you, don’t mind if I do! I don’t know if this makes sense to anyone else when comparing travel experiences. But it keeps coming to me that this was a very relaxed experience; plus it wasn’t as physically challenging as Southern England or Greece the tours I did in April and May.

KC, the first week plus we had cool to cold weather and occasional rain and clouds. I took a silk camisole and cuddle dud bottoms and wore them as an under layer plus a wool cardigan along with my raincoat. I’m pretty cold natured though, thin Texas blood. It was 50s-60s. Nothing close to freezing though.

Mary, I didn’t go up to the summit at Chamonix due to advice from my cardiologist. Heart rhythm issues. I think the very top was closed both days because of weather but folks did go up to the mid point. I’m pretty chicken when it comes to heights so it wasn’t a real hardship.

And we hit the vineyards after the harvest. We were the last Eastern France tour of the year. I think some of the places we stayed were sort of celebrating the end of group tours. I know a bottle of local liqueur came out and made the rounds at our group dinner at Chamonix gratis. Everyone at the hotels and restaurants seemed to really connect with our guides and they were saying goodbye until next spring.

Thanks for the great summary - buddy ! (micki)

Hey Micki! Back at ya, buddy. Please feel free to add anything you want to about the tour.

Lynda! It was such fun meeting you! And yes, it worked to meet at Gare de l'Est, if anyone wonders.

What a fun tour you had! I thought it was chilly in Paris and Loire Valley the first few days too so even those of us who are hardier do need long sleeves, lol.

Thanks so much for taking the time to post your experience. I love reading trip reports!