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La Belle France Itinerary

Thursday, October 23
Departure
The optional group flight departs Austin-Bergstrom International for Dallas and our non-stop overnight flight to Paris.

Friday, October 24
Arrival in Provence
On arrival in Paris the next morning, we board France’s high-speed train, the TGV, for first-class passage to Avignon, the City of the Popes. Our home for the next four nights is the Hotel Le Prieuré, a Relais & Chateau property, in the village of Villeneuve-les-Avignon, situated across the Rhone River from Avignon.  The hotel is housed in a 14th century priory, completely renovated with charming rooms, a world-class restaurant, and quiet garden and pool. Villeneuve is a pretty town called the City of Cardinals, as opposed to the City of Popes across the river, and boasts its own medieval sites and charm.  After an afternoon of rest from your journey, we will convene for a welcome drink at the hotel, then cross the river into Avignon for our welcome dinner at one of the town’s best and most picturesque restaurants, La Fourchette.     

Saturday, October 25
Avignon, city of popes
After breakfast, we will explore the main sights of Avignon. From 1309 to 1403, seven French Popes and three anti-Popes based the Papacy here during the Great Schism in the Catholic Church. The Popes forsook the house of St. Peter in Rome for southern France, erected the huge Palais des Papes, which still dominates the city, and established Avignon as the center of a vast world of its own. Cardinals, prelates, merchants, and their various appendages, made their home here. We will tour the Palace of the Popes and walk some of the picturesque streets of the old town. Then we’ll make our first foray into the lovely countryside for a delectable lunch and premier wine tasting at La Bastide des Princes, presided over by Annie and Pierre Paumel, a “Maître Cuisinier de France”. Prior to lunch, an expert sommelier will pour some of the fine Chateauneuf-des-Papes and Cote de Rhône wines of the region for you to taste. This evening back in Avignon, you’ll enjoy a concert TBA.

Sunday, October  26
The Petit Luberon
Today we explore the charming Luberon region of picturesque villages, lavender fields, and rocky landscape. First we will visit L’Isle sur la Sorgue with its charming canal-lined streets and well known Provençal market. The town is famous as well for its Sunday antique market and antique shops and you will have plenty of time to visit them. Then it’s on to Rousillon for lunch on your own. This pretty town is named for its red clay cliffs upon which it lies and which make up many of the town’s edifices.  On our way back to Avignon we’ll travel through Peter Mayle country and stop off in another “perched village,” Gordes.  Your evening is free.

Monday, October 27
Roman Arles
This morning we head down the Rhone in our private coach to the old town of Arles. On the way, we’ll make several stops: first we venture up to the medieval walled town of Les Baux, a town virtually unchanged for centuries.  Then it’s on to an award-winning producer of olive oil to sample some of their prized oil, one of the best in the world. Lunch is nearby at the superb La Cabro d’Or, a Michelin-starred restaurant. After lunch, we continue to the ancient city of Arles. We will visit its magnificent Roman amphitheatre, the romanesque church of St. Trophîme with its elaborate carved façade from the 12th century, and trace the steps of Van Gogh who passed a difficult year in Arles late in his life. Then another special treat: depending on his schedule, a visit to the home and studio of famed French photographer Lucien Clergue, the first photographer ever elected to the prestigious French Académie des Beaux-Arts, and friend of Picasso, Cocteau, El Cordobes, and many other famous figures, who will show his work and talk about his long career. We return to our hotel in late afternoon, and your evening is free to relax, dine where you wish in the village or in Avignon.

Tuesday, October 28
The City of Lights
Bidding adieu to Provence, we board again the TGV for a high speed trip back to the great world capital of Paris. Aboard our private coach we will make a splendid tour around the city taking in many of its famous sites. Then we transfer to our home in the City of Lights, the Hotel Bedford, a deluxe 4-star hotel located in the heart of the city in the eighth arrondissement, near the Madeleine, as well as the major department stores. The Bedford has its own musical connections: Saint-Saens once lived in the building, and Yehudi Menuhin and Hector Villa-Lobos were frequent visitors. In the evening, we’ll dine in the elegant brasserie — the oldest in Paris — Bofinger, before attending a performance at the sleek Opera Bastille, built under François Mitterand. The cast of Verdi’s masterpiece “Rigoletto” is lead by Ambrogio Maestri, one of the best Verdi baritones singing today, in the title role, and Russian soprano Ekaterina Syurina as Gilda.

Wednesday, October  29
Medieval Paris
This morning we explore the narrow winding streets of the old Latin Quarter, named for the language spoken by scholars who surrounded Peter Abelard in the Middle Ages. Beginning from the Pantheon, we wind down ancient roads, past markets, medieval churches and Gallo-Roman remains towards the Sorbonne, finding many surprises along the way, including a guillotine! You will end up at the great 12th century cathedral of Paris, Notre Dame, for a detailed tour. Your afternoon is free. Our next concert is at the recently restored Salle Pleyel, a performance by the Orchestre de Paris conducted by Christoph Eschenbach, its music director, formerly that of the Houston Symphony. The main work on the program is Schubert’s transcendent Symphony No. 9, “The Great”.

Thursday, October 30
The Marais
Today we tour one of the most picturesque quarters in all Paris, the Marais. Once the most fashionable place to live in the city, it fell into decline even before the Revolution. Merchants and craftsmen flooded in and lent a different aspect to the neighborhood and today it retains a beguiling mix of fine mansions of architectural interest, interesting museums, and lively cafes and shops. We’ll visit the fascinating Musée Carnavalet devoted to the history of Paris and the Place des Vosges, a beautiful 17th century square.  Lunch is on your own and your afternoon is free to explore the Marais further, visit other attractions or simply relax.  In the evening we’ll have a double musical treat: a private piano recital in the hotel’s superb Beaux Arts salon, and then a performance of Pergolesi’s lovely “Stabat Mater” in Sainte Chapelle, with its stunning backdrop of stained glass.

Friday, October 31
Fontainebleau & Vaux-le-Vicomte
You won’t miss Halloween today when we take a break from the grande ville and venture into the French countryside to visit the two grand chateaux Fontainebleau and Vaux-le-Vicomte. Long a royal residence, the magnificent Chateau de Fontainebleau came into its own under Francis 1st (1494-1547) who hired principally Italian architects and artists to redesign it thereby introducing the Italian Renaissance into France. It was later home to Napoleon, where he kept a Pope prisoner and in 1814, abdicated the throne. Built in 1656 by Louis XIV’s finance minister Nicolas Fouquet, the Chateau Vaux-le-Vicomte provides a unique window into aristocratic society of the 17th century.  Its splendor is due to a trio of France’s most creative geniuses of the time: the architect Louis Le Vau, the -designer and painter Charles Le Brun, and the landscaper André Le Notre, all three later to design Versailles. The playwright Molière, poet La Fontaine, and woman of letters Madame de Sevigny also adorned Fouquet’s circle at Vaux-le-Vicomte. Prior to our tour there, lunch will be served in L’Ecureuil, the chateau’s charming little restaurant. After returning to Paris, the evening is free.

Saturday, November 1
City of Art
Today is a free day---and a national holiday, All Saints Day, in France--- to complete your shopping, stroll another quartier, or relax. Art lovers have the option of taking a private guided tour of the Louvre, one of the greatest museums in the world. First a royal palace, then founded as a museum by Napoleon, its collections are stellar: Leonardo’s Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo, Delacroix’s Liberty, Gericault’s  Raft of the Medusa, and many other masterworks grace its halls. And we’ll provide you with a Museum Pass gaining entry into around 40 museums in the city, which was for many centuries the art capital of the world. Tonight we attend a performance at the splendid Palais Garnier of Les Enfants du paradis, a full length ballet by José Martinez, based on the 1945 classic French film, one of the all-time greats. Immediately after the performance we will gather for a gala farewell dinner at the famed Café de la Paix, a gastronomic and social landmark in Paris across from the Opéra.
 
Sunday, November 2
Departure
Alas all great things have an end. The group flight departs from Charles de Gaulle airport back to Atlanta, then on to Austin, with arrival the same day.  
Itinerary is subject to change. Meals in bold are included in the price of the tour.

Tour Cost Includes:

Tour Costs

La Belle France is designed and operated by THE GRAND TOUR Travel Compnay (TGT), Peterborough, NH