This was a first for my husband and I. First time overseas and first time on a Bus Trip. We loved it!! Got to see so many parts of France and we did not have to drive ourselves, that was the best part. We had a very professional driver and an Awesomesauce Tour Leader - Branden! Branden was very professional, good communication, accommodating, knew his history, and was so nice to talk with!! The bus made plenty of stops for breaks and all the meals that were included were good. All of the hotels were nice, nothing special about them, but always felt safe, slept good & always hot shower. The Chateau's were Amazing & Mont St. Michel was my favorite stop, so Beautiful! Normandy was somber, but glad we visited. A lot of opportunities to drink wine on this tour - even if you do not, (like me) still a great tour and you do not need to partake if you do not want to, you will still have a GREAT time!! I feel 7 days was fast, but it was a good amount of time to get our feet wet. We did however, come to Paris early and spent 4 days on our own before the bus trip, that was so nice to see the sights (Eiffel Tower, Louvre, Arc de Triumph, etc...) on our own as the Bus trip only gave us a drive by on those sights. We look forward to using this tour operator again for another adventure.
Superb walk, mostly through the Italian Alps. The 7 day walk called "Gran Paradiso" is located in the Aosta region of Italy, though started from Bourg St Maurice in France. The Italian refugio's each had a character of their own, however all were warm and friendly with good evening meals. The trekking required a reasonable level of fitness and the advertised rating was "moderate to challenging" which I felt was realistic. One of my challenges were the high set bunk beds which was my least favourite aspect & difficult to pre-book single supplement on these trips.
I loved this tour of France!!! It hit all the highlights I wanted to experience, this being my second visit to France, like visiting Chateau/wine country and seeing the D-Day beaches of Normandy. The fantastic French food, a great tour leader, and making new friends were the icing on the cake.
