Springtime in France 2014

 

Your First Trip to Paris 

March 10 -17

 Optional Extension

Carnac and Le Mont St. Michel

March 17 - 22

Individual Travelers Welcome!  Join Rebecca Caraveo and La Belle France Tours for an introductory tour of Paris.  We'll visit the main sites such as the Louvre and Musee d'Orsay, the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame, plus we'll take a day trip to the palace of Versailles, and as always there is a special treat chosen specifically for the group.

All trips include your shuttle to and from the airport, your room with breakfast, lots of guided excursions and entry fees, plus designated transportation.

You may also choose to add on our extension of five additional nights to visit the megaliths of Carnac and the UNESCO Heritage Site of Le Mont St. Michel.  Both of these towns are on the Atlantic on opposite ends of Brittany, which is also famous for crepes, salty butter caramel and some incredibly delicious pastry as well as being Gaelic speaking and celebrating their Celtic heritage.

For details email rebeccacaraveo@gmail.com or visit La Belle France Tours  .  We are now designated as a France Expert by Atout France.

Next Year's Tour - Provence, Carcassonne and Barcelona Summer 2014

I've always loved this area of France and am excited to take my first small group to visit. This tour will be 12 nights/11 days with 3 nights in Barcelona,  1 night in Collioure, 4 in Avignon and 4 in Carcassonne. 

We'll enjoy a little bit of art, the medieval, a wine tasting,  and hopefully a day in a small village waiting for the riders of the Tour de France to go by. 

Guests  will arrive in Barcelona and we'll drive over.  Arrival night we'll spend in Barcelona, the next day driving to Collioure, with a stop at Cadaques and the Salvador Dali museum.  This area was favored by Matisse and the Fauves, a movement of color created in the area.

Depending on the timing of the Tour de France, we'll spend 4 nights in Avignon, a day of wine-tasting, a visit to the Camargue, and a drive through the lavender.

Carcassonne is known  for it's medieval bastide, a fortified town with two concentric ringed walls surrounding it, sitting on a hill above the town.  Nearby are the ruins of Cathar chateaux, victims of the Albigensian Crusades and the town of Rennes-le-Chateau, town of mystery glorified in the book, The Da Vinci Code.

Barcelona will be our point of arrival and departure, but we'll return for one extra night to enjoy Las Ramblas and something Gaudi.  Las Ramblas is huge thoroughfare down the largest street in Barcelona filled with market vendors from fine jewelry and beautiful art to birds and flowers. 

For more details, please visit my website:  La Belle France Tours

No Photos at Musee d'Orsay

Another thing I found 'new in Paris' is that no photographs are allowed at the Musee d'Orsay. On previous visits it was possible to photograph without flash as is true in most museums. I had observed on too many occasions that tourists were just flashing away at the pieces and the museum staff absolutely ignored these people.

This actually upset me very much, and I would walk around saying 'No Flash No Flash', and be totally ignored or would get dirty looks. Honestly people, it's one thing for the flash to go off by mistake, but to purposely take pictures of yourselves in front of the artwork with the flash purposely going off just shows your ugliness and that you really have no respect for great art and should just keep your lousy selves at home. That being said, now we're all paying the price, and no one gets to photograph the wonders of the beauties there.

Le Mont St. Michel

I was really looking forward to photographing Le Mont in the evening to capture one of those dramatic shots. Beware of the new car park! Talk about putting a damper on things. Last year we stayed almost to the end of the town where the land ends and the road to Le Mont continues. This year we were forced to park in the carpark which is about half mile away from there and walk to where we could take the free shuttle to Le Mont.

Although the shuttle was free, it was still at least a twenty minute walk to the stop. Everyone had to do this. The car park cost eight-fifty euro and would not take my American credit card. Also, I had my ladies wait for me so they didn't have to walk so far, but then realized there was no way for me to pull up and get them. I had to walk back to where I left them at the visitors center and have them walk back with me.

The cost in evening was two fifty euro, but we barely were able to photograph as it became dark rather quickly and we were still too far away to make much of a difference.

We stayed in Pontorson, the last town before St. Michel where the hotels looked quite deserted. You had to have a code and reservations at a restaurant or hotel to pass the traffic barrier. Supposedly by summer things will have changed a bit. On another note, if you actually took the bus to Le Mont from Pontorson (one way two euros) it takes you up to the base of Le Mont. The shuttle drops you off close, but you still have to walk may about three hundred extra yards.

Carnac and the Megaliths

For years I have been wanting to walk among the standing stones and photograph them. Last year we were fortunate enough to stay at Hotel Tumulus that is right next to the Tumulus St. Michel. Unfortunately we didn't spend much time there. Also, it was tourist season, so you cannot walk among the stones.

This year I planned the trip during off season so I could photograph and walk through the stones. Although I did find an entrance to the Menec alignments, Kermario was open and that was quite delightful. Another added treat on the road from Quiberon to Auray was a triad of dolmen (Kerioned) just off the side of the road. Absolutely delightful.

On a downside we arrived at Hotel Tumulus to find it had been 'fenced off' so that you could not walk to the top of it, but needed to call a number a get a guide. The hotel staff said they had erected the fence earlier this year. I still had a wonderful view of the tumulus just outside my bedroom.

Off season in this area means just that. There were very few people, but a few of the shops near the church St. Cornely were open. The tourist office right there was not, but the museum of pre-history was. There were a few crepe restaurants open as well, and every one of them was delightful as well as the bakery on the town square. We were also there for an outdoor market and there were a lot of lovely vegetables, but no fruit.

I did, once again, rent the car from Europcar going through the SNCF website once I bought our train tickets. The car rental places are right outside the train station doors to your right. I pre-paid when I ordered the car, (a six-speed Ford mini-van) but still had to leave a deposit on my credit card (though it wasn't charged, just held). It's quite easy to drive in Brittany and there are no tollroads. There are a lot of round-abouts, but I approve of them whole-heartedly. First, make sure you know where you are going (generally the direction of the city you're going to) and secondly, they make driving with the manual transmission a lot easier than stopping and starting.

We easily visited Quiberon, Auray, and Locmariaquer just following the signs.

What's new in Paris - 2013

Just back (again) from taking a small group to Paris and beyond. Here are a couple of things that you should watch out for or at least take notice of:

Short-Changing - Whether by accident or on purpose, I was short-changed twice. The first time was at a kiosk selling postcards and other items near the Eiffel Tower. This was a French woman in her thirties to early forties. I lost five euros as she gave me a five when she should have given me a ten. After that, I made sure to calculate my change back before I handed anyone over the amount. The second time was at cheese store at Metro: Maubert-Mutualite, and she had to count it back twice before acknowledging she made a mistake which was ten euros.

Metro Tickets - I have always bought a carnet of ten tickets. It's a little cheaper, but more often than not, I found the tickets have de-magnetized themselves and don't work. This has happened before, and half the time the ticket person insists you try it again before checking it and seeing that it hasn't been used, and then handing you a new one. You do have the option to buy a weeklong pass, but remember to bring a passport sized photo with you as it's five euros to use the photo machine for pics. Also, if you're American, and you want to use your credit card in the machine to buy tickets, it may or may not work as we do not have what is referred to as the 'flea' or the microchip that is in European credit cards. This means you cannot rent the free bikes either and parking lots with the self-pay. Make sure you have exact change. Remember everyone wants exact change, so that's a problem as well.

Musee l'Orangerie - Most of the main exhibit is closed, meaning the top floor with the Modiglianis and Utrillos, but the bottom floor with the giant Monets is open.

Renting a car and driving in France

Most travelers really like to see all they can see while they're there, and if you're thinking about driving, you should know that their freeway system is not like ours here in California. For one, the big fast highways aren't free, they are tollroads, but I'll get to that in a minute. During my recent spring tours I rented cars twice, both from Europcar. In reflection I believe I chose Europcar as they were the only one that offered unlimited miles and seemed to be the most reasonably priced. First and foremost, research this. If you can speak French, make sure you look at the French sites. Sometimes the prices are about half as much. Seriously! There is also a company called "rentacar.fr" but they aren't always in every city and may not be near the train station, if that's how you arrived. I used them in Tours a few years ago to explore the Loire Valley, and they were quite reliant. To pre-pay or not pre-pay? I generally try to pre-pay when I can, and oddly enough, the first rental (Rennes) let me pre-pay and the second (Lyon) did not. Regardless of paying or not, there is a deposit to be made, that didn't seem to be on either contract that I printed out. As a rule, when you're paying with your credit card, the insurance is covered, and the deposit has something to do with whether or not you purchase their insurance. So the first car I rented was an SUV type called an Opel Zaphira. Barely enough room for four ladies and their suitcases, but comfortable. I even purchased an additional $75 worth of insurance from them, and still have to leave an 800 Euro deposit against my credit/debit card. This was upsetting to me as I was afraid they would freeze the money I was using to travel, which did not happen, but I did ask if I could change and have the deposit put on another card that I wasn't planning on using. No, too late, couldn't do it. No real reason, just not possible. Second car I rented was a beautiful Mercedes something something...gorgeous sleak and black, a big car by European standards. Unfortunately, not by American standards. Mind you, we each had a suitcase and a carry-on plus our purses. We managed by putting half the back seat down, stacking a suitcase and carry-on there, two ladies got in the back with a fourth piece of luggage on their laps. The third passenger had her carryon on her lap. Again, the deposit, this time I did not purchase any insurance, and it was 1800 Euro. Figuring I could beat them at their own game, I handed over my extra credit card for the deposit. When I returned the car, I wanted to pay cash with my debit card, which they would not let me do, and said it had to be put on the credit card I used. Unless they journeyed to check out the car with me, which was on another block. I passed on that as it was too close to our train arriving, letting them charge my credit card. Should have given myself more time? Probably. My biggest sin wasn't filling up the car with gas, and then having to find a gas station. Make a note about this! There generally aren't any gas stations in the town proper. Period. Any town. Every once in a while you'll see a curb you can pull over to and pump some gas, but gas stations like we know them, are on the outskirts of towns with all the big box stores. Also, the gas is about $10/gallon, but the cars are so economical you really don't even notice that. You will also have to learn how to navigate roundabouts. Basically, before you go, plan out your route, highway numbers, and very important, the names of the larger towns on the way. Most of the time you will be headed in the 'direction of' said city. Roundabouts are fantastic. I love them. They are super easy once you get the hang of them, and if you mess up, you just go around again. Again, remember the 'name of the city direction of' and as you approach the roundabout, make note where it is on the list. That will be your exit. Ie, if it's the second name, second exit. Each exit should have the name as well, and sometimes it will be graphic with arrows and names. Also, in Brittany there are no tollroads, and I believe that is the only area of France not to have tollroads. Also, in Brittany, you'll notice the names of the towns are in French and in Breton/Gaelic. If you cross the border to Belgium in the north, the names will be in French and Flemish, so make sure you know what you're doing before you set out. I prefer my Michelin roadbook, and a GPS adjunct is nice. I find the GPS pretty much steers you towards the tollroads, but there are other main roads you can use as well, you just have to find them on the map first!