How was our 2021 Season? We tell you in our latest blog!

2021 was a short but sweet season for us!

 

Our season did not start until September when we welcomed old friends from Canada, Finland and the United States, and some new friends from Switzerland and the United States.

We started off in Provence, discovering the villages of the Provence Luberon Valley. Many people are lured there due to the popularity of the book a Year in Provence, penned by the author Peter Mayle who documented stories of his life there, and the romance of the Russell Crowe movie “A Good Year”.   Maybe the name "Luberon Valley" is still somewhat unknown, but perhaps that is why our customers are always so enchanted and charmed by this area when they do join us. Provence is one of those areas that we can travel to almost all year round because of the great weather! Below picture is dining outside at the Moulin de Lourmarin.

 

From there we headed north to the French Alps, for one of our mountain sports tours. It was one of those weeks where the weather gods were not always in our favour, but as one of our long-time sports tour customers told us "these are the tours we remember for years to come".  I do not disagree! Getting to the summit of one of the famous tour de France climbs on a regular day is an achievement in itself but battling epic weather in the mountains and still cycling to the summit is medal-worthy! If you are a cycling club looking for a challenge this year or just want to get some mileage in your legs before an event, check out our tours and contact us to let us know what your group is looking for. We require a minimum of 8 to create a private custom tour and 6 for one of our scheduled tours.

One of the sunny days by Lake Annecy.....

One of the not-so-sunny days riding the Cormet de Roseland!

From the Alps, we drove cross country to Bergerac where we started our somewhat revised Bordeaux Tour. For many in the tourism industry, the last two years have been tough. As a result, some of our regular hotels and restaurants had to reduce services or chose to take the time to close and renovate.

As with everything in life, sometimes when one door closes another opens! The closures gave us an opportunity to try out new places and we met some great new people on the way.  One new highlight of the Bordeaux Tour for 2021 was our stay at the wonderful Château Vigiers. With a sprawling estate to wander around, a beautifully manicured 18-hole golf course, and two on-site restaurants, it won our hearts and we look forward to staying there for two nights for 2022.

We also managed a visit to Amanda and David, owners of The Naked Vigneron, an organic winery not far from Chateau Vigiers and were warmly welcomed for a late afternoon wine and cheese tasting on their shaded terrace overlooking the estate. A great way to ease yourself into the week. Lastly, we had the opportunity to work with Laetitia from Chateau Vieux Mougnac. We started with learning about this year's crop, a walk through the vines, a tour of the cellar, picnic in the garden and then finished with a wine blending workshop where we each took home our own bottle of custom-blended wine! If those sounds like fun to you, join our June 12th tour to experience it yourself!

Click here to book.

 

We are taking bookings for 2022 and look forward to hearing from you!