Experiences with Brendan Tours anyone?
 

Greetings, Fodor's Fans! <BR> <BR>I am planning to take a 14 day guided tour of France through Brendan Tours. It sounds like an awesome adventure. Starts in Paris for two days, then to Caen, Normandy beaches, Mont St. Michel, Blois, Chateaux country, Bordeaux, Montpellier, two days in Nice, then heading back to Paris via Lyon and Reims. The opportunity to take this trip came up quite suddenly when some friends invited me, and I could not in good conscience pass up the chance to go with them. I have always wanted to go to Paris, but never really considered visiting the rest of France. I am sure it will be beautiful. <BR> <BR>Would anyone care to offer their opinions about this trip, and especially if you have taken a Brendan Tour before. I will wait anxiously to hear from anyone who would like to share their experiences. <BR> <BR>Many thanks! <BR> <BR>Sandi <BR>

We took the Brendan Tour of Eastern Europe in 1995 and found everything ran like clockwork. Excellent guide, bus, and driver. Good hotels and lodges. Good local guides in several cities, too. They kept every promise they made. <BR>We have been to all of the French cities and locations you mention -- you will have a marvelous time. Just don't eat too much!

Al, <BR> <BR>Thanks for the opinions and reassurance. You said you have been to all of the places I had listed in France. Would you care to expand on your French adventure? What things should I take care not to miss or overlook? I realize the trip I plan to take will probably be very rushed, and I will not really and truly "experience" these places, but I will be so thrilled just to be there. <BR> <BR>Anyway, thanks for your initial response. Looking forward to hearing more from you. <BR> <BR>Sandi <BR>

Our travels in France span many years, and what may have interested us may be a complete bore to you. My advice: study the best guide books you can find before you set foot on French soil. We have always relied on the Michelin Green Guides for places to see, and used the Michelin Red Guide for places to stay. However, Frommer was a great help years ago when it was true that you could see "Europe on $25 A Day." Lyon, in our opinion, is France's "most overlooked city." Marvelous sights, a couple museums that are world class, and many small restaurants waiting to be discovered. We did all these trips on our own, probably very inefficiently, but always a lot of fun. Somehow, I have never seen why Nice is attractive to people. Other Riviera-area towns are much more interesting: Grasse, Nimes, Avignon, Le Baux, etc. Skip Marseille: very ugly, nothing much of interest. Cannes is a tourist trip in season. Get up into the hills above. Colmar is not to be missed. Blois isn't much. Instead, spend more time in such little places as Villandry, Azay le Rideaux, and the chateaux of Chenonceaux, Chambord,, etc. Bordeaux is a big commercial port. Not much there to see. Get out into the country. Conques is a village lost in time. Albi, Rodez, Ste. Enemie and the Gorges du Tarn are well worth more time. Carcassonne is a day all by itself. Strasbourg, Nancy, Auxerre, Vezelay -- marvelous. Caen is not as interesting as Bayeux, Arromanches, St. Malo, Dinan, and Mt. St. Michel. Spend time at the cemeteries of all nations. Verdun, for example, is a gigantic history lesson of what not to do. Etc., etc., etc.

Al, <BR> <BR>Thank you for your detailed opinions and memories. I will admit that I am not familiar at all with most of these towns and villages you mentioned, and even the ones listed in my tour description. But I do plan to investigate and study up some. One place I know I would like to visit is the Chantilly(sic) castle. Saw it mentioned on the Travel Channel recently. Are you familiar with this one? If you had the choice to visit the palace of Versailles or Chantilly, which would it be? <BR> <BR>Thanks. <BR> <BR>Sandi

We plan to visit the chateau of Chantilly later this year for the first time. So we have no opinions of it. However, having seen Versailles several times, we would say that it is a "must" for a first-time visitor. We understand that Versailles and its park suffered damage during the recent storms. Any reports out there?

I took a tour of Ireland with Brendan in 1984 and it was fine. A friend went with them again in Ireland last year and enjoyed it.