|
|
Post by Owen on Sept 12, 2014 17:04:14 GMT
1 ~~~~~ Easy Pace France ~ September 2005 ~ Tim (Canada) ~ IV Tour ~~~~~
This travel tale was written by Tim and relates to a Insight Vacations Tour.
It was originally posted on the Insight Vacations forum.
Greetings From Toronto, Canada
My wife Carol and I just finished doing the Easy Pace France tour and loved it. We thought that we should post a message about our experience and dealing with the French people.
Our tour was a relaxing way to see three distinct areas of France (Paris, Provence & French Riviera). Our tour director, Virginie, who is fabulous, called it the "No Stress Express" and was absolutely right! We struck a balance of organized and optional tours and having time to explore and drink in the ambiance.
Our experience with the French people was warm and courteous. On the tour, Virginie gave us simple but valuable tips on interacting with people that served us well. First, you are in France so make an effort to speak a little French. Our French, while limited, didn't discourage us. We found that starting with manners, such as "Bon Jour Madam/Monsieur" when you enter a store or restaurant and acknowledging people sets a favourable precedence. The French tend to be more formal in their language than North Americans. Saying "Madam" or "Monsieur" is important and generally received with a smile. As in any language, there are magic words such as "please" (sil vous plait) or "thank you" (merci) along with a smile goes a long way. If you are looking for a good phrase book to help you, we recommend Lonely Planet's "Fast Talk French".
Virginie endeared us to the French with her charm, wisdom, advice and French lessons in helping make our vacation a splendid adventure. We look forward to our next tour with Insight. |
|
|
|
Post by Owen on Sept 12, 2014 17:05:45 GMT
2 ~ Easy Pace France
Hi Dennis
There were a number of good optional tours on the "Easy Pace France" tour. If we had come early giving us an extra day in Paris, we would have done the "Giverny & Versailles" tour. We skipped the "Moulin Rouge" dinner/dance/show as 143 Euros was a little too rich for us. The Lido does a comparable show & is less expensive.
In Nimes, a lot of people loved the Dinner in Aigues Mortes - Camargue with live Gypsy Music but had other plans. They also enjoyed the Arles & Les Baux de Provence tour but we opted out on a day to ourselves to explore Nimes.
In Nice, we did the "Peter Mayle" dinner & Boules. It was a fun evening trying the French game and the food was quite good. We also did the Cannes & St. Paul de Vence tour. Cannes was interesting with the expensive hotels & shops. However, it was a Sunday morning & nothing was open. The hill top village of St. Paul de Vence was charming with a lot of nice shops and worth seeing. We skipped the tour of Eze & Monte Carlo by night, as I have allegeries with strong perfumes & the casino wasn't a draw for us. The Villa & Gardens de Rothschild was beautiful. My wife especially enjoys gardens and it was worth seeing.
The thing that we enjoyed about this trip was the easy pace aspect, as we had more time to see Paris, Provence & Nice. It was the "No Stress Express" as our guide called it. The last tour that we did was like the Country Roads trip (although not with Insight) but of Italy. We just tried to cram in too much & didn't have time to appreciate where we were.
There were a couple of other optional tours oringially listed but they are subject to change for various reasons. We did enjoy our tour with Insight and whichever one you choose, I hope that you have a wonderful time.
Sincerely
Tim
Posts: 3 | Location: Toronto | Registe |
|
|
|
Post by Owen on Sept 12, 2014 17:06:46 GMT
3 ~ Easy Pace France
Dear Carol
It was wonderful to get your message. We consider St. Paul de Vence to be one of the highlights of the trip. We're glad that you and your sister were able to spend a few days there and thoughly enjoyed it. It's one of the places that we hope to return to one day.
A friend of ours recently asked us what was the highlight of our trip and we couldn't answer her because there was so many wonderful experiences that we had that we couldn't pin it down to just one. Every place that we went to on our tour had it's own charms and memories and we cherish them all. I can fully appreciate your comment about revisiting it daily. Carol and I have just completed our second scrapbook of the trip. The first is for us and the second is a storybook that we created for our goddaughter who is French-Canadian. It will be a Christmas present to her. We've been spending a lot of time going over the photos and showing and talking to people about it.
I think that it is great that the trip has hightened your desire to learn French. While our French is limited, trying to communicate in French to people while we were there added a richness to our experience and made it much more rewarding. I know that some day that we will return to see more of France and continue our adventures there.
Carol and I are well and hope that you and your sister are the same. We also extend our best wishes for the upcoming holiday season.
Sincerely yours
Tim & Carol |
|
