Best Of

Okay laundry done so here goes:
We thoroughly enjoyed this great trip
We were a group of 14 and we were the first group to take the tour.
Because of that we did encounter a few minor glitches, however all were expertly handled by our wonderful tour director Marianne.
We were staying in hotels and going to restaurants Tauck had never used before, Marianne did an amazing job getting people to understand what her expectations were and she never took no for an answer
HOTELS:
3 nights in Paris at the Sofitel Baltimore, our least favorite hotel of the trip. just average
2 nights in Lyon at the Intercontinental Hotel Dieu. Beautiful hotel, spacious rooms, good restaurant and having a drink in the spectacular bar a must.
3 nights in Les Eyzies at the Hotel Les Glycines. Small French country style hotel. very nice, peaceful with comfortable rooms
3 nights in Bordeaux at the Hotel Burdigala. Beautiful hotel with spacious rooms. good bar and restaurant and good location
2 nights in Biarritz at the Regina Hotel. We were supposed to stay at the Hotel du Palais which is the former palace of Napoleon III but we were informed a few weeks before the tour that the hotel had been changed. We weren’t told why at the time but when we got to Biarritz we found out a very wealthy family had taken over the whole hotel. However we really liked the Regina Hotel. A boutique hotel with great rooms and great views of the lighthouse and ocean. Knowing they were a second choice hotel the staff was extremely attentive and went out of their way to make sure we had a great stay there.
MEALS:
We had many great group meals. The most memorable were:
Lunch at the Brassierie at the Eiffel Tower. great food and lots of it. save room for dessert, you won’t be disappointed.
Nice lunch at the Moulin de la Galette in Monmartre
Dinner at the Hotel Les Glycine. The restaurant there has a Michelin star and we were served a 7 course meal of beautiful and delicious food.
The picnic lunch at the Chateau Kerwin winery

I was a little surprised at the amount of meals we had to have on our own, it seemed like a lot but I’ve never done a 14 day tour so maybe it was the norm.
Also a lot of bus time

in summary, this tour is rated a 3 for activity and a 4 for pace and I agree with that.
Lots of walking on uneven surfaces and lots of steps and of course changing hotels and long bus rides get tiring.
A beautiful and unique tour I would recommend.