Recap of Paris, Normandy, Brittany & the Loire Valley – Apr. 25-May 7, 2025

This small group land tour was outstanding! Details on the itinerary are included in the trip description and in previous posts made in this group. Our very friendly and fun group included 22 people; 10 couples and 2 people traveling solo.

Highlights – the awesome tour director Jaqueline B. made the trip so organized. She was very well prepared each day with information about what we were to see. She has a wonderful sense of humor and kept us both informed and entertained. She is a pro in every way and has done this tour many, many times, yet remains enthusiastic and fresh. Our bus driver Vincent was great – very safe and attentive to the needs of the passengers.

The local guides hired by Tauck at each destination were top notch. The standout was Ed on the Normandy beaches day.

My husband and I prepared in advance of the trip by watching several documentaries and movies related to D-Day and WWII. It is not necessary because we received information from both Jaqueline and Ed but it enriched our time at Normandy. Ed highly recommends seeing the 1962 movie The Longest Day as one that is highly accurate (we had seen in advance at home). He had opinions on the accuracy of other movies and books but we didn’t feel any of our preparation in advance was wasted. It was a very moving day.

In case you haven’t been on a Tauck land tour, know that it is Tauck’s procedure to switch the names above the bus seats each day so that no one claims a seat for the entire trip. This worked fine and was a good reminder of names in the early days as we could see them posted above the seats.

The small group tours stay at Le Meurice Hotel in Paris. This is almost reason enough to book a small group! The hotel is superb in every way. It is in a very convenient location, as were all the Tauck hotels on this trip.

Tauck pays in advance for the services of the concierges, bell captains, housekeeping and servers at each hotel. I was glad our TD pointed this out so there was not a question of individual tipping. Of course, you are welcome to leave extra, but she indicated that they are “very well compensated” by Tauck (via our tour cost, of course).

The subject of dress code/suggestion comes up frequently. I will relay some anecdotal information from our tour. Each time we had a group dinner, the TD reminded us of the suggested “business casual” attire. That leaves a wide range of interpretation, and it is not “enforced” in any way. Some wore what they had been touring in that day and others changed for dinner. Totally a traveler's choice. We had three more “special” dinners – my words:)...

The welcome dinner was held in the beautiful room where the Versailles Treaty was drafted at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in Versailles where we all stayed. About 6 or 7 men wore sport coats and shirts, no ties.

The dinner cruise on the Seine in Paris (our arrival night in Paris) was private, just for our group of 22 and was a beautiful night. Two men wore sport coats (one being my husband as I wanted a dressier picture as we floated past the Eiffel Tower).

The farewell dinner was held at Le Meurice and this was the night the TD said to bring out our Coco Chanel dresses! She was joking but it wouldn’t have been out of place – the overall clientele of the hotel in the restaurants and bar were very dressed up. Nine of the ten men in our group wore a sport coat. Again, it is everyone's vacation to dress as they feel comfortable.

Final thought – Day 10 is the first full day in Paris. Tauck has a bus tour overview of the city with a couple stops for pictures in the morning and a walking tour in the afternoon. Both are optional. We had our own plans that day but heard back that people enjoyed both the bus and walking tours. This is the day to make plans for other things you might want to see – for us it was top of the Eiffel Tower tickets and a visit to Montmartre. Look ahead to see if there is anything you want to get tickets for in advance (Louvre, L’Orangerie, Rodin museum, etc.) You will also want to note which days which museums are closed. Our tour included a tour of Musee d’Orsay on the last day in Paris.

All in all it was a wonderful tour I would highly recommend. Itinerary is great and for us - what made it outstanding were the people on the tour - other guests, the TD and bus driver, locals guides and everyone we interacted with at hotels.