France By Locals

Sebastian did a wonderful job planning out trip and customizing it to meet exactly what we were looking for. We particularly enjoyed the boat tour of Calanques National Park, and the incredible views in Chamonix!

We could not have been more fortunate then to have Sebastian as our travel specialist.
He composed a perfect schedule for our trip to France.
At each location we had comfortable accommodation in the center of the action. Easy access to all the popular sites.
At each city we had at least one tour led by knowledgeable and personable tour guides.
Not only sharing their insights and facts of a particular area but also their own personal stories of their connection to that area.
We also had a good amount of time on our own to “get lost” in each city. Some thing I really enjoy, especially when we have GPS to guide us and Goggle Translator to help when we needed.
Paris. Nice, Marseille, and Bordeaux were wonderful but the biggest surprise was the small, quaint city of Amboise.
Train travel was easy to navigate and gave us time to relax and see the changing countryside.
Again, had a great vacation and thank Sebastian for making all this possible.
Neil

Hotel Review

L'Hôtel Particulier

Bordeaux

Supprisingly nice hotel that at one time must have been a grand chateau. The rooms were odd but added to the character of the place. Right in the middle of center city Bordeaux. Pleasant staff. Good breakfast. Tons of restaurants and bars filled with people that enjoyed the area as much as we did.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Right in center city Boudreaux

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

2-hour walking tour

Marseille

I loved Marseille I loved the action around the Harbor area and especially the wonderful seafood restaurants. Our tour guide was terrific. Made us feel at home and comfortable with the city. Shared not only the facts of the area but also his personal experiences in Marseille

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We have just returned from our 14 day trip to Paris, Lyon, Annecy, Chamonix, Nice, Monaco, Aix en Province and Marseille and had an amazing time thanks to Emma who worked closely with us to plan and organise it all. The on line experience for planning, communicating and payment was easy to navigate. Communication and follow up during the planning and travelling stage was prompt and it was so reassuring to have a local person on hand to follow up on any queries or issues which inevitably arise when you travel. It's hard to pick a favourite place as every city/town was very different. If we were choosing based on charm and beauty then it would definitely be Annecy and Aix en Provence. Our favourite guided tours were the cultural and culinary walking in Lyon and the full day excursion to Monaco, Monte Carlo and Eze. Thanks again Emma for your travel experience, recommendations and support along the way, we have no hesitation in using kimkim again in the future.

Sebastian put together a wonderful first time visit to France! I really liked the neighborhood of our hotel in Paris, where it was easy to walk to nice eating and shopping places and it felt safe and clean. Our tour guide Sabine was kind, patient, and knowledgeable on our guided fashion/shopping experience. Harry, who was our guide for Palace of Versailles, was knowledgeable and had a good sense of humor. The hotel was nice with good food. In Marseille, my favorite was the guided walking tour, a self walking tour the local African/French markets, and our gourmet restaurant meal. Ezekial was our walking tour guide and was so patient with my mom and Susan as they needed to end the walking tour early; he helped them get a ride back to the hotel. The hotel in Marseille was my favorite with the decor, food, and lovely kitchen and home-style way of serving breakfast. Nice was great as well and we enjoyed our full day tour to Monte Carlo, Eze, and Monaco with our guide (unfortunately I did not record his name in my notes; he lives very close to the hotel we stayed in in Nice). He shared a lot of knowledge with us and drove safely. The hotel in Nice was not quyite as nice as the ones in Paris and Marseille but everyone was friendly and the location was very close to attractions in the Old Town and shopping, which we all enjoyed. We did have a few small challenges knowing when to get off of the trains to Nice and Marseille as the announcements were difficult to understand (we are not fluent in French) and finding elevators/escalators for painful arthritic knees in metro stations was tricky. The boat ride in Marseille for the Calanques National Park was a bit rougher and more wet than we anticipated. I think we all thought the boat would be larger and a smooth laid back ride, but the sea cliffs were lovely. All in all, I really enjoyed the trip and would love to visit all of these areas again and many more in France in the near future. Thank you!

Activity Reviews

Paris: Illuminations River Cruise

Paris

So fun and pretty to experience. We were able to go around 8:30 pm which was great timing to catch the Eiffel Tower light up around 8:45-9pm. I kind of wish we could have arrived a day or 2 earlier before doing this as we were very sleepy during the tour since it was our first day in Paris.

Quality of Experience

relaxing and lovely sights to see

Guides, Drivers and Staff

the guide was funny and had humor in providing the history of the bridges sights along the tour.

French Fashion, Fragrance and Fun in the Marais

Paris

I loved going into French based fragrance and jewelry stores where we made some purchases. I'm not sure I learned any specifics of French fashion which I kind of though I would but I liked our guide Sabine and how she was told us about the area and the unique shops. She was able to arrange an chocolate demonstration and tasting for us which was very cool.

Quality of Experience

Found some places to discover that we probalby never would have known but we got some unique gifts for ourselves and loved ones.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Very friendly and easy to talk to; very patient and not pushy or loud in her demeanor.

Sebastian was very helpful in answering all our questions and creating a trip that met our needs. We had an amazing experience in France and learned so much thanks to him. He also was so patient with us during the planning process, much appreciated.
All of our accommodations were convenient and accessible by walking or train to attractions in Paris, Marseilles and Nice. We especially enjoyed our Maison du Monde hotel in Marseilles, the breakfast there was excellent. We also loved our Paris hotel Hotel Lorette and the lovely local neighborhood it was in.

All of our outings were very fun, educational, and the transportation and guides were prompt and friendly. Ezekiel in Marseille made special accommodations for our walking tour to meet the needs of our group and took extra time to assist us.

We all want to come back and learn more about France given such a wonderful trip KimKim provided for us

Simon planned a lovely tour in France for me, staying at Tours, Amboise, La Rochelle, Bordeaux and St Emilion. Everything went very smoothly and the guides e provided were excellent. Super time.

Activity Reviews

Visit and tasting Chateau de Miniere

Amboise

The wine tasting at Chateau de Miniere was a bit underwhelming. It was just me and the vineyard host, which made the experience feel somewhat isolated. The host poured a series of wines for me to taste, but there wasn't much conversation or interaction. It felt quite solitary, and at the end, she asked if I wanted to buy some wine, which I couldn't do because I was flying. I think it would have been much better with more people to share the experience with.

Cité du Vin : priority access with the skip the line ticket and wine tasting

Bordeaux

The Cité du Vin in Bordeaux was a bit of a letdown for me. The building is modern and quite lovely, but I found the experience very basic. It felt more like an introductory course on wine—like "Did you know wine is made from grapes?"—which wasn't very engaging for me. The audio-visual presentations were well-done, but the pacing was off. I often found myself catching segments halfway and not knowing if I should wait for it to restart. Overall, I felt it wasn't the best use of my time.