France Trip Review: In addition to comments ...

France | May 12 - May 21, 2023

France Trip Review:
In addition to comments from Mark & Rhonda, I've added a couple of my comments below:
What we liked the most:
- Bordeaux and wine tours: our guide Bogdan Ghita was very knowledgeable and fun. He did a great job with the itinerary and we just really enjoyed his company.
- Bordeaux itinerary with Bogdan was excellent and well thought out! We enjoyed the variety of Chateau's, from small to big, and the great restaurants for lunch each day.
- Our guide for the D-Day tours was also outstanding. We were not prepared for the cold weather in Normandy but we enjoyed our time there and learned a lot about WWII.
- Transportation: All transportation was on-time and very comfortable (cars and trains). We had a little hiccup in Paris because our drivers that picked us up at the train stations did not speak English but we got through it.
- Itinerary variety: I thought the plan to begin our trip in Bayeux, move to Bordeaux, and end in Paris was ideally suited to experience a variety of tours and visit the best sites in each area.
- Hotels in Bordeaux and Paris: We enjoyed the accommodations in both cities. Each hotel was comfortable, in a good location, and served a really nice breakfast each morning.

What could have been better:
- Accommodations in Bayeaux: Great location but uncomfortable beds and a couple of inconveniences like we had to go buy toilet paper and soap as well as we had to return the keys to the owner’s mailbox a few blocks away on the way to the train station. It was also hard to find a place for breakfast given our very early start every day (nothing was open). I would have liked to see more options before we decided to stay there.
- Foodie tour: We did not enjoy this tour as it was too much walking/standing. We were unable to sit to enjoy any of our tastings. Given that it was late afternoon we could not find good pasteries and the formagerie was too crowded to host us. I wouldn’t recommend this tour in the future.
- Paris: We started most days very early, which was ok. However the Louvre tour was at 10:00 and the lines to get in were terrible. I would recommend an earlier start at the Louvre to avoid some of the crowds.

Thank you again for everything!
Mark and Rhonda Elming