A-La-Carte-France-Tours.com Tour operator offering private exclusive tours across France
Title
France Tours - tour France with your private driver-guide
Description
Excerpted from the website:
- Geography
- A country of Western Europe, France lies between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean (a total of 2,100 miles of coastline). It borders Belgium (400 miles of borderline), Luxembourg (40 miles), Germany (300 miles), Switzerland (350 miles), Italy (300 miles), Monaco (30 miles), Spain (390 miles) and Andorra (35 miles).
A La Carte France Tours offers fine exclusive tours in France. Travelers get a private guide / chauffeur who assists them at all times. These are not group tours, but private tours, meaning that the tour is designed to suit individual desires, tastes and needs, and that the private group of travelers (usually a couple, or a small family) is not mixed with other, unknown passengers.
Such a custom tour of France is likely to start at Paris airport. The driver will await the travelers at the airport. Some sightseeing before settling in the accommodation may be desirable. The Butte Montmartre where, as tradition has it, Saint Denis prayed to heaven, is a surprising place which even today has managed to keep its look of a village, even if the flow of tourists is present. The place where the Paris Commune started, its legend really came about when the artists and intellectuals took it over, attracted by its taverns and its cabarets. The great period was between 1870 and 1914. French Caf'conc', poets' circles (like that of the «Hydropathes»), songs by Aristide Bruant, drawings by Caran d'Ache, the Moulin Rouge where Yvette Guilbert, Valentin le Désossé or Jane Avril performed under the odd stare of a funny little man with a black bowler hat, studios where Picasso, Braque and so many others tried to survive whilst giving birth to cubism, bars where Maurice Utrillo struggled against his bad temper, all that has helped to create the legend of Montmartre, carefully maintained since in France.
After Paris, the tour head to Normandy. Honfleur is a delightful port. Enjoy Honfleur by strolling along its quays, and walking along the roads and paved alleys of Ste-Catherine's quarter; stop before the facade of an old dwelling, before an artist's easel or at a café terrace around the Vieux-Bassin and have a bowlful of cider. A very romantic part of France.
The D-Day beaches are a popular site with American travelers in France. Leaving Caen for the coast, you will pass by Ranville-Bénouville where you can see the Pegasus Memorial and the bridge taken by the British on the night of 5 June 1944. You will then reach Sword Beach, where the Franco-British commando troops landed. Further on is Juno Beach, the Canadian sector; Churchill, de Gaulle and George VI landed one after the other at Courseulles. Gold Beach and the artificial Mulberry harbour at Arromanches are the last British sectors before the American sector of Omaha Beach and the Pointe du Hoc.
One of the oldest castles of the French Loire Valley is in Angers. Round towers, streaked with somber schiste and white stones, this is a perfect example of feudal architecture. The chateau, built between 1228 and 1238 by Saint Louis, was almost demolished by Henri III, during the religious wars. By chance the governor was happy to decrown the towers and lay them on the terrace. Once inside, you will see a 15C chapel with finely sculpted Gothic doors, and the royal dwelling which houses a Mural of the Passion and several mille-fleurs style tapestries, one of which is the admirable Lady on the Organ. But this is eclipsed by the famous Mural of the Apocalypse, the oldest, which has been passed on from Queen Mathilda in Bayeux (France).
In Burgundy, a visit to Beaune is a must. The Hotel-Dieu (hospital) is a marvel of Burgundy and Flemish art. Founded in 1443 by Chancellor Nicolas de Rolin, this medieval treasure chest remained in service until 1971. Famous for its roof with multicoloured varnished tiles, it has a number of well-to-do buildings around a central courtyard. The Grand'salle (or poor room), is 200 feet long and has a hull-shaped vault. The furniture has been restored to its original glory. At the end of the room, there is a moving statue of Christ de pitié. Washroom, Salle Saint-Hugues filled with frescos, Salle Saint-Nicolas with its permanent exhibition of the history of Hôtel-Dieu (and its frightening collection of contemporary surgical instruments!), kitchen with an immense Gothic chimney, pharmacy.
Why not visit medieval Annecy, a few miles away from Geneva, yet in France? - By and large a pedestrian area - with houses in archways, circular Italian wells, quays, palaces and churches, there is a certain charm to this old quarter... an entourage or rare harmony.
On the French Riviera, Nice is a baroque city. On the Boulevard Victor-Hugo, lined with plane trees, you can admire the wonderful façades of some of its buildings, like the Palais Meyerbeer at n° 45, with its ironwork and cherubs, or the neo-Classical Villa Abbo at n° 22.
In Arles, your guide will introduce you to the Arenas. The Arles arenas which were transformed into a fortress in the 5th and 6th C (retaining their two, «Saracen towers» - medieval alterations) and then into a veritable «town within a town», have been extremely well conserved. Today the arenas are the setting for bull fights, Camargue competitions and variety shows.
Near Carcassonne, one of France's jewels, see the Château de Peyrepertuse, one of the finest examples of a Cathar castle and one of the "five sons of Carcassonne". This high-perched citadel (780m) comprises two adjacent but separate castles. The lower château bas was built in the 11C when the Corbières were part of Spain. A gaping hole in a watchtower near the lower keep commands a splendid view of Quéribus. When the castle was handed over to France in the 13C, King Louis had the Château St-Georges built on the highest point of the mountain at 796m. The site of the old chapel commands a spectacular view of the stronghold and the region below.
A private guided tour of France must be the ultimate way to discover France and the French.
Languages
English
Address
207 Allee des Roses, 83150 Bandol (VAR) FRANCE
Contact
- A La Carte France Tours
Address for enquiries:
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- Phone in France: +33 6 7132 0824
- Phone in the USA: 1-206-202 4711
