Sophie Bonaque

The holiday was very enjoyable as we visited all the major art galleries that we wanted to. It was a pleasure to be picked up by car and not have to worry about finding taxis. A special mention should be made of Blacklane Chauffer as the vehicles were top quality and the driver Antonio very obliging. We enjoyed the small family Loretta hotel in Bruges as the hostess and staff were very friendly. On the other hand the small hotel in Brussels, the Café Pacific, was not very welcoming, the facilities in the room were a little lacking, and the small bar area, although advertised as a champagne and cocktail bar, was not open in the evening. Some people returning from the evening meal and wanting a nightcap would be quite disappointed.
The highlight for us was visiting the Rubenshuis and the Rocox museum in Antwerp, although the Musee des Beaux Artes in Brussels came a close second.

First of all, Sophie Bonaque did an amazing job setting up our trip. In designing the trip, she answering all of our questions and made the necessary and appropriate changes to our itinerary to set up the trip exactly the way we wanted.

The trip itself was fantastic! All the arrangements she made worked out perfectly. All the tours were great and all the tour guides and drivers met us at the right place and time.

I’ll give some feedback on the hotels. The hotel in Paris (Hotel Le Basile) was only 3 stars but we liked it very much. It was a very charming hotel and the proprietor (or manager) was very helpful. It was also in a very good location. The breakfast was excellent and they also had a person to cook an omelette if you wanted it. We would definitely recommend it and think of it as a high 3 stars. As we say in the US, “it punches above its weight”!

The hotel in Marseille (Hotel Maison Montgrand ) was okay, but 3 stars is a reasonable rating. No real complaints. It was just that the service was a bit impersonal, the room was on the small side and the location was just okay. The breakfast was very good but as expected. Again, no complaints but we want to give you good feedback.

The Palais Saleya in Nice was by far our favorite! What a great hotel! The room was large and very comfortable. The location was fantastic. They don’t have their own kitchen to serve breakfast so breakfast was brought to our room every morning on trays. It was a great breakfast: fresh yogurt, fresh breads, crepes, orange juice, etc. We very highly recommend this hotel.

Finally, just to mention again, all the tour guides were great.

We loved Nice and Paris! Marseille was fine, but two days was just the right amount of time.

Overall it was a great vacation. Again, Sophie did a great job on all the arrangements.

Working with Sophie from L'Objectif France was great. She took the time to phone me to ask important questions. She was quick to reply to my questions and requests. Thanks to Sophie, we were able to fit in a lot of neat things in such a short tip. The Road Book Sophie put together with the itinerary and directions - including maps - was fantastic. I have never seen a comparable book from another agent.

The car transfers arranged in Brussels with Blacklane were superb. Clean, comfortable vehicles and professional drivers. Drivers were on time/early.

Waffle tour (can't remember company or name of guide) was really neat and provided a memorable experience. The waffles we made themselves were so-so, but the history and knowledge of Belgian waffles in general was really neat.

Day trip to Ghent and Bruges with Brussels City Tours was good. Weather was pretty miserable, but the guide was great and knowledgeable. Spoke/walked at a good pace. Made for a long day, but I felt like I got a good sense of both places without being rushed or with too much time doddling.

City tour of Brussels was ok, also with Brussels City Tours. This was originally scheduled for our first day, which is ideal for me as a traveller in order to get a sense of the city at the beginning of the stay. This tour was rescheduled due to low booking. Sophie was great about getting in touch to communicate the change and allowed us time to decide if we wanted to keep our booking. They ended up having a last minute cancellation, so it was just the two of us on the tour with a big coach bus. Was nice to see more of Brussels other than the city centre, but there was too much time on the coach and I would not have enjoyed the tour if the bus was full. Definitely prefer tours with more walking.

The chocolate tour of Brussels with Groovy Brussels was amazing! Highly recommend.

Private tour of Liège was good. Interesting city history. Guide focused a lot on architecture and churches a little too much. Felt like we could have seen more if we didn't spend so much time on individual buildings talking about windows and lines.

Kimkim overall was a useful tool. As a Canadian, I would have liked to pay in the local currency rather than USD so I didn't essentially pay the exchange rate twice. There seemed to be a technical glitch when a second traveller was added, which made payment more complicated than it would have been otherwise. If it worked properly, would have worked great to split the costs between two travellers. It also would have been nice to have a breakdown of costs for each itinerary item as well as more info upfront about how the agent's costs work. I noticed each time I asked for a change, her fees went up. This made me hesitant to ask for changes. However, the amount of time I saved by not looking up tours and hotels myself was well worthwhile.