Justine Edelin

The trip was great. Justine set up every step of the way. We started with a list of sites we wanted to see in Italy and France and a time frame for the trip. She took it from there.
We nicknamed the trip "Trains, planes and automobiles". She booked every step of the way. The hotel rooms were all 1st class and in "safe" areas. The chauffer transfers were on time and more than just a ride. One example was the transfer from our hotel in Paris to the train station. The driver picked us up on time, loaded our luggage and drove us to the train station. When we arrived, she grabbed our luggage and walked us into the train station to our train platform. This was above and beyond.
Our guided tours in Italy and France were personal guided tours. Not a group of 20 or 30 people with headsets trying to follow a wandering guide. By personal, I mean we were the only people on the tour with the guide. Very personal and informative. We had a one-on-one informative tour on all of the tours.
The train travel was all booked as first class and the car rentals were top of the line vehicles. We were given clear instructions on where to pick up and where to drop off the rentals.
We were able to enjoy a personalized tour of each of the sites we had chosen and did not have to worry about the travel or overnight details.
We would highly recommend KimKim and Justine for an enjoyable, personalized, and carefree vacation.

Justine was an amazing resource for our family of 4 first international trip to France. She thoughtfully planned a trip catered to our wants and wishes, not just a packaged itinerary. Overall our days were seamless and well thought out. Activities, sight seeing, food, culture and relaxation…she helped us balance them all! I would suggest Kim Kim to others and plan to use them again myself in the future.

Hotel Reviews

Royal Garden Champs Elysées Paris

Paris

Great home base in Paris. Central location for walking to many sights as well as great food nearby. Excellent petit dejuener on site too. Family apartment provided all the amenities to make it a home away from home; fridge, microwave, tea kettle, coffee, daily water, balcony, and dining table.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

La Bastide de Moustiers

Moustiers-Sainte-Marie

There are no words, and certainly 5 stars is not even enough. I could have spent my entire vacation here. Spanish, provential, mountain retreat. We spent just a few days exploring the nearby Verdon Gorge. Despite all its natural beauty the kids would still ask if we could just go back to our amazing hotel room! Space for everyone and beautiful private serene grounds to recharge and relax in.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Seine Cruise with Commentary

Paris

The cruise is nice, but we preferred many of our guided toured over this. Gives a good overview of the lay of parts of Paris. Line proved much shorter near lunch hour than the popular evening cruise with very long lines.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

I loved the Dinner and Show of Moulin Rouge, the Eiffel Tower to the top, bike ride through Versailles (Marlee, our guide was so energetic and fun), the Macaron cooking class with Marthe and the Dior museum! They were my favorites! I would have preferred a more private cruise down the Seine. It was a long line and too crowded to enjoy. Our guide for Fountainbleu Alex, had difficulty translating but was very nice and friendly. Other than that I totally enjoyed the trip with my daughter and two granddaughters! Very memorable!

We originally thought about a trip to Normandy and the WWII beaches. While working with Justine it was clear the timing was not right and the accommodations we would like were booked. Another time….

She came up with an interesting plan instead to add on to our Rhône River cruise that finished in Lyon. We enjoyed a 4-5 hour wine tour of the northern Beaujolais region; a large vineyard operation and a smaller one….vineyards are quite an operation whether big or small. We walked all over Lyon, the food capital of France, and enjoyed our boutique hotel along the Soane River. The following morning a driver picked us up for our next adventure to the medieval village of Annecy, in the heart of the French Alps. Annecy, with cobbled streets, winding canals and softly colored shops is located on the pristine and clear waters of Lake Annecy. This city was the medieval home for the Counts of Geneva, Geneva being only 20 miles to the north and historically significant to the Dukes of Savoy. We spent 4 nights in Annecy, enjoying our boutique hotel which included a tasty breakfast…all within walking distance to the train station. We walked the bustling village, sampling restaurants and cafes and a myriad of shops. No doubt this village is hopping in the summer given the offering of water activities, however, our time in May after the bank holidays was ideal.

Other activities Justine scheduled for us all worked out well. We used our rented bikes and circumnavigated the 24 miles of Lake Annecy, a beautiful day and a great workout. She also arranged a personal boat cruise on the lake and the Captain prepared fondue and served us a lovely crisp white wine ….a very nice evening. He was a local man and we enjoyed hearing his stories of the region. On another day we set off for a paragliding adventure at the southern end of the lake, each with our own pilots. It was spectacular, launching at 3400’ and riding the thermals to 8000’….the sensations and vistas were memorable, Lake Geneva in the distance and Annecy below. On the last full day we went on a driving tour out to the Bauges mountain region stopping at the city of Chambery for a tour with a local guide….she was fun, knew everyone in town and regaled us with the local history. After a delicious lunch at a wonderful alpine restaurant overlooking the valley of farm fields, we experienced the workings of a small family dairy/cheese farm….so nice to learn their process and meet them. The owner of the farm did not speak English so our driver translated. It was his first visit to the farm and it was a special day for him as well. This farm is very well known in the region and has won many awards for their cheeses, for which we sampled.

Our trip soon to end, we hopped on the train for a leisurely trip back to bustling Paris, but soon exited for our final afternoon in Chantilly. The huge biannual garden and flower market was going on and Chantilly was bustling with people, mostly regional locals it seemed. It was time to begin to decompress from our 16 day French adventure with a lovely dinner before heading to the airport the next morning.

The weather was perfect for our stay. All the arrangements by Justine worked very well and we enjoyed immersing ourselves in a different culture. It was especially nice to have drivers take care of the logistics. Thank you Justine.

Jim and Joanne Matthews