Mathilde Dubuisson

Mathilde was excellent in responding promptly and revising the trip as we expressed our wishes in terms of the locations we wanted to visit and budget as well. When Mathilde was away, Kevin stepped in and was very helpful as well. In one situation when we needed help, Valentine also stepped in and offered to switch our hotel but we did not need to move, although the offer was very nice.
We had a fantastic time, sometimes challenging but very satisfying overall. For further commentary see a couple of my blogs below, and you can see all my blogs on the time we spent in France at andrasthehun.blog on wordpress or click on and-r-as-the-hun.ca. I copied two of the blogs below describing our unique experiences in Aix-en-Provence.

Finding Our hotel in Aix-en-Provence, France (blog published at andrasthehun.blog)

The travel agent reserved a place for us in Aix-en-Provence and the GPS in the Peugeot 208 indicated a map showing how to get there. The rush-hour traffic engulfed Kathy driving the car and I assisted navigating the road. Crowds of people walking across the street made driving more challenging. And the roundabouts, of which there were more than traffic lights, complicated driving by sprouting many exits and lanes that we had to assess in trying to find the right exit.
Some exits were just lanes. Once the GPS directed us to take the next right, which was a lane that took us into an underground parking that we toured searching for the exit. On exiting, the inserted ticket triggered the gate to open, and we sped out.
The car rental agent switched the GPS to English from French and a serious-sounding, deep-voiced female directed us to our destination with a UK accent. We learned some new expressions such as “bear right” which means to turn right.
The rush of traffic, the crisscrossing pedestrians, and listening to the deep UK-accented voice combined to make us highly nervous driving in a town new to us, and we wanted to get to our place fast. But that was not to be.
With the hotel address typed into the GPS, the GPS directed us to turn left into a lane right after going around the Rotunda, a central square in Aix. In the fast-moving traffic, we did not notice the small lane quickly enough and missed our turn in the rush-hour traffic. We were frustrated and used some words not appropriate in a blog. After recalculating, the GPS moved us around a few kilometers to come back to the Rotunda again. By that time with our nerves frazzled, we missed the turn lane yet again, being pushed by the cars behind us on our tail.
The third time around Kathy slowed down ignoring the honking behind us and we entered the single lane promising to lead us to our hotel. The next left turn ordered by the GPS left us facing a few bollards not allowing us into the single lane. Stumped, we stopped trying to analyze the situation before the honking became overbearing and people yelling at us to get a move on. We had no choice. We moved on while Kathy, in her utter frustration showed a finger to the woman driver behind us shouting at us.
At this point, having driven around for over an hour and a half, I said, hell with the hotel reservation, let’s take another hotel anywhere in Aix. Then we realized that we needed gas to continue our search. I clicked on Waze on my cellphone and looked for the nearest gas station. Still, in rush-hour traffic, we missed a few gas stations because we could not get to the right lane from the middle lanes fast enough. We filled up at the gas station that we finally reached, where a friendly soul directed us to a suburban hotel twenty minutes away. We were happy though with a full tank of gas and redirected the GPS to find the hotel.
Khalid, the hotel receptionist, was sorry but said his hotel was full and he came with me to two adjacent hotels to speak French to the other receptionists, which he said would help us, poor Canadians, find a place to sleep. Walking back and forth among the hotels afforded me time to discover that Khalid came from Tunisia and he became excited to hear that I loved Tajine.
The horrible option of sleeping in the car came to my mind, should we not find a hotel. But that idea also created a problem; where to find a place to park? Parking in Aix seemed nonexistent. When I shared this idea with Khaled, he would not hear of it, he said he would make sure to find a place for us.
But the nearby hotels were full as well. Khalid called another ten hotels to no avail. By this time, it was dark, and we were totally tired out and the impossible scenario of finding a quiet spot to park and sleep in the car has become a real option. Instead, Khalid suggested we leave the car at his hotel’s parking garage and take a taxi to our hotel, wherever it was. Since it was an offer to park free in the garage, and we were too tired to think, we accepted his offer. We took our overnight bags and waited for the taxi he called.
The taxi followed the route we had taken previously around the Rotunda, but instead of going off to the left where we had gone three times, the driver took the next right which was Cours Mirabeau where our hotel was. When confronted with bollards at the entrance – Cours Mirabeau is closed to traffic except for delivery vehicles and taxis – the driver inserted a card into a slot on a post next to him to make the bollards sink into the ground. And then we drove onto rue Mirabeau and found our hotel.
The next morning, after surveying where we were, we took a taxi to retrieve our car and returned to park it in the nearby parking garage. The instructions to our hotel would have been clearer if instructed to seek a garage, and not the hotel, which was inaccessible by car. But since the hotel has a street address, the GPS took us on a futile trip.
In retrospect, the travel agent should have told us to park first with an address for a garage and instructions on how to reach the hotel next. Instead, the address to the hotel was provided with the suggestion that we park in the nearest parking garage. But we were happy just to find the hotel located along a wide sidewalk full of outdoor cafes with crowds of people. Nobody paid attention to us entering the hotel.

Entering Our Apartment in Aix-en-Provence, France (blog published under andrasthehun.blog)

Talk about security! I thought we would get a key from a receptionist and go to our room in a hotel. Not so. We were registered at Les Suites Du Cours in Aix-en-Provence, which we thought was a hotel – but discovered later that in Aix, at least, a hotel is a type of townhouse in the center of the old city, they used to be houses of the wealthy. Our hotel room turned out to be an apartment.
Let me start in the beginning when we received instructions on how to access our “self-registration” where we would be staying tonight. Although we had the street address, the instructions on how to enter our accommodation from the travel agent came the day Kathy drove from St. Remy to Aix-en-Provence, about an hour’s drive.
I was surprised; I expected a hotel with a lobby and a receptionist. Not so. We received an algorithm on how to enter this place via ten successive emails that mirrored a five-page manual on entering this place, the latter also sent via email!
Challenged by digital codes and fobs and keys in the instructions, I was apprehensive about our arrival; what if we could not follow the instructions and were left on the street with no receptionist? Although we had a phone number, what if they do not work at night or not at home? And would my French be good enough to communicate with them?
When we arrived at the address with two backpacks, after being lost for three hours, we faced a large, ornamental door, shown in a picture on the five-page instruction manual. The door at our address was in the middle of outdoor cafes, with people occupying all the tables, oblivious to the new arrivals.
So, we started by punching in the four-digit code to open the ten-foot-high historical, ornamental, heavy door; it clicked and we pushed it inwards. The door was very heavy with springs so strong that I had to lean into it to keep it open. Total darkness awaited us inside the twenty-foot-long vestibule, and I fumbled to find a light switch, indicated by three lighted dots on the wall ten feet away from us. We searched for the mailboxes, as instructed, opened the door, and looked up the next code to open the number 5 mailbox, our apartment number. We punched another four-digit code a few times with no success until I realized that the star after the four digits was part of the code and not the end of the instructions. Two sets of keys fell out of the mailbox for our next set of doors.
A fob was attached to both sets of keys and one of the fobs opened the next door, leading to the staircase and the elevator. This part of the building was also totally in darkness but by now we knew to look for the light switch. With only our backpacks, we decided to walk up the stairs instead of using the elevator even though the twenty-foot ceiling made the stairs long. The instructions were that only one person and a suitcase could be in the elevator at one time, and yet another key to use it. At any rate, our apartment was only on the second floor, we reasoned, and Kathy was worried she might get stuck in the ancient elevator.
Having reached the second floor, we tried to use the old-fashioned elaborately molded key to open the large, ten-foot-high ornamental door. We were tired and the key was obstreperous, it would not work. I was unsure whether I put it in the right manner and twisted it around in all directions. Finally, I banged on the door in frustration, expecting someone to be around to help us or tell us to get out of there but nothing happened.
Then the realization struck us that in France, the second floor is actually on the third level. The ground or first floor is the “rez-de-chaussee”. So, we hauled our baggage up to the next floor in the dark again since the lights worked for a short time only and we had to find the next switch on the next level. This time the old key worked. Finally, we arrived in our “hallway”, but it was pitch black again, and fumbled in the dark to find a switch.
In this hallway, several double doors faced us which, I thought would lead us to the kitchen, bedroom, etc. I heard voices behind one of the doors so I went there and burst in to let the intruders know that we reserved this unit. American voices greeted us in a friendly tone, and they said that they had reserved this unit for five days and our apartment must be behind another door opening from the “hallway”.
Three apartment units opened from this hallway and we, apparently, reserved one of these but we did not see numbers to indicate which one. Each unit had a set of double doors in front of the locked door units themselves – the unit number itself was a small number on the inner door, not visible from the hallway. The ornamental double doors, we speculated, were probably the original doors to be kept for historical purposes, and the inner doors, where our keys worked, were modern, lockable ones.
I was embarrassed for bursting in on the American visitors, apologized, and went to another door in the hallway where one of the keys on the second set of keys worked. Finally, we arrived at our apartment. The “hallway” served three apartments; I mistook the word hallway for our apartment’s lobby.
Once we settled into our bright place, we engaged in a friendly discussion with the neighbors and imbibed a glass of wine to calm our frazzled nerves, I reflected on the amount of security installed here. We needed two digital codes, a fob, and two keys to enter our apartment! Was this necessary? Is this overkill? Is the crime rate in France high? I did not know. But I thought the five barriers to mount to enter an apartment were beyond the pale. But perhaps when you get used to this system, it becomes simple. At any rate, we felt secure to leave our passports in the room when venturing outside.
Now you might think this entrance to occupy your hotel/apartment was frustrating, irritating and unnecessary. It was. But at the same time, to me, it was a puzzle to solve. It was fun. I used to do sudoku and now I do wordle. The satisfaction of solving puzzles was similar to solving this real-life puzzle to get into our accommodation.

Contacting KimKim and especially Mathilde was the best decision my wife and myself made for our 3 week trip to France. We had never used a travel specialist to organize an entire vacation in the past but now realize it will be the only way we will travel in the future. Mathilde was assigned to our initial request and she was extremely fast at getting back to us with a suggested itinerary. We told her that we wanted to start in Paris for 3-4 days and then end up in southern France for the last week of our holiday. We are quite active and wanted to see as much as possible during our stay and asked her for some information walking tours, wine and e bike tours as well as many other things. Our stays during the 3 weeks were in Paris, Normandy, Mont St. Michel, Loire Valley, Bordeaux, Aix en Provence and Nice. WIth regards to transportation, she handled the private transfers to and from the airport in Paris and everything in between which was a combination of train and car rental. All of the hotels that she booked were fabulous!!! Where Mathilde really excelled was all of the tours that she organized and arranged on our behalf. From the full day small group tours in travel vans or e bikes to the 1/2 day private historical tours. She booked 2 private boat tours, one in Paris and the other on the Mediterranean in Nice. Some of the tours we drove to ourselves in the beautiful French countryside which was great as well!!! All of the guides were very friendly, knowledgable and a lot of fun. Additionally, they spoke very good English. As we reflect on our holiday, we both feel it could not have been any better than what Mathilde put together for us. We will always treasure our very special trip to France because of you!!! Merci, merci, merci.

We truly enjoyed our trip to Geneva, Switzerland and Chamonix, Annecy, and Lyon, France. Mathilde, our local specialist did a fine job planning just the right mix of activities with down time to relax. The hotels she chose for us were conveniently located to the attractions we wanted to visit, and all featured comfortable rooms, and wonderful breakfasts. The Edelweiss Hotel in Geneva was filled with local color, including rustic Swiss mountain lodge decor and a musician in its restaurant who sang, yodeled, played the accordion and the long mountain horn of the region. What fun! A friendly driver picked us up at the hotel and drove us to our next destination, Chamonix.
We loved Chamonix! It's a very picturesque town, where we were guided by the excellent Aude, who helped us to understand the rich heritage of the town. We were in awe of the jaw-dropping vistas seen from l'Aiguille du Midi. Guide Armony accompanied us up the mountain on the cable car, and showed us the various levels and viewing points along the way. Without her guidance, we wouldn't have experienced half of the sights from the mountain. She was wonderful! In Chamonix, a driver picked us up and took us to Annecy, about an hour away. Going by car was super convenient.
In Annecy, we were reunited with Aude, who had shown us around Chamonix. Again, she was friendly and informative. It was Sunday, a beautiful day, and the streets of the town were packed! Aude knew how to negotiate the narrow streets and get us samples of local foods so that we could experience the tastes as well as the ambiance of this very charming town. In our free time, we took boat tours of both Lake Geneva and Lake Annecy, both incredibly picturesque. We were blessed the whole time with sunny skies and mild temperatures.
We left Annecy and took the train to Lyon. From the station, we took a taxi to the meeting point where we joined a group to take the Beaujolais Golden Stones tour. There were 2 vans, each with 8 tourists and a guide. We rode for about 40 minutes through beautiful hills and picturesque towns, then stopped at a lovely overlook where our guides Clémence and Agathe told the story of the area's heritage in wine production, and poured samples of white, rosé and red wines of the region. The served delicious croissants and pastries to accompany the wine. We then proceeded to a gorgeous village called Oingt that dated from the Middle Ages, and on to Domaine de fond-Vieille, vineyards and winery. The proprietor, Dominique showed us his vines and explained how the wine is produced. We then sampled his wines, white, rosé and red along with delicious cheeses and charcuterie of the region. We had plenty of time in the vans to chat with our fellow tourists, and enjoyed getting to know people from the Netherlands, Japan, New Zealand, the UK, and Canada.
The next day we wandered Lyon, taking the funicular up to the high town, visiting the Basilica at the top, and the Roman ruins of Lugundum. A delicious déjeuner at the Rooftop restaurant of Christian Tetedoie overlooking Lyon way was the perfect way to end our visit.
Thank you to Mathilde for all your hard work, and to Amandine for helping when Mathilde was on vacation. The next time we travel to Europe, we will definitely use Kimkim to help plan our adventure!

Mathilde's knowledgeable and instantly responsive communications and advice during the planning, adjustments and coordination of our itinerary and logistics was awesome leading up to and throughout our five day anniversary trip. The kimkim site paired us with the perfect travel professional for Paris and, undoubtedly, anywhere in France.

Everyone on the staff of the "boutique" Hotel Baume where we stayed in the Latin Quarter catered to our every need with amazingly friendly, accommodating and professional service. We couldn't be happier with how this most memorable trip worked out for us and high recommend the kimkim online platform for staging a similar travel experience!

This was our first time booking a trip through Kimkim and we definitely plan to book with them again! Our guide, Mathilde, was very knowledgable and helpful and worked through several iterations of the vacation itinerary with us until it was perfect. Our daughters (8 & 11) loved all the activities she planned as well as the private tours she set up for us which kept them excited and engaged throughout our time in Paris. The itinerary could have been a bit more detailed (e.g. how long a tour would last so we could plan out the rest of our day once there) but that was just a minor thing and overall everything was fantastic. The hotel was also in a perfect location, close to local restaurants, shopping, the Metro and the Eiffel Tower. We had the absolute best time and have told our friends and family about Kimkim who plan to use them in the future as well!

I want to say thank you to Mathilde and her team for helping me create memories that will last me a lifetime and beyond. I can't rave enough about the exceptional services provided by Mathilde. She was patient, accommodating, flexible, and always available. Every single guide Mathilde paired me with was incredibly kind, generous and knowledgeable. My vacation in France far exceeded my high expectations. I will not hesitate to enlist Mathilde's help again if I ever travel to France or Switzerland for that matter. She is remarkably excellent and I would highly recommend her to anyone. Mathilde, merci beaucoup.

Mathilde and her team at KimKim were instrumental in creating a wonderful relaxed road trip in France for our family. We are time-poor professionals with little room for research into the lead-up of our holiday. Mathilde and the team in France created an itinerary which included our must-see sites in Normandy, Loire and Bordeaux; and plenty more we had not thought of. She was thorough and the attention to detail was superb. Her accommodation choices pleasantly surprised us at every location. We could not have possibly have chosen better ourselves. Travelling with a toddler was factored in. Mathilde liaised with the hotel and found us a babysitter in Bordeaux. The itinerary was not rushed but still allowed us to make the most of our 2-week stay. We highly recommend KimKim to any busy professionals and families, or simply anyone who desires a stress-free and incredible holiday.

After a few days of getting lost in all the beautiful pictures of different hotels, we decided it might be best to look for a travel agent. We first considered using Kim Kim less than two weeks before our trip, and we already had an idea of what we wanted to do, so we were surprised when we were advised against it. Bastien, the travel agent, took the time to explain why our plan might be improved (the sheer amount of travel time alone was enough for us) by a few places we hadn't previously considered. We took his advice, tweaked the itinerary, talked it through him, and decided this was the way to go! He had a surprisingly quick turnaround and even mentioned an item that might be easier to get on our own rather than through him, which I appreciated since it didn't feel like he was trying to upsell anything. We asked for nicer/posher accommodations (and he delivered).

Once we were there, Mathilde took over as our primary contact and took the time to check in. She was readily available for our few questions and checked on us to ensure everything went smoothly.

The tours were fabulous, and the ONLY thing that made this less than perfect was one tour that offered lunch and champagne tasting. The champagne-tasting part was great, but there was no lunch (pairings only, and the tour guide indicated that she had already informed the agencies). Needless to say, after the hours-long tour, we were starving.

Everything else was spectacular. Highly recommend!

We had a wonderful trip to France! Mathilde worked diligently to fit everything we wanted into our ambitious schedule. There was not one glitch, it was effortless and totally enjoyable which is what we wanted. Mathilde handled all the minute details and all we had to do was follow her directions. Every guide, tour, hotel, driver was vetted by Mathilde and they all get 5 stars. We traveled in France to Bayeaux, Amboise and Paris and had a trip of a lifetime!

Hotel Review

Villa Lara Hôtel

Bayeux

Right in the center of Bayeux and around the corner from the cathedral and famous tapestry. The bed was luxurious and the room very comfortable. The breakfast was delicious as well.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Private Guided tour of Mont-Saint-Michel and entrance tickets to the Abbey

France

Mont Saint Michel was amazing to experience. Our guide Samuel had extensive knowledge of the area, the history and the tides to explain about what makes Mont Saint Michel so special.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Mathilde was very helpful with planning for the France portion of our 3 week France and Italy adventure. She made excellent choices with the hotels and tours she booked for us. And it was a real boon to have hotel and airport transfer during key points on our journey. It was a luxury to have this kind of assistance with travel planning as we typically do it all ourselves. Glad we made the investment for this first big post-retirement adventure.

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Escaletto

Aix-en-Provence

Well situated and beautifully appointed hotel with fabulous breakfast and a super-attentive and caring staff. Rooms are small but bed very comfortable and everything has been updated. The location in Aix is great and right in the older part of the city.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Elise was amazing and provided superlative service. But all the staff were good and truly friendly and kind.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Beds great.

Palm Hotel

Nice

We were lucky enough to get the family suite which was really like a great small apartment. Sweet outdoor probate rooftop deck and tons of room very comfortable bed and well appointed. Perfect for our 3-night stay.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Close to everything!

Staff

Karine was super and really helped out. Enjoyed speaking with her and she made good suggestions. Also the owner was helpful.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

A Day Trip from Aix en Provence to Cassis Village, Calanques Boat Ride & Provence Wines

Aix-en-Provence

Gorgeous views and lovely boat ride. Cassis is a sweet small town and it’s truly amazing to see the beautiful blue water and breathtaking vistas from the hilltop park above the city.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Comfortable van with plenty of room for our small group. Good driver.

Latin Quarter Gourmet Tour

Paris

This tour with Akiko from Meeting the French was a memorable highlight of our trip. She was an outstanding guide who truly knows all the shops and many of the shop owners in the Latin Quarter. She introduced us to her favorite artisan vendors then selected fabulous cheeses, pates and bread for the picnic lunch we had at our wine tasting location. She also knew so much history and of the area and we really felt like we got to dive in depth into not just the food and market culture but architecture and history.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Stayed above.

Cannes, Antibes, & Saint-Paul de Vence

France

This driving tour was a lot of in-car time and while the guide was knowledgeable and we learned - great deal, I’m not sure that seeing Cannes was so worthwhile if you aren’t into the glitz of the film fest. Best part was the time in Saint-Paul de Vence. This is a gorgeous medieval village with stunning views.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Driver seemed a bit stressed out. She talked nonstop and could have been a bit more interactive rather than lecturing.

Transport

We loved working with Mathilde! I would highly recommend her to all of my friends. She was so personable and put together the perfect itinerary for us. I loved ending our trip in Nice and really enjoyed the cooking class. I want to go back and visit more of the French Riviera and part of Italy next time. I loved the experience traveling first class on the high speed train! Better than flying! Thank you Mathilde for planning such a great experience!

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Escaletto

Aix-en-Provence

Great location, easy to walk to the central areas in Aix. Room basic but perfectly fine. My only suggestion would be to have a few snack options available at the bar for us late night munchers! Staff was terrific!

Authenticity & Character

More readily available items like snacks and water in the evening.

Location

Staff

So nice! I enjoyed chatting with one of the staff in the evening while having a night cap.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Room clean and comfortable

Hôtel de l’Horloge

Avignon

Nice clean room with good location. I loved our view of the center square.

Authenticity & Character

Felt very French!

Location

Right in the center of the square

Staff

Helpful

Cleanliness & Comfort

Daily service was nice

Suisse Hotel

Nice

Loved our view of the water and loved sitting on our balcony to soak up late afternoon sun. Walking distance to the market, restaurants. Great place!

Authenticity & Character

Elevator sort of small. Bar:lounging area not very good.

Location

Walking distance to water, restaurants, shops

Staff

Staff fine just not as warm as the staff at the other hotels we stayed, but fine.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Very clean and comfortable

Activity Reviews

A Private Half Day Trip from Aix en Provence to Luberon Villages

Aix-en-Provence

Lucille was an excellent guide and gave us a terrific experience

Quality of Experience

We loved our tour guide’s presentation and communication style.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Local knowledge and personal passion for area.

Transport

We loved the comfortable vehicle and the microphone so we could hear guide

Roman Sites & Historical Places

Avignon

Very educational overview. Thought our guide Bastion was terrific!

Quality of Experience

Less time at coliseum, first stop, one hour too much

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Loved Bastions friendly style and he was very knowledgeable about the various sites and encouraged questions.

Transport

Loved the nice vehicle and use of the microphone

Market tour, cooking class & lunch

Nice

Rosa our chef was wonderful! I learned so much about Nice cooking and culture. Loved the market tour and the cooking class was so enjoyable! Was so nice to have our meal together with such a nice group. I highly recommend this!

Quality of Experience

Rosa gave us a great tour in the market and I loved her overview of nice style cooking as we prepared our meal.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Rosa great

Transport

Walked!

A day in Monaco via Eze and la Turbie

France

This was my least favorite experience. Too much time in the car which made me nauseous. Seemed a bit rushed and I don’t think our guide was very good.

Quality of Experience

Felt rushed

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Driver did not use microphone so we missed a lot of what she was saying

Transport

A bit crowded

Mathilde did a phenomenal job of customizing our trip exactly how we envisioned it, especially by getting us hard to get tickets, including the Vermeer exhibit which was nearly a miracle. The pacing of the trip and quality of the stops was perfect no complaints