Trip My France

Overall this was a wonderful trip, and we were very pleased with our accommodations at Hotel a la Villa des Artistes in the Montparnasse area. That Les Jardins de Luxembourg was walking distance made it even lovelier.

All of our guides through Localers were extremely knowledgeable. We do want to offer a bit of constructive feedback regarding the Treasures of the Marais walking tour with
Patrick. I was at first reluctant to book this tour during discussions with Joel because I felt it... read more

Overall this was a wonderful trip, and we were very pleased with our accommodations at Hotel a la Villa des Artistes in the Montparnasse area. That Les Jardins de Luxembourg was walking distance made it even lovelier.

All of our guides through Localers were extremely knowledgeable. We do want to offer a bit of constructive feedback regarding the Treasures of the Marais walking tour with
Patrick. I was at first reluctant to book this tour during discussions with Joel because I felt it would not be of much interest to our daughter, but he assured me that we would enjoy the historic aspects of the traditional Jewish community and the LGBTQ communities. The tour was far more about the French royalty and aristocracy than it was about the historic communities. Our itinerary also stated that we would be offered a midway stop at a traditional French and local cafe for a hot beverage — this did not happen. I felt that while Patrick was very knowledgeable, he was not reading his audience well at all.

While we found our Louvre guide, Melanie, did a great job, we found the itinerary description misleading. When we were told that we would have a private, after hours tour, we expected that the museum would be closed except for small private tours. This was not the case as the museum was open to the public at this time. I think you should be more accurate in the description of this tour. The term “after hours” has definite connotation.

I do want to offer a special accolade to our guide for Musee D’Orsay and L’Orangerie, Victor. He brought great insight and wonderful narrative to his tour with us. His passion and knowledge were outstanding. I am very glad that we were able to enjoy these two museums that highlight the Impressionists since Giverny was not an option at this time of year.

Stephen's planning was exactly what we were looking for! Each of the guides/tours he booked for us were excellent - we learned a lot and had a blast the whole trip. Our hotel was also outstanding. Could not recommend his services more!

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... read more

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.

Our trip to Paris was flawless and memorable thanks to Joel’s help from Kimkim. From airport pick-up to drop off, we didn’t have to worry about anything. Each guide we had was knowledgeable, helpful, and kind. We especially loved our guided trip to the Louvre, our pastry baking class, and our bike trip to Versailles. Our guide, Rachel, showed us where to get the best crepes and make the trip memorable and fun.

Thank you to Elise Duhem & kimkim team, we had a fabulous trip to France! Elise did a great job asking us questions and providing ideas for adventures so that we were able to get just the right mix for us! There was no pressure, we just chose what we wanted to do. Elise then set us up with quality well organized tours and businesses. We received a trip book guide to print the descriptions for each event including vouchers. There were not any surprises or extra money that we did not expect. ... read more

Thank you to Elise Duhem & kimkim team, we had a fabulous trip to France! Elise did a great job asking us questions and providing ideas for adventures so that we were able to get just the right mix for us! There was no pressure, we just chose what we wanted to do. Elise then set us up with quality well organized tours and businesses. We received a trip book guide to print the descriptions for each event including vouchers. There were not any surprises or extra money that we did not expect. The people at "Canoe Evasion, Sun E Bkies, Blacklane Chaffure, Paris City Vision" were all very professional, prompt and fun! We also loved our Hotel "Hotel Jeanne D'Arc" and the car rent went smoothly!

Elise provided us with all information in a timely manner and was always there whenever we needed her! Thank you!

Really enjoyed all 4 stops. Learned so much. Such a wonderful trip — we and our kids love France!!

The trip was fantastic, the locations, the pace, and all the guides we encountered were terrific. Stand outs were Yoann at canyoning, Francesca at the Louvre and Dan for the bike tour around Versailles.

Joel was very patient and helpful during our planning, and providing ideas and insight as we were really not sure how to begin the planning of this trip.

Trip plan and vouchers were easy to use and follow, a very stress free vacation.

I had a great experience working with Joel in planning my month-long wine and food-focused road trip in France. I started in Bordeaux and went through all of the major wine regions in France (except for the Loire and Alsace) ending with an epic visit in Champagne and a few days in Paris. He planned the route, selected fantastic hotels and Chambre d'Hotes for me to stay. And in each location, he arranged wine excursions and food tours that were perfect for my interests.

At one point we had... read more

I had a great experience working with Joel in planning my month-long wine and food-focused road trip in France. I started in Bordeaux and went through all of the major wine regions in France (except for the Loire and Alsace) ending with an epic visit in Champagne and a few days in Paris. He planned the route, selected fantastic hotels and Chambre d'Hotes for me to stay. And in each location, he arranged wine excursions and food tours that were perfect for my interests.

At one point we had difficulty with one of the tours. I notified Joel right away and he was able to get things squared away for us quickly and easily.

Throughout this process (we refined the trip plan about 8 times), Joel was helpful and friendly. When we were in Beaujolais, he even came out to meet my sister and I. It was fantastic to put the face with the name and it felt like I was meeting a friend.

I will definitely work with KimKim again!

Overall, we had a wonderful trip. In general, the excursions Stephen planned and booked for us were a big hit all the way around. A couple didn't quite make the grade, and I'll mention below specific thoughts on some of the elements of the trip.
The hotel in Paris was not up to the standards it should be to be rated 3 stars. I would not recommend it to anyone. The first room they gave us was ridiculously small for 3 people. The lamp shade was torn, the bathroom sink fixture was broken and the... read more

Overall, we had a wonderful trip. In general, the excursions Stephen planned and booked for us were a big hit all the way around. A couple didn't quite make the grade, and I'll mention below specific thoughts on some of the elements of the trip.
The hotel in Paris was not up to the standards it should be to be rated 3 stars. I would not recommend it to anyone. The first room they gave us was ridiculously small for 3 people. The lamp shade was torn, the bathroom sink fixture was broken and the tilt of the ceiling was such that anyone standing up would bump their head. We asked to be changed, and they were able to accommodate us. The second room was better, but still had issues. The towel bar under the sink was broken, which I mentioned to the staff, but they didn't repair it. A shelf was missing in the shower, and only bare screws showed. The hotel is in a lovely area walking distance to many different attractions, or a short subway ride. Their morning breakfast room was also very nice, and the breakfast they served was very good. The front desk staff seemed inattentive at best.
The Louvre tour was excellent, including a very good guide.
The tour guide for the tour of Montmarte was outstanding. She really knew her art and art history, and was very cheerful and pleasant.
Chunnel to England was the way to go - easy and smooth.
Our hotel in London was very nice, except they put us in a basement room. There was a lingering smell of mold and mildew in the corner of the room, which was unpleasant. Other than that, it was fine. We probably should have asked to change rooms, but repacking bags, etc. is a drag.
London Eye and Tower of London were great fun.
We missed the Sherlock Holmes tour due to us going to the wrong meeting place. I highly suggest you don't include the address for the company that runs the tour since that isn't the meeting place. Or at least pull the meeting place information up much higher - above the address of the tour company.
The speedboat ride on the Thames River was a blast. Highly recommend for people who don't easily get upset stomachs. Very fun.
The Buckingham Palace tour was excellent - including a fantastic tour guide.
The Jack the Ripper tour should be booked only with STRONG warnings that it is incredibly graphic and provides far too much information on just how each and every woman was killed and dismembered. Seriously, this tour is not for the faint of heart, or young children. There was a 10 year-old on our tour who was way too young to be hearing much of the tour. I had to turn my head away from some of the slides he showed. Don't book people on this tour unless they're well-informed on what they'll be hearing and seeing.
All the drivers we had were pleasant and well-informed. Only one driver - the one from the Paris train station to our hotel in Paris - seemed a bit clueless and not particularly interested in doing a good job. Everyone else was very professional.
We really enjoyed our vacation, and are happy we used KimKim.

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... read more

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... read more

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.