Great Trip - Wish It Had Been Longer!We landed at CDG and were met by our driver a...

France | Sep 1 - Sep 10, 2022

We landed at CDG and were met by our driver and taken to our first hotel. Having a driver lined up takes so much stress off the end of a long flight/ beginning of the vacation!
After an initial day free, we jumped into our first organized event, an e-bike tour called Paris Charms and Secrets. Tour guide Pierre was part artist, part historian and part actor - animated, passionate and interesting! From Paris we headed south on the train for Lyon, a city we loved and want to return to. A highlight of our stay there was the Lyon Traditional Food Tour with guide Semaan that was a foodie’s delight, but also a history lesson and walking tour of old Lyon rolled into one.
From Lyon we headed to Marsaille, again by train, and and a memorable Cassis and Bandol Wine tour. Our guide, Eric, was extremely knowledgeable and personable. We learned so much about wine and winemaking, met the families who owned the 3 vineyards we visited and heard the history of their operations. The countryside was exquisitely beautiful! We had a delicious lunch at a port side restaurant in Cassis, then rode to the top of a National (?) park that overlooked Marsaille. Amazing.
Our tours were all either private (just the two of us) or 8 or less. Perfect for getting around easily and for being able to ask questions and have the attention of the guide.
Our trip included transportation to and from CDG and train tickets for the inner France travel. With this arrangement we would advise making sure you know which train station you need to show up at (many cities have more than one) and (especially in Paris) where you need to be standing to board the train - they are very long and crowded trains and the stops are short: there isn’t time to figure anything out last minute.
Another consideration is transportation to/from train stations and to tours. Cabs are expensive and can add a considerable amount to your trip. The metro systems take a little time to figure out, but are a great way to go if your destination is too far to walk.
We chose to stay at smaller, boutique hotels and they were more than adequate.
Our trip was an abbreviated version of a longer trip planned and postponed due to the Covid pandemic. If we had it to do again, we would not try to pack visits to so many cities into 7 days.
We highly recommend KimKim if you want a tour, but not the “30-people wearing green scarves- following a flag” variety.