9-Nights An Epicurean Journey through France - Tailormade Journeys — CALL
Abercrombie & Kent
OFFER ID 1721545
Like the fine reds that flow from Bordeaux, France’s winemaking heritage is rich and prestigious, a story written in the grand halls of historic chateaux and in the rolling, riverside landscapes that appear ripped from the pages of a classic French fairytale. Take in the sights of Paris and Bordeaux, bask in regal history in the chateaux of the Loire Valley and immerse yourself in the traditions of France’s most celebrated wine regions on this unforgettable epicurean journey, tailor-made for you by A&K’s experts. Travelling by high-speed TGV train, you will be whisked from the lights of the capital through the romantic French countryside, via opulent castles and scenic vineyards, with overnight stays in elegant hotels just moments from the action.
9 nights | Call for pricing
Itinerary Details
1 Arrive Paris, France
Romance awaits in every Parisian arrondissement: an affair with a Latin Quarter bookshop, an admiring glance in the Musée Rodin, a starlit walk along the Seine’s storied banks. It might be as spirited as the Saint-Ouen flea market, as fleeting as an éclair au chocolat from the Rue Montorgueil, or as languid as a stroll through the streets of Montmartre, where every lamplit corner is another postcard.
Meals:
2 Paris | The Artistic Arondissement
Paris’ artistic heart is Montmartre, where Renoir and Toulouse-Lautrec once set up their easels and, even today, artists line themselves along the cobbled streets, as integral to the district’s vibe as its cafes and nightclubs. A nighttime cruise on the Seine lends a whole new appreciation to Paris’ nickname, the City of Light.
Meals:
3 Paris | Wine Tasting In The Latin Quarter
Delve into the secret world of Parisian wine on an expert-led walk that reveals the little-known vineyards and wine bars of the Latin Quarter. Stop to taste delicious vintages and superb local produce as you wander. Peruse the many treasures of the incomparable Louvre: the enigmatic Mona Lisa, the exquisite Venus de Milo and priceless antiquities from all over the globe.
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4 Loire Valley | Châteaux And Palaces
As France’s longest river turns west, the Loire Valley unfurls with regal beauty: a UNESCO-listed landscape of vineyards, elegant towns and an embarrassment of grand chateaux, rising above the forests like something from a French fairytale.
Meals:
5 Loire Valley | More Castles And Chartres Cathedral
Step into the pages of a storybook on a tour of some of the finest chateaux in France: start at the beautiful Azay-le-Rideau, built on an island in the River Indre, as well as Villandry, famous for its 16th-century-style gardens, before finishing with a local wine tasting. Enhance your day with a visit to the magnificent Chartres Cathedral.
Meals:
6 Loire Valley | Da Vinci’s Final Home
Take in the imposing Château Royal d'Amboise — a favorite residence of French kings in the 15th and 16th centuries — perched high above the Loire River. Clos Lucé, an attractive summer home where Leonardo da Vinci spent his final days, lies just nearby. His drawings and full-scale models of his inventions decorate the surrounding gardens.
Meals:
7 Loire Valley | Quintessential French Countryside
Journey to Bordeaux, stopping in the city of Poitiers en route to admire the Romanesque Church of Notre-Dame la Grande. With its exquisite architecture ranging from the medieval to 17th century fortresses, and numerous surrounding châteaux, sleepy villages and temperate climate, this UNESCO World Heritage-listed offers you quintessential France.
Meals:
8 Bordeaux And Aquitaine | Elegant Wine Capital Of The World
Not all Bordeaux’s pleasures come by the glass, but its rich, full-bodied heritage is hard to resist, be it on a bar’s cobbled terrace or at La Cité du Vin, a slick museum charting the long, lofty history of wine here. Explore the photogenic little town of St. Émilion, said to have been founded by a Breton monk whose followers planted the city’s first grapevines.
Meals:
9 Bordeaux And Aquitaine | Private Estate Visits
A millennia-long history of viticulture is yours to discover on a private exploration of the prestigious wine regions of Saint-Émilion or Pauillac and Margaux that includes a tasting of some of the estates’ exceptional wines. Take time to walk in Bordeaux, beginning at Place Pey-Berland, the lively main square. Other highlights include the elegant Pont de Pierre bridge, the commanding Cailhau Gate and the spectacular Water Mirror.
Meals:
10 Depart Bordeaux And Aquitaine
Meals:
Excursions
Bordeaux - Gourmet tour - 8 hours
Bordeaux - Gourmet tour - 8 hours
“The historic centre of Bordeaux forms an outstanding urban and architectural ensemble, created in the Age of Enlightenment, whose values continued up to the first half of the 20th century, with more protected buildings than any other French city, except Paris. It is also recognized for its historic role as a place of exchange of cultural values over more than 2,000 years, particularly since the 12th century due to commercial links with Britain and the Low Countries.
From its medieval quarters to the Classical splendour of the Golden Age in the 18th Century, you will be able to discover a city emerging from a long face lift of over 5 years of work.
Our visit offers to combine historic discovery with regional and typical "delicacies" punctuated by three stops at specialized producers:
•Tasting of ewe cheese with jam of cherries from Pyrenean mountains
Tour Duration: 8 hours
Wheelchair Accessible: NO
Physical Activity Level: Light
- English speaking licensed driver guide with a deluxe car with AC at disposal
Does not include
Departure dates : all day , all year
Bordeaux - Cultural tour - 8 hours
Bordeaux - Cultural tour - 8 hours
From its medieval quarters to the Classical splendour of the Golden Age in the 18th Century, you will be able to discover a city emerging from a long face lift of over 5 years of work.
The futuristic tram network established in 2005 is evidence of the dynamism of today’s Bordeaux and the historic heart which has been given back to pedestrians, allow the visitors to discover the principal monuments illustrating the city’s History: the Palais Gallien amphitheatre (4th century), the Saint Seurin Basilica (11th century foundations), the Saint André Cathedral (13th century), the Porte Cailhau and the "Grosse Cloche" ("big bell", 15th century).
The 18th century gave the city its outstanding "Grand Theatre", a national opera house built in 1781, and the Allées de Tourny, as well as the remarkable waterfront buildings and the Place de la Bourse (formerly the Place Royale), a quarter over 4 kilometres in length which serves as the backdrop for the port’s trading activities.
Tour Duration:8 hours
Wheelchair Accessible: NO
Physical Activity Level: Light
- Transportation: pick up/drop off at the Port
- English speaking licensed driver guide with a deluxe car with AC at disposal
- All entrance fees
- All tax and Vat
Does not include
Departure dates : all day , all year
Bordeaux -Saint Emilion Wine Tour - 8 hours
Bordeaux -Saint Emilion Wine Tour - 8 hours
“Grape production was introduced into this fertile region of Aquitaine by the Romans and was intensified during the Middle Age. The area of Saint-Émilion benefited from its position on the pilgrim route to Santiago de Compostella and several churches, monasteries and hospices were built there from the XIth century onwards. It was granted its own jurisdictional status during the period of English rule in the XIIth century. This is an exceptional landscape entirely given over to grape-production and whose towns and villages are home to outstanding historic monuments.” (Unesco Cit.)
Centuries after the Latin poet Ausonius, the hermit Emilion found here peace and tranquility, which were necessary for his meditation. He discovered a grotto watered by a natural spring in the rocky centre of what is now the town bearing his name, where he lived until his death.
Private guided tour of the principal sights of the medieval town: the Emilion Hermitage, the Tour du Roy built in the 13th century by Richard the Lion heart, the collegiate church and its 14th century cloister and, above all, the exceptional monolithic church and its catacombs dug out of the limestone cliff between the 9th and the 11th centuries. Its 38 metre span makes it the largest such church in Europe.
Lunch will take place at a restaurant located in the city.
In the afternoon, visit with wine tasting at a Grand Cru Classé Saint Emilion.
Tour Duration:8 hours
Wheelchair Accessible: No
Physical Activity Level: Light,
- Transportation: pick up/drop off at the Port
- English speaking licensed driver guide with a deluxe car with AC at disposal
- All entrance fees & tasting
- All tax and Vat
Does not include
Departure dates : all day , all year
Bordeaux - A Wine, a Vintage, a Tasting… - 8 hours
Bordeaux - A Wine, a Vintage, a Tasting… - 8 hours
A Wine, a Vintage, a Tasting…
Taste and identify the differences between the great Bordeaux wines, according to the vintage…
Wine experts give a great importance to Vintages. Why is it so important? How to recognize the quality of the vintage? How to guess the vintage? Should we agree or is it a matter of taste? Let us taste 4 vintages from the same wine property and comment. The expert guides you and shares his knowledge while you comment and learn tricks of the trade.
Château Grand Vertical Tasting Workshop
The privilege of tasting 6 great vintages dating back as far as 20 years:
• Château de Ferrand 1988 & 1989
• Château de Ferrand 1998 & 1999
• Château de Ferrand 2008 & 2009
This workshop includes a private tour, an initiation into aromas, a tasting of 6 vintages, and a food/wine pairing with our “Assiette Gourmande”.
Schedule:
09:00am - Departure from the harbor of Bordeaux
10:00am - First winery tour such as Château Faugères
11:30am - Discover the enchanting medieval village of Saint-Emilion, classified by Unesco in 1999. A luminous, ochre-colored jewel built of limestone and Roman roof tiles, it is perched on a plateau and completely surrounded by a sea of vineyards.
The steep and narrow cobblestone streets are lined with remnants of monasteries and convents dating from the 11th to 18th centuries that tell the story of the village. A Unesco World Heritage-inspired scavenger hunt will bring you face to face with the art, wine and stunning landscapes of Saint-Emilion.
12:30pm to 02:00pm - Time to stroll and have lunch
02:30 pm - Wine tasting at Chateau La Dominique
05:00pm - End of the tour
Tour Duration: 8 hours
Wheelchair Accessible: NO
Physical Activity Level: Light,
Package price includes
- Transportation: Pick up/drop off at the Port
- Day Tour: English speaking driver guide with sedan deluxe car
- 2 winery visits and vertical workshop
Bordeaux - About Grape Varietals… - 8 hours
Bordeaux - About Grape Varietals… - 8 hours
It's possible to have this activity in any Bordeaux wine appellation!
Wine tasting: Merlot or Cabernet?
There are 2 major top grape varieties in Bordeaux: Cabernet Sauvignon produces Ch. Mouton Rothschild and Merlot Pétrus. Each grape variety taste very different. The terroir and the work carried out by Man can exalt each grape and create amazing Bordeaux wines. During the blind tasting find out which grape has been used in the wine before or after its oak ageing. Merlot or Cabernet?
Theory put in practice:
Blending is an art
Wine taster & Expert
Tour Duration: 8 hours
Wheelchair Accessible: NO
Physical Activity Level: Light,
- Transportation: pick up/drop off at the Port
- English speaking driver guide with sedan deluxe car
- 2 winery visits
- Blending sessions
Bordeaux - Wine Architecture in Saint-Emilion - 8 hours
Bordeaux - Wine Architecture in Saint-Emilion - 8 hours
The methods and philosophies used in their production have by and large remained true to the old traditions; modern technology however has undeniably played an ever-more important role in recent years.
To add even more significance to this glorious culture of the grape, if that was possible, the past decade has seen some of Europe’s most highly-acclaimed and imaginative architects taking time off from their ground-breaking and spectacular major urban projects to contribute their innovative designs to the cellars and vat rooms of some of the region’s top châteaux.
Discover Architectures / Understand Classification/Discover techniques of wine making and appreciate wine tastings!
09:00 am - Departure from the harbor of Bordeaux
Tour Duration: 8 hours
Wheelchair Accessible: no
Physical Activity Level: Light,
Package price includes
- Transportation: pick up/drop off at the Port
- English speaking driver guide with sedan deluxe car
- 2 winery visits
- Monument tour in Saint-Emilion
Vacation Details
* This departure has been designated a guaranteed departure by the operator, meaning that the minimum number of guests has been met, although still subject to weather and other conditions.
All fares are quoted in US Dollars.
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