DESTINATIONS FRANCE ESCORTED TOURS FAR LEFT: France
Monet’s Garden at Giverny
LEFT:
Normandy, France
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Leger offers a three-night
to explore (from £229). Leger’s Paris and Monet and Loire Valley tour packs in the sights too, combining a full day exploring Paris with a visit to the grand Chateau de Versailles, and a trip to the home and gardens of Monet at Giverny in Normandy to see the famous water lilies the artist loved to paint. Just two hours southwest of Paris lies the Loire Valley, which is dotted with chateaux that ooze pomp and splendour. Travelsphere offers a seven-day rail tour of the region, which includes visits to the Renaissance chateaux of Villandry and Chenonceau plus a trip to Monet’s garden (from £679). All excursions are included in the
price of Diamond Rail’s Normandy’s Flower Coast, Honfleur and Calvados tour, making it ideal for penny- conscious clients. Trips to the seaside
resorts of Deauville and Trouville, a tour with apple brandy tasting at a Calvados distillery and a visit with cheese tasting at a Livarot cheese farm all feature on the itinerary (from £429). For those looking to tick off as much of the country as possible without over-spending, Cosmos Tours & Cruises covers France’s best-loved and contrasting regions, cities and sights in a whistle-stop 14-day tour (from £1,259). In Normandy, clients can visit historic Second World War landing beaches, the 11th-century Bayeux Tapestry and Mont Saint Michel, a spectacular fairytale-like island topped with a towering medieval monastery. Other highlights include a stopover in Cognac and the Bordeaux area for tastings, a visit to the chic beaches of the French Riviera, dining in Lyon and a trip to the medieval town of Beaune. Trafalgar’s tour Highlights of France – part of its value-driven Costsaver programme – is similarly extensive, throwing a scenic drive through Avignon into the mix, from £1,175 for 13 days land only.
w SPEND: PAST TIMES With its rich and sometimes bloody past, Normandy tops many a history lovers’ must-see list. From the Norman invasion of England in 1066 to the D-Day landings of 1944, the region is bursting with historic tales to tell. Titan’s battlefields tour, The Allied
LEFT:
Vieux Port, La Rochelle
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travelweekly.co.uk 3 March 2016
Invasion of Normandy, makes the moving events surrounding this turning point in the war – dubbed Operation Overlord – the focus of its five-day trip. The tour will take clients to the five invasion beaches – codenamed
Paris and Monet and Loire Valley tour with bed and breakfast accommodation and travel by executive coach, from £299.
leger.co.uk
Spend
Titan tour The Allied Invasion of Normandy includes four nights’ hotel accommodation, Brittany Ferries crossing, two expert guides, coach travel and VIP Home Departure Service, from £899.
titantravel.co.uk Splurge
Insight Vacations’ Luxury Gold
French Elegance tour starts at £4,343 and
includes airport transfers, 14 nights’ B&B accommodation, selected dining experiences, luxury transport and a dedicated tour director. insightluxury
gold.com
FAST FACT Newmarket Holidays
offers a three-day tour to the Prix de l’Arc de
Triomphe on Chantilly Racecourse from £189
PICTURES: ISTOCK/FRITZ HIERSCHE/ TRAVELSPHERE; RIVIERA TRAVEL; DOUGLAS MACRAE
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