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Loire Valley 2008 - Detailed Itinerary

TBA

Day 1 of PRE-TRIP EXTENSION Depart U.S./Fly overnight to Paris

Depart from the U.S. for France. The particulars of your arrival overseas are detailed with your flight itinerary and airline tickets.

Day of 2 PRE-TRIP EXTENSION Arrive in Paris/Begin your Pre-Trip Extension

Upon arrival at Paris Charles-de-Gaulle (CDG) Airport, claim your luggage and clear customs. If your luggage is lost, fill in a PIR form before leaving the customs area: VBT representatives are not allowed into the customs area. Please note: Make sure that your VBT luggage tags are attached to your bags. This helps the representative identify you. After exiting customs, enter the arrival hall and look for your VBT representative or driver, who will be holding a VBT sign. Your representative will welcome you to France and arrange for your transfer via taxi or van (approximately 45 minutes depending upon traffic) to your Paris hotel. At this time, please verify with your airport representative the time of your transfers at the end of your trip, from your last hotel to the airport. Important: If you are delayed in meeting your VBT representative at the CDG Airport, please call 01-53-39-18-18 or 06-65-60-53-68 from within France. Outside of France, call 00 33 1-53-39-18-18 or 00 33 6-65-60-53-68. At the hotel, a VBT representative will answer your questions and provide you with a city information packet containing maps and recommendations on what to see and do in Paris. Before the representative leaves, please reconfirm the time you will be met in the hotel lobby for your transfer to Beaugency. Use the rest of the day to relax or to begin exploring the City of Light.

Hotel: Hotel Chateau Frontenac

Day 3 of PRE-TRIP EXTENSION Independent exploration of Paris

Today, see for yourself why this City of Light has inspired poets, lovers, emperors, and artists for centuries. Visit Montmartre and its charming cafés and artists' colony, along with The Moulin Rouge, made famous by Toulouse-Lautrec in his candid impressions. Or venture to the top of Notre Dame for a gargoyle's view of the city. Make a stop at the Eiffel Tower or one of the magnificent museums like Musee Picasso or the Musee d'Orsay. Take a stroll through the Tuileries Gardens on your way to the Louvre. You can walk to many of the major sights from your centrally located hotel.

Meals: B  Hotel: Hotel Chateau Frontenac

Day 4 of PRE-TRIP EXTENSION Independent exploration of Paris/Join VBT Air Package guests

Take another day to discover Paris! VBT Air Package guests arrive throughout the day.

Meals: B  Hotel: Hotel Chateau Frontenac

Day AIR PACKAGE Depart US/In flight to Paris

Depart from the U.S. for France. The particulars of your arrival overseas are detailed with your flight itinerary and airline tickets.

Day AIR PACKAGE Arrive in Paris

Upon arrival at Paris Charles-de-Gaulle (CDG) Airport, claim your luggage and clear customs. If your luggage is lost, fill in a PIR form before leaving the customs area: VBT representatives are not allowed into the customs area. Please note: Make sure that your VBT luggage tags are attached to your bags. This helps the representative identify you. After exiting customs, enter the arrival hall and look for your VBT representative or driver, who will be holding a VBT sign. Your representative will welcome you to France and arrange for your transfer via taxi or van (approximately 45 minutes depending upon traffic) to your Paris hotel. At this time, please verify with your airport representative the time of your transfers at the end of your trip, from your last hotel to the airport. Important: If you are delayed in meeting your VBT representative at the CDG Airport, please call 01-53-39-18-18 or 06-65-60-53-68 from within France. Outside of France, call 00 33 1-53-39-18-18 or 00 33 6-65-60-53-68. At the hotel, a VBT representative will answer your questions and provide you with a city information packet containing maps and recommendations on what to see and do in Paris. Before the representative leaves, please reconfirm the time you will be met in the hotel lobby for your transfer to Tours. Use the rest of the day to relax or to begin exploring the City of Light.

Hotel: Hotel Chateau Frontenac

Day 1 of BIKE TOUR All guests meet in Beaugency/Transfer to hotel

VBT No-Air Package guests: Meet your Trip Leaders outside the main entrance doors to the Beaugency train station at 1 p.m. They will be wearing VBT staff garments. If your arrival at the Beaugency train station is scheduled later than 1 p.m., or if you are delayed, you must take a taxi at your own expense. Taxi cost is approximately 10 euros/$13 USD (travel time approximately 10 minutes) to the first hotel. Please contact the first hotel to advise of any travel delays or changes so that the staff can inform your VBT Trip Leaders. Please plan to have lunch on your own before meeting your VBT Trip Leaders in Beaugency. VBT Air Package and Pre-Trip Extension guests: Meet your VBT representative in the hotel lobby at 10:15 a.m. The representative gives you a train ticket and helps you transfer to the Paris Austerlitz train station, where you board a train for Beaugency (approximately 1 hour and 35 minutes). Please plan to have lunch on your own before meeting your VBT Trip Leaders in Beaugency. Once assembled, the group will transfer via taxis to Tavers (approximately 10 minutes). Your Trip Leaders offer a safety and bike-fitting session, followed by a short warm-up ride, in the afternoon. This evening, enjoy a welcome wine reception and dinner with the group at the hotel.

Meals: B, D  Hotel: Hotel Le Tonnellerie

Day 2 of BIKE TOUR Cycle to Chambord/Marvel in Chateau de Chambord

Start cycling from the hotel after breakfast. Today you ride on a mix of quieter roads and bike paths on the way to Chambord, home to the remarkable Chateau de Chambord. Now the largest castle in the Loire Valley, these 440 rooms were never intended to be lived in. The castle was designed as a seasonal hunting lodge and to host large receptions for King Francois I, who built the chateau (during the years 1519-1547) while living in royal residences in Blois and Amboise. The 21-mile-long garden wall is the largest wall in France. Of particular interest are the castle's double-helical staircases, which allow two people to travel up or down without crossing one another's path. Step back in time during your guided visit here. In the afternoon, shuttle back to your hotel or ride back along a different route. Spend the late afternoon reading a book in the hotel's garden or taking a swim in the pool. Dinner is on your own tonight; your Trip Leaders provide van transport to and from nearby Beaugency and its 16 restaurants.

Meals: B  Hotel: Hotel Le Tonnellerie

Day 3 of BIKE TOUR Transfer by train to Onzain/Visit Chateau de Chaumont/Cycle to Amboise

After breakfast, transfer by train (approximately 30 minutes) to Onzain. Start your ride by crossing the Loire River to the town of Chaumont. Once in Chaumont, you have time to visit the Chateau de Chaumont and/or its gardens on your own before continuing the day's ride. The French “Father of the American Revolution,” Jacques-Donatien Le Ray, lived here from 1750 to 1789, and hosted Benjamin Franklin for a visit during that time. Chateau de Chaumont's English-style garden is home to an annual Garden Festival, where contemporary gardeners exhibit their often whimsical work, between June and October. From Chaumont, cycle through forests and via Montrichard, a medieval town on the Cher River, to the town of Amboise, where Leonardo da Vinci came to live in 1516. Evidence of his work remains at the Clos-Luce Manor where he lived. Amboise is dominated by the chateau, the former residence of Charles VIII, Louis XII and Francois I. Tonight, gather with the group for dinner at a local restaurant.

Meals: B, D  Hotel: Le Manoir les Minimes

Day 4 of BIKE TOUR DISCOVERY DAY! Explore Chenonceau

This morning, cycle to the Chateau de Chenonceau, known as the most romantic of all the Loire chateaux, on the Cher River. King Henry II gave the chateau to his lover, the beautiful Diane de Poitiers, as a gift. Diane built the first gardens and added a bridge connecting the chateau to the south shore of the Cher. After Henry's death, his jealous wife, Catherine de Medici, took the chateau back from Diane and built the unique gallery that strides over the Cher. The chateau became Catherine's favorite residence, and it was here that her son Francis II and Mary, Queen of Scots, were married in 1560. After touring Chenonceau and its gardens, eat a delicious picnic lunch before returning to your hotel. This evening, attend an included language workshop conducted by your native French VBT Trip Leaders. Afterward, you are free to dine in Old Amboise.

Meals: B, L  Hotel: Le Manoir les Minimes

Day 5 of BIKE TOUR Discover Villandry/Explore Azay-le-Rideau

After breakfast, transfer overland from Amboise, exploring deeper into the Touraine region. Begin your ride to the 11th-century Chateau de Villandry, whose symbolic, terraced gardens are unique in all of France. The Chateau de Villandry itself was completed sometime around 1536, the last of the large chateaux built on the banks of the Loire during the Renaissance. Later, cycle to Azay-le-Rideau, where you have time to explore this delightful village and its 16th-century chateau, which is built on an island. Enjoy a visit to the chateau garden on your own, and admire the town's 15th- and 18th-century houses and charming shops. You have the option of returning to the hotel in the support van or continuing to cycle along the banks of the Indre River. This region figured prominently in works by the French literary master, Honore de Balzac, and features Balzac's museum, the picturesque Pont de Ruan and the windmills often described in Balzac's writings. There are also charming cafés and shops. Dinner tonight is served in the hotel's elegant restaurant.

Meals: B, D  Hotel: Chateau de Brou Alternate Hotel: Château de Rochecotte .   Experience the warmth of this lovely, comfortable château, situated among formal French gardens. The Chateau de Rochecotte was once the home of the Prince of Talleyrand, the father of modern diplomacy. In the evenings, enjoy many elegant hotel amenities including an outdoor pool.

Day 6 of BIKE TOUR Cycle and discover Chinon

Today's exploration leads us to the historic town of Chinon on the Vienne River. Chinon is best known as the place where France's patron saint, Joan of Arc, met the dauphin, Charles VII, and convinced him to give her command of an army. Enjoy free time in Chinon, where you may wish to visit the medieval fortress and the old town, with its fortified walls. After enjoying lunch on your own in town, we reassemble to transfer back to the chateau. Tonight we share a final dinner together.

Meals: B, D  Hotel: Chateau de Brou Alternate Hotel: Château de Rochecotte .   Experience the warmth of this lovely, comfortable château, situated among formal French gardens. The Chateau de Rochecotte was once the home of the Prince of Talleyrand, the father of modern diplomacy. In the evenings, enjoy many elegant hotel amenities including an outdoor pool.

Day 7 of BIKE TOUR Transfer to Tours/Free Time/VBT No-Air Package ends

VBT No-Air Package guests: The tour ends at our hotel after breakfast this morning. You may make your arrangements to leave Tours at any time that is convenient. Check-out time from the hotel is 11:00 am. Trains are available to Paris and to Charles De Gaulle Airport. VBT Air Package guests: After breakfast, transfer to your centrally located hotel in Tours, where you receive an information package to help you discover the city on your own. The rest of the day is free for you to relax and explore. Once an ancient Gallo-Roman city, then capital of the kingdom of France, Tours enjoys an exceptional place at the center of the famous Loire Valley chateaux, set magnificently in the heart of the garden of France. This evening, eat dinner on your own in town.

Meals: B  Hotel: Hotel de l'Univers

Day 8 of AIR PACKAGE Depart for US

After breakfast*, transfer by private motorcoach to Charles de Gaulle Airport, Paris. Please ensure you are ready in the hotel reception area at the designated transfer time. VBT recommends that you check your transfer time in your “Transfer Reminder” the night before your flight. *Note: For guests with early-morning departures, breakfast at the hotel may not be available. Please check with the Front Desk to verify the times that breakfast is served. Please note: VBT transfer times and departure points are finalized in advance and cannot be modified for individual guests. If you extend your stay beyond the scheduled program dates, return transportation to the airport will be at your own expense.

Meals: B