Itinerary

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 60 minutes depending upon traffic) to your Paris hotel. At this time, please verify with your airport representative the time of your transfers to the Paris Austerlitz train station for your train to Beaugency Important: If you are delayed in meeting your VBT representative at the CDG Airport, please call 06 72 07 59 24 or 06 15 15 15 25 from within France. Outside of France, call +33 672 07 59 24 or +33 615 15 15 25.

The hotel will provide you with a City Information Packet containing maps and recommendations on what to see and do in Paris. Use the rest of the day to relax or to begin exploring the City of Light. You may book an optional 2 hour guided walking tour of Paris, starting at your hotel, at your own expense—you must reserve this optional tour with your VBT representative upon arrival. The price is 25 Euro per person (must be paid in Euro cash), with a minimum of 4 passengers.

Day 1 of 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 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 vivid and colorful artworks. 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 such as the 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.

Day 2 of 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 60 minutes depending upon traffic) to your Paris hotel. At this time, please verify with your airport representative the time of your transfers tomorrow to the Paris Austerlitz train station Important: If you are delayed in meeting your VBT representative at the CDG Airport, please call 06 72 07 59 24 or 06 15 15 15 25 from within France. Outside of France, call +33 672 07 59 24 or +33 615 15 15 25.

The hotel will provide you with a city information packet containing maps and recommendations on what to see and do in Paris. Use the rest of the day to relax or to begin exploring the City of Light.

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.

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 1:15 p.m. They will be wearing VBT staff garments. If your arrival at the Beaugency train station is scheduled later than 1:15 p.m. or if you are delayed, you must take a taxi at your own expense. Taxi cost is approximately 15 euros/$22 USD (travel time approximately 10 minutes) to the first hotel. Please contact the first hotel to advise if any travel delays or changes so 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 will have a group 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 the hotel in 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.

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 longest 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 audio-guided visit here.

In the afternoon, shuttle back to your hotel or ride back along a mostly 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.

Day 3 of BIKE TOUR Transfer to Blois/walking tour with local guide/Cycle to Amboise via Chaumont

Board a motorcoach this morning bound for the ancient city of Blois. Many medieval ruins remain here in what was the most important city in the region around the mid-13th century. A guided visit of the old town with a local historian reveals how the city and its architecture evolved from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance.

From Blois, we cycle along the river and through the lovely Loire countryside, nicknamed the “Garden of France” for its abundance of fruits and vegetables. Our first destination is Chaumont, where you have the opportunity to explore the Chateau de Chaumont and its gardens on your own.
Then, continue on to the town of Amboise. Leonardo da Vinci came here to live at the Clos-Luce Manor in 1516, and evidence of his work remains at the manor. The chateau that dominates the town was once home to Charles VIII, Louis XII and Francois I.

Tonight, enjoy a wine tour and tasting before we gather with the group for dinner at a local restaurant.

Day 4 of BIKE TOUR DISCOVERY DAY! Explore Chenonceau

After breakfast, we pedal along a scenic route to the Chateau de Chenonceau on the Cher River, known as the most romantic of the Loire chateaux. Its history is the stuff of epic novels: King Henry II gave the chateau as a gift to his beautiful lover, Diane de Poitiers, who built the first gardens and added a bridge to connect the chateau to the Cher's south shore. After Henry's death, his jealous wife, Catherine de Medici, took the chateau from Diane and built the unique gallery, that strides over the river. It became her favorite residence and later hosted the marriage of her son, Francis II, and Mary, Queen of Scots in 1560.

We have ample time to tour Chenonceau, its gardens and maze before picnicking together. Shortly afterward, we return to the hotel for a fun French language workshop with our native VBT Trip Leaders.

Dinner is on your own this evening.

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

After breakfast, we transfer overland from Amboise to the Chateau de Villandry, known for its symbolic, terraced gardens unlike any other in France. The last of the large chateaux built during the Renaissance on the banks of the Loire, it was completed around 1536. We then cycle on a beautiful bike route along the Loire River and on to Azay-le-Rideau.

In Azay-le-Rideau, you will have time for independent exploration of this delightful old village. Visit the town's 16th-century island chateau, photograph 15th- and 18th-century houses, and browse the many shops before returning to the hotel in the support van or continuing your ride.

If you choose to cycle to the hotel, your route takes you along the Indre River, a region that figured prominently in works by Honoré de Balzac, the 19th-century French literary master, who referred to Azay-le-Rideau as “a faceted diamond set in the Indre.”

We gather at the hotel restaurant for an elegant dinner tonight.

Day 6 of BIKE TOUR Cycle and discover Chinon

Joan of Arc, France's patron saint, met the Dauphin, Charles VII, in Chinon. Though just a simple farm girl, Joan convinced him to give her command of an army in 1429.
Explore and have lunch on your own in Chinon. You might visit the medieval Royal Fortress where Joan and the Dauphin met. Stroll through the old town, with its fortified walls. And sip Chinon wine while you gaze across the Vienne River.

After lunch, we return to our own chateau. You may stop en route to taste some of the wines. Red wines are produced from the area's Cabernet Franc stock, with white wines coming from the Chenin Blanc grape. Tonight, we share a final dinner together in our wonderful chateau's dining room.

Day 7 of BIKE TOUR Transfer to Charles de Galle Airport via the Palace of Versailles/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 the hotel at any time that is convenient. Checkout time is from 11 am. Trains depart from Tours to Paris and to Charles De Gaulle Airport. You are responsible for all transfer arrangements. A taxi from the hotel to Tours railway station costs approximately 70 Euros (3 passenger maximum). We recommend you ask your VBT Trip leaders or the hotel to help make the reservation at least a day in advance.

VBT Air Package guests: After breakfast, depart for Paris and one of the most visited monuments in France, the Palace of Versailles. Wanting to escape the busy life in Paris, and to keep the nobility under his control, Louis XIV built this chateau in which he set up home and installed the government. Louis Le Vau was commissioned to renovate and extend an old hunting lodge, Le Notre created the gardens from swamp land, and Mansart masterminded the hydraulic display of the fountains. This grand palace served as France's official royal residence from 1682 until 1790.

Once you arrive at the Palace you will be given an individual audio guide and entrance ticket for the state apartments of the king and queen and the Galerie des Glaces (the Hall of Mirrors, where the Treaty of Versailles was signed to end World War I), along with the gardens.

In mid afternoon, rejoin the bus and transfer to your hotel located near Charles de Gaulle Airport.

This evening is free. You may wish to stroll through the park into Roissy village and have dinner in one of the restaurants located there, or remain in the hotel and use their facilities.

Day 8 of AIR PACKAGE Depart for US

After breakfast*, transfer by shuttle bus to Charles de Gaulle Airport, Paris. Please ensure that you are ready in the hotel entrance area at the designated transfer time. The shuttle is complimentary for hotel guests and it runs approximately every 15 minutes to terminal 2 (stopping in front of each hall A to F), or approximately every 30 minutes to terminal 3. Please ask the hotel reception for exact times. Once you leave the bus, make sure that you follow the signs for flight departures.

*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

Loire Valley 2010

Pre and Post Trip Extensions

Pre-Trip Extension

Paris 2010 - Loire Valley - 2 nights for only $445

Begin your adventure with a visit to Paris and see for yourself why the City of Light has inspired poets, lovers, emperors and artists for centuries. Visit Montmartre and its charming cafés and artists’ colony. Here, too, is the Moulin Rouge, made famous by Toulouse-Lautrec in his vivid and colorful artworks. Or venture to the top of Notre Dame for a gargoyle’s view of the city. You have plenty of time to 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, 4-star hotel.

Available only with the Air Inclusive Package.

Note: Single supplement for this extension is $345.

Accommodations

Hotel Chateau Frontenac

The hotel Chateau Frontenac is a magnificent building dating from the late 19th century. Its location is idea, just a block from the Champs Elysees, making it very easy and safe for visiting the sights, shopping, and taking evening strolls.
The rooms in this four-start hotel are decorated in a Louis XV style and are provided with modern amenities, including air conditioning, internet access, mini-bar, safe deposit box, and satellite television.

Hotel Le Tonnellerie

This 18th-century former wine merchant's house has wonderful cellars and outdoor dining.

Le Manoir les Minimes

On the south bank in Amboise, the Manoir Les Minimes overlooks the Loire River. Formerly a conventand private home, this refined hotel is decorated with fine antiques. The property boasts an exceptional location in an authentic part of the city, as well as the shade of the Château d’Amboise. Each of the 14 uniquely decorated rooms overlook the château or the Loire River.

Chateau de Brou

This elegant, intimate and perfectly maintained, 15th-century chateau was built in 1475 by the Lords of St. Maure. Set in a 250-acre park and forest, this refined property is tastefully furnished with antiques and luxurious fabrics. Each room is devoted to and decorated around the theme of a local or historical Loire personality, such as Joan of Arc, Rabelais and others. The chateau also boasts its own private chapel and hunting lodge.

Rating Level

Easy

This tour offers easy terrain throughout the trip.