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Paris and Loire Valley
Day 1: Toronto – ParisDepart Toronto for your overnight flight to Paris. You will be served dinner and breakfast on board. Day 2: Paris (D)Arrive in Paris. After clearing immigration and customs you will be met by your- guide and taken to your coach for a transfer to your centrally located accommodation. En route, enjoy an orientation tour of this unique city: Les Grades Boulevards, l’Opera, Place de la Concorde, Les Champs Elysees, L’Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame, etc. Paris is everlastingly beautiful and unchanged. No other city lavished such energy and attention upon its music-halls and cabarets: such names as “Opera Comique”, “Folies Bergere” and “Casino de Paris” are famous around the world. Indeed it may only be a slight exaggeration to state that on one has fully lived until they have sampled the phantasmagoria of attractions and spectacles available in the capital of France. The twenty arrondissements (districts) of Paris are in the form of a clockwise spiral around the Hotel de Ville. There are very few places in Paris which are further than 400 metres from a Metro station. Sixteen lines serve 273 stations on a network of nearly 200 kilometres, open from 5 in the morning till 12:30 at night; a single ticket is valid for a journey anywhere in the inner Paris network. In the afternoon, which we have left free for you to acclimatize yourselves to the 6 hour time difference, for those who would like to get some fresh air you may enjoy a walk to the Latin Quarter. There will be a welcome dinner for the group this evening. Overnight in Paris. Day 3: Paris (B)After breakfast at the hotel you will go on a half day guided visit to the Louvre Museum (travel by Metro and meet guide at the Louvre). This former Royal Palace, transformed by the Revolution into a museum, lays claim to the title of "most beautiful museum in the world". You will enter through I.M.Pei's pyramids, highlights of the major modernization program; in the course of their construction the medieval foundations were unearthed and are displayed as an integral part of the museum's collection. Containing over 200,000 works of art in 225 galleries, it is impossible for you to view them all so you must be very selective. Some of the most famous exhibits are: Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa, the soaring 3rd century BC statue Victory of Samothrace, the celebrated Vénus de Milo (2nd century BC) and the realistic Egyptian Seated Scribe. After your guide has finished your guided tour, you may stay in the Louvre until closing time or you can cross the river by Pont Notre Dame to visit on your own the most enduring symbol of Paris and its historical and geographical heart; Notre Dame. Situated on Ile de la Cité, one of the two islands in the middle of the Seine, where Paris's first inhabitants settled around 250 BC, Notre Dame has been a place of worship for more than 2,000 years; the present building is the fourth on this site. It was begun in 1163, making it one of the earliest Gothic cathedrals, although building dragged on until 1345. The 387-step climb up to the towers is worth the effort for a perfect view of the famous gargoyles and the heart of Paris. More than any other building, Notre Dame is the history of a nation. Here, Henry IV of England was crowned King of France in 1430, here Napoleon crowned himself and Josephine emperor and empress. The rose window above the main portal for instance forms a halo 31 feet in diameter around the head of the Virgin, and is so superbly coloured that seven centuries have not faded the hues. In the afternoon, continue to explore the Louvre on your own, or enjoy the rest of the day at leisure. This evening, take a journey along the Seine on the Bateaux Mouches. You will see a floodlit Paris from the river (Bateaux Mouches tickets provided but the group will have to make their own way to Bateaux Mouches). Overnight in Paris. Day 4: Paris (B)Enjoy the entire day at leisure to explore what Paris has to offer. We suggest you visit on the Eiffel Tower, which was built by Gustave Eiffel for the World Exhibition of 1889. Such was Eiffel's engineering precision that even in the fiercest winds the tower never sways more than 11½ centimetres (4½ inches). Today, of course, it is the most well known of Parisian landmarks and exudes an air of permanence. Standing beneath it, you may have trouble believing that it nearly became 7,000 tons of scrap-iron when its concession expired in 1909. Only its potential use as a radio antenna saved the day; it now bristles with a forest of radio and television transmitters. If you are full of energy, you can stride up the stairs as far as the tower's third floor, but only elevators will take you right to the top. The view from 1,000 feet up will enable you to appreciate the city's layout and proportions. Day 5: Paris – Versailles – Chartres – Paris (B/D)After breakfast, take an excursion to Versailles, the creation of the French monarchy at the time of its greatest splendour. Consisting of the great palace, the gardens and the Trianons, it is a wonderful harmonious composition of building and landscape, a unique expression of the vitality of French art during the 17th-18th century. Between 1682 and 1789, Versailles was the seat of government and France's political capital. Today the chateau of Versailles seems outrageously large, but in 1682 when Louis XIV took up residence it housed about 15,000 noblemen, servants, and hangers-on who moved in with Louis. Built between 1662 and 1690 it took 26,000 labourers and soldiers to construct. See the Grand Appartement, Hall of Mirrors, King's and Queen's suites, as well as many other sights. This afternoon, continue to Chatres. You will see the same awesome vista that has greeted pilgrims for centuries: a towering cathedral. It is something of a mystery, why so magnificent a cathedral, one that set the standard for Gothic cathedrals all over Europe, sprang up so far from any major commercial centre. Chartres has always been a place of pilgrimage and worship. Churches have stood on the same spot as an earlier cathedral for almost two millennia. The present cathedral of Chartres was initiated by the bishop of Chartres, Saint Fulbert when fire destroyed an earlier structure in 1020. The cathedral is famous for its sensitively carved figures. The main, or "royal" portal dates from the mid 12th century, and is a masterpiece of Romanesque art. In hundreds of Naive sculpted figures, the three doors depict Christ's birth, ascension and Second Coming. Inside the cathedral, two features are particularly outstanding: the beautiful choir screen and the sublime stained-glass windows. While the town surrounding the cathedral has grown greatly over the centuries, it is still quite charming. Dinner and overnight in Paris. Day 6: Paris - Loire Valley – Tours (B/D)The next two days will be spent about 260 km southwest of Paris in the breathtakingly beautiful region of the Loire Valley. The towns of this area have magical names, but they also read like Joan of Arc’s battle register – Orleans, Blois, Tours, Chinon. Every hill top has a castle or palace, there are vineyards as far as your eye can see, the Loire winds like a silver ribbon, and the walled cities cluster around medieval churches. It was here that many French aristocrats built themselves palaces for gracious living. Its gentle landscapes and soft light encouraged Kings, courtiers and magnates to build the Renaissance chateaux for which this region is famous – Blois, chambord, Chenonceau etc. The first stop will be in the little town of St-Benoit-sur-Loire, its highlight is the ancient Abbey of St. Benoit, often hailed as the greatest Romanesque church in France. Next will be a visit to Orleans, a thriving commercial city at the geographical and historical centre of France. Its strategic position as a bridgehead of the Loire has long made it the target of hostile invasions. A visit of the town includes a visit to La Maison de Jeanne-D’Arc where seventeen year old Joan stayed during the 10 day siege in 1429. Finally a visit to the chateau of Chambord is also one of the valley’s two most popular touring destinations (Chenonceaux being the other). Dinner and overnight in Tours. Day 7: Loire Valley (B/D)After breakfast, take an orientation tour of Tours. Be sure to visit the University and beautiful squares that make up the town. Continue on for a visit of Amboise, a picturesque little town with a bustling market. The history of Amboise is really of history of its chateau. A Stone Age fortress stood here, and an early bridge gave the stronghold strategic importance. The Chateaux eventually emerged into a royal palace. The next stop will be in Chenonceaux. Modern travel writers have called Chenenceaux the “most exciting” and the “most romantic” of the Loire Chateaus. More pleasure than fortress, Chenonceau was built in 1520 by Thomas Bohier. Travel back to Paris and enjoy a group dinner and overnight. Day 8: Paris (B)Enjoy your last day in France entirely at your leisure. Overnight in Paris. Day 9: Paris – Toronto (B)AU REVOIR PARIS ET A BIENTOT! BONJOUR CANADA. Transfer this morning to Charles de Gaulle airport for your flight home arriving the same day. INCLUSIONS:
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