Luxury France Tour Review, Avignon History, Beauty & Cuisine, Eze Commune, Dijon, Wine Caves & Tasting, Saint Germaine des Pres

We had a great trip - full of delightful meals, amazing history and beautiful countryside.  It was quite difficult to return home after such a adventure!  The support and immediate accessibility of the travel team staff (travel planners) throughout the trip was invaluable.  We visited Paris, Dijon, Avignon and Eze on this trip.
We had been to Paris before so we used this opportunity to visit some areas in detail that we hadn't time for in our prior visit. Guided tours of the St Germaine des Pres and Marais neighborhoods were interesting.  On our own we saw the Rodin Museum, revisited the Ile de la Cite and Ile St Louis neighborhoods, and enjoyed great dining.  The Hotel D'Aubusson on the Left Bank was perfectly located to take advantage of the whole city.  We spent one full day out of the city on a Loire Valley chateaux tour. Our guide was an excellent driver and her knowledge of the history of the area was comprehensive.
In Dijon the hotel we stayed in, if I could plan it again, I would definitely choose a more upscale and better located hotel. Oddly, the corridor to our room was very dark and dismal, as it is painted all black; in addition, the room itself was too small for two people and two large suitcases.  The outdoor areas were not well groomed and were not inviting for afternoon relaxation in the courtyard.  Also, the neighborhood was dark and didn't feel safe for walking at night. We cannot say much for the tour guide that we had there either as she was not very enthusiastic and seemed to focus on areas that were not especially interesting, leaving no time to for her to guide us through the Duke’s Palace (now a free museum) or several other areas that she ultimately recommended we explore on our own. By that time we were tired from the walking and it would have been so much better to have a guided tour of the museum, which we were left to return to on our own and only had time to see the tombs of the Dukes before it closed. The wine tour guide was quite entertaining, and we wish we had booked a longer tour to see more vineyards and learn more about the actual viniculture process.  The focus of this tour was just to visit two “caves” and sample some lovely wines, with a bit of pressure (not excessive) to purchase for shipment home. Since we were in Dijon primarily to visit the Burgundy wine region and were only there for two nights it would have been better for our interests to spend more time exploring different vineyards during a longer tour.
Avignon was fabulous - such lovely weather and our tour guide was great.  What a beautiful and historic city, clean, bright, great shopping and restaurants!  We had a delicious dinner where the young and talented chef came to our table to describe his creations. We also dined at a fine dining restaurant, recommended by the concierge at the Avignon hotel, which was excellent.  The hotel was fine, not especially spacious but better than the Dijon hotel.  There are stairs to navigate which wasn't a problem for us but might be for others.  I'm sure the staff would have been helpful if asked.  We took a full day tour of the historic and beautiful Provence region, visiting many amazing villages perched in the cliffs and hills of the area.  The guide was great - very knowledgeable and accommodating.
And of course, the final stop in Eze was a dream come true.  Simply astounding hotel (possibly the nicest we’ve ever stayed at) where everything was absolutely top quality including the daily breakfast and dinners at the Michelin starred restaurant. Our tour guide for the nearby historic village of Eze and for Monaco was excellent.  We also ventured off campus one night to dine at an italian restaurant nearby, which was very good.
 
Many thanks for your assistance in planning this memorable trip!