Customized Group Travel and Tours to Europe Asia Middle East North America STS

Destination > Europe > France

Canadian Heritage in France

Day 1: Home - Paris

Travel today by wide bodied coach to Paris, France. Enjoy on board entertainment and meals at appropriate times.

Day 2: Paris - Reims (D)

Arrive Paris Charles De Gaulle airport. After clearing customs, you will be met, escorted to your private coach and transferred to Reims. Upon arrival in Reims, you will be taken on a visit of World War II Headquarters Museum.

Day 3: Reims - Dieppe (B, D)

After breakfast, depart Reims for the village of Vimy. Tour the Canadian National Vimy Memorial, and enjoy a guided tour of the tunnel dug by Canadian soldiers, instrumental in the victory at Vimy Ridge. Then depart for Dieppe, a charming seaside town that is indelibly etched into Canadian history. Dieppe is an ancient seaside town nestled between two limestone cliffs and a dramatic medieval castle perched on the cliff to the west of the city center. The Canadian Military Cemetery is 4 km towards Rouen.

Day 4: Dieppe - Caen (B, D)

After breakfast you will tour the Dieppe Landing Beaches. Then you will travel to Caen, visit the memorial at Caen University for a journey through time from 1918 to the present, with the aid of multiscreen audiovisual of Allied and German 1940’s newsreel. Caen was one of the Norman cities to suffer heavily in WWII. It was bombed on D day and burned for a week before the Canadians liberated it only to be shelled by the Germans. Three quarters of the city was flattened with only the ramparts around the chateau and the two great abbeys built by William the Conqueror in the 11th century still standing.

Day 5: Caen (B, D)

This morning you will take a morning sightseeing tour after breakfast of the landing beaches at Caen, then to Bayeux and visit the Tapestry in Bayeux. Afterwards you will return to Caen for overnight.

Day 6: Caen - Loire Valley (B, D)

Today depart after breakfast for a full day tour of the castles in the Loire Valley, an area where many French aristocrats built palaces for gracious living. You will visit Chateux Chenonceau and Cheverny. The 16th century Chenonceau, complete with a moat, drawbridge, towers, and turrets is everything you imagine a fairy tale castle to be. It is considered to be the loveliest of the Loire chateaux. Chateaux de Cheverny was completed in 1634 and is the most magnificently furnished of the Loire Valley and is still privately owned.

Day 7: Chartres - Paris (B, D)

After breakfast at your hotel you will depart and travel to Chartres to visit the magnificent 13th century cathedral. The two soaring spires of the cathedral dominate the medieval town at its base. The town of Chartres has been attracting pilgrims for over 2000 years, particularly because of the Sainte Chemise, a piece of cloth claimed to have been worn by the Virgin Mary when she gave birth to Jesus. After touring the Cathedral and the surrounding area you will return to Paris for dinner and your overnight.

Day 8: Paris (B, D)

Good morning Paris, the city of perfume and charm, everlastingly beautiful and unchanged. No other city has lavished such energy and attention upon its music halls and cabarets: such names as “Opera Comique”,“Follies Bergere” and “Casino de Paris” are famous around the world. This morning you will enjoy a guided city tour including Les Grand’s Boulevard, L’Opera, Place de la Concorde, Les Champs Elysees, L’Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame and more. After lunch you will enjoy a guided visit of the Louvre Museum. Dinner at a local restaurant and overnight in Paris.

Day 9: Paris (B, D)

This morning after an early breakfast you will board your coach and head off for a morning excursion to Versailles to visit this 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 -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. After your guided tour of this magnificent chateau, return to Paris for lunch on your own. The remainder of your day is free to meander the lively streets of Paris. Join the locals as they make their way down the Champs Elysse, marvel at the Arc de Triomphe, and then visit the magnificent gilded dome church where you will see the imposing Tomb of the Emperor Napoleon. You may choose to visit Notre Dame Cathedral or shop, have a cappuccino at an outdoor café. This evening after dinner you may wish to ascend the Eiffel Tower for a spectacular night view of this glorious city.

Day 10: Paris - Home

This morning board your coach for your transfer to the airport for your flight home.

Tour includes:

Return flight Home – Paris
Return airport transfers upon arrival and departure
Breakfast daily
8 dinners
8 nights accommodation. Participants in multiple bedded rooms; Chaperones in double rooms
Private touring coach from day 1 to day 7
Guided tours and entrances as per itinerary

#17 - 15168 - 22nd Ave, Surrey, B.C. V4A 9T4 Phone: (604) 538-2853 Fax: (604) 538-2863
Toll Free: 1-866-538-2853 Email:ststours@telus.net B.C. Reg. No. 24835
Copyright © 2004 STS Group Tours. All rights reserved.
Created & Maintained by In Vancouver Web Services