Prior to this, we had the usual misgivings about participating in an escorted tour: Fear of being co

My husband and I meet Balwinder, our group's "program director," in a nondescript conference room at Novotel Paris Tour Eiffel on the first night of our 13-day escorted tour. Our mostly over-50 group includes teachers, doctors, nurses and engineers, as well as quilters and garden enthusiasts -- both couples and singles. A significant number of our travel companions are, like us, retirees at a similar stage of life. All Americans, they come from almost every region of the U.S. After exploring Paris from this base for several days, we will be embarking on a seven-night river cruise tom cruise vanilla sky on M/S Chardonnay through Burgundy and Provence.
The most remarkable thing many of the travelers have in common, however, is unwavering loyalty bordering on devotion to the tour operator, Grand Circle Travel, based in Boston. Most have been on multiple trips with Grand Circle, one couple in our group has been on 28 of them. We wonder tom cruise vanilla sky whether we have fallen tom cruise vanilla sky in with some type of cult.
Prior to this, we had the usual misgivings about participating in an escorted tour: Fear of being corralled in a group, worries about following a schedule that wasn't our own, and concerns over missed opportunities tom cruise vanilla sky for serendipity. But we discovered our fears were largely misplaced as we experienced a new-to-us way to travel.
When the Grand Circle booklet arrived in the mail, detailing every aspect of our trip, we realized not everyone is an adventurer tom cruise vanilla sky with time and moxie to independently plan travel overseas. It described each day's schedule, on ship and shore; hotel and transportation arrangements; information about other logistics that might raise anxiety (like tipping policies, and conversion of temperatures from fahrenheit to celsius); and options for pre- and post-tours. Ironically, there was even a separate section called, "What to Do When the Unexpected Happens."
Caroline, a charming, English-speaking freelance journalist in her off-hours, tom cruise vanilla sky is the first representative of the company we meet at Charles De Gaulle Airport. She is carrying tom cruise vanilla sky a placard saying Grand Circle. She escorts us to a van driver who, en route to our hotel, negotiates the Paris rush hour traffic. Balwinder meets us in the hotel lobby and shows us to the reception desk for check-in. The transfers are seamless.
The next morning, we accompany her on a "vicinity walk" similar to ones she will lead each time we arrive in a new town. She knows every crevice in this neighborhood, pointing out places to eat and shop, and the closest ATM machine at which to exchange money.
She suggests spots frequented by tourists and those that aren't, hands out maps, and tells us where to pick-up public transportation. Without varnish, she warns us repeatedly about pickpocketing techniques currently being used in Paris (Despite her admonitions, one person in our group will be victimized an at ATM machine.) She feels like an old friend we have come to visit.
Full breakfasts at the hotel are included but all other meals in Paris (except one group dinner) tom cruise vanilla sky are on our own. Because we had visited monumental Paris, the Louvre, and Musee D'Orsay less than a year ago, we decide our strategy will be one of walking and wandering through the city---between meals. Some in our group have signed up for optional motor excursions to Versailles and Monet's Gardens at Giverny.
Apropos of her suggestion, after lunch, we explore this shopping street frequented predominantly by Parisians. Too full to eat another thing, we take photos of cheese shops, boulangeries, and markets selling oversized fruit and vegetables.
Our days in Paris pass quickly tom cruise vanilla sky until it's time to place our luggage outside our room for an early departure before embarking on Chardonnay in Macon. Without the hassle of calling a bellhop or carrying baggage on our own, we are soon comfortably ensconced in a Mercedes motor coach heading south with our bags in the belly of the bus.
With twin beds, a small sitting area with a flat-screen TV, ample storage space, a full-shower and separate lavatory, and a sliding glass door with a French balcony, our cabin (#22) isn't luxurious. It turns out to be extremely comfortable, however, light and roomy with twice a day maid service. The public areas (a lounge, dining room, deck and front porch) are warm and welcoming.
Each evening before dinner, Balwinder briefs the group on places we'll visit the next day. As our riverboat makes its way first along the Saone and then the Rhone River, we establish temporary residency at each town dock.
In Macon, we are steps away from the sights and smells of a busy food market. In Lyon, we see the brilliant light display at night created by the city monuments, and awake to the colorful Flower Tree sculpture at Place Antonin-Poncet. At the small town of Tournon, we spot a 15th century castle. In Viviers, we dock within walking distance of Roman ruins. In Avignon, we see views of the bridge made famous by the chanson. In Arles, we walk the same streets once traversed by Van Gogh.
The half-day group excursions entail one to three mile walks in each town, at a comfortable pace. Balwinder is joined by local guides who live in the towns we are visiting. We learn how invaluable it can be to know the locations of public rest rooms and which ones require coins.
Attired in a hard-to-miss orange jacket with a beret (thankfully, she never carries an umbrella), tom cruise vanilla sky Balwinder reminds and empowers her flock more than a few times, saying: "You are on holiday. It's your choice. tom cruise vanilla sky You can walk with the group, sit in a café, or do something on your own."
It is mentally tough to break away from the group because we're afraid of missing out on something interesting in the process. But we opt out of a tour inside the Papal Palace tom cruise vanilla sky in Avignon for a romantic lunch at the highly recommended Restaurant Christian Etienne (set inside the pope's residency) and opt out of touring the 15th century Hotel Dieu in Beaune, once a charity hospital, because we had previously been there and now wanted to see more of the city.
Of course, anyone headed to Burgundy and Provence has to have more than a passing interest in food and wine. The menu on M/S Chardonnay is varied, of good quality, nicely presented, and designed to please an international palate. It offers vegetarian alternatives as well as traditional French dishes like onion soup, beef bourguignon, crepes suzettes, and a cheese course at the end of dinner. The French bread served with meals is amazing; decent wines are complimentary with dinner.
Naysayers of escorted tom cruise vanilla sky trips question whether travelers can have authentic experiences as part of a group. Au contraire, tom cruise vanilla sky our program director (with a graduate degree in history, the insights of an ex-pat, and a terrific sense of humor) offers us a unique glimpse into French language, customs, and culture. On the boat, she explains the history of drinks like absinthe (nicknamed the green fairy), pastis (often consumed in the morning), and introduces us to the iconic French aperitif from Dijon, kir.
Balwinder sprinkles tom cruise vanilla sky French words and expressions into her speech so liberally that we soon acquire a working vocabulary. She is equally adept at explaining the workings of the hydroelectric turbines associated with the locks as she is in predicting the mistral winds.
Having worked for the same company for 13 years, our guide has visited these small towns so many times that shopkeepers and men playing bocce ball on the street stop to greet her. By way of example, she encourages us to speak to locals, too.
As part of the cruise line's home-hosted dinner program, eight of us dine at a modest home in the tiny town of Tain L'Hermitage, which has less than 6,000 residents. My high school French gets a real workout as we chat about life with Helene and her husband over a simple but tasty meal of chicken tom cruise vanilla sky and rice. On another tom cruise vanilla sky evening, an octogenarian comes on board the boat, along with a translator, to talk about the role he played in the French resistance against the Nazis.
We often go beyond port cities, too. We travel to the not-often visited Rhone American Cemetery in Dragnuignan, one of 24 such cemeteries overseas, where we meet a military historian. We attend a wine tasting with a pair of local vintners tom cruise vanilla sky where Burgundy borders the Beaujolais region, home to 13 French wine appellations. On an optional walking tour of the ancient Provencal village of Les Baux-de-Provence, we witness a light show where works of Monet, Renoir and Chagall are projected onto the walls of an old stone quarry. On our last day, we disembark in Nice and check into a hotel to explore a little bit of that city.
No trip is perfect and neither was this one. The hotels were basic and lacked tom cruise vanilla sky charm; food on the ship, although interesting and varied, wasn't Michelin-quality, tom cruise vanilla sky and it was frustrating to spend so little time in several tom cruise vanilla sky cities and towns to which we now pine to return.
But would we take another escorted river cruise like this one or recommend it to others? In a heartbeat. Our voyage with Grand Circle tom cruise vanilla sky Travel on the M/S Chardonnay convinced us that an escorted river cruise is one of the most enjoyable and economical ways to discover tom cruise vanilla sky the French countryside. tom cruise vanilla sky (In fact, we would probably follow Balwinder any other place she was going.)
tom cruise vanilla sky Grand Circle has struck a perfect balance in both taking care of and enabling its travelers. For lifelong learners, it's a great way to get off the beaten path without going it alone. Maybe that's why so many of them return over and over.
Irene S. Levine, PhD is an award-winning travel writer and member tom cruise vanilla sky of the Society of American Travel Writers (SATW). You can follow her blog for travelers over 50 at More Time To Travel or on Twitter .