Travel another way

My winter in California

jgrandchamps — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 12:48:41 +0000

I love my job because it offers a great variety of tasks: my favorite one being leading the tours, of course, because I enjoy interacting with my guests, sharing their joy and showing them wonderful new places. However, most of my tours happening between May and October, many people often wonder what I do then. No, [...]

French tennisplayer Amelie Mauresmo retires

jgrandchamps — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 20:40:40 +0000

Thirty-year-old Amélie Mauresmo announced this morning she is officially putting an end to her tennis career. Some tears were shed by the most famous French tennis star when she made the announcement at a press conference. Tennis became her passion while watching French tennis player Yannick Noah when she was only 4. She became a [...]

No more business for Lacroix

jgrandchamps — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 22:21:41 +0000

Designer Christian Lacroix was born in 1951 in Arles, Provence, and his fashion shows and collections were often inspired by Camargue colors, gypsies and corridas. He opened his own fashion design business in 1987, sponsored by French luxury company Louis Vuiton Moet Hennessy. He became internationally successful right away, and later diversified his [...]

Sketch for a Swiss escapade

jgrandchamps — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 21:59:36 +0000

I just wanted to share with you some details of my recent stay in Switzerland: half for pleasure and half scouting for places to soon offer a new tour in Switzerland. As usual, my main concern was to find authentic places and people, interesting places to visit and a fun ambiance for our future groups. [...]

More shopping (wine and chocolate) in Provence

jgrandchamps — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 17:29:23 +0000

Cindy, you have no idea how right you are. We had to visit a supermarket today so that Hope & Pam, as well as Rosa and also Sarah could buy some extra luggage to carry home all their shopping!!! We started the day by drinking wine!!!! Well, visit of Chateau Neuf du Pape village and of [...]

Buying the specialities of Provence

jgrandchamps — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 21:45:18 +0000

What are the specialties? Here are some of the specialties our group bought during their excursion in Provence : Lavender of course: Fine Lavender is from Provence while the Lavandin can be found anywhere in the world. Everyone in the group bought and bought and bought some lavender products, from soap to essential oils to hand [...]

How is olive oil made in Provence?

jgrandchamps — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 19:53:03 +0000

New tour, new group. We have spent only 2 days in Provence and so much shopping already. Yesterday we visited Andre, an olive oil maker at the Clos des Jeannons in Gordes, in the Luberon, Provence. But how is olive oil made? In Provence, harvesting normally takes place around November. Using traditional methods, this will be done by hitting [...]

When friends surprise birthday girl in France

jgrandchamps — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 21:40:48 +0000

Six American ladies managed to hide a big surprise to Sharon on her birthday. She had been told she was going to travel for a week, but she had no idea what her destination would be until she finally got to San Francisco airport, from where she flew to Marseille. But it was not her [...]

Touring the natural beauty of Provence

jgrandchamps — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 20:44:01 +0000

Women from Canada and from the USA have joined me this week to tour Provence. Provence is known for its breath-taking sceneries, its historical hilltop villages and its art. We saw all that, but its natural beauty was at the heart of this week’ s delights. Camargue is always a highlight, with the visit of Thibaud [...]

What is the grape used to make Chateau Neuf du Pape wine

jgrandchamps — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 06:29:46 +0000

The Chateau-Neuf du Pape is the most famous Cotes-du-Rhone wine. So what is the grape used in this wine? Is it merlot? Cabernet?…Not at all. That was a trick question because 13 different types of grapes are used in Chateau-Neuf du Pape wine. The king of the grapes is the Grenache, used for both white and [...]