Travel with celebrities
Don’t you just love a good bestseller? A page turner full of interesting people, fascinating places and a sprinkling of history and culture ? Me too! Creating a tour is much like plotting a novel. My setting: the South of France – from glamourous Nice to charming medieval towns and villages; main characters: celebrities, chefs, writers, winemakers and clients, but I always like to add a few surprises. The happy ending : satisfied clients who return for more! Two tours currently on my bestseller list have far exceeded expectations: Memories You Promised Yourself and Excited about Food.
MEMORIES YOU PROMISED YOURSELF – a trip for women
Did I mention bestsellers? Canadian author Patricia Sands whose bestselling Love in Provence series is set in the south of France where she resided and American Deborah Bine, aka the Barefoot Blogger whose home away from home is Uzès,are the co-hosts of the best selling Memories You Promised Yourself . On this tour for women to the south of France, Patricia and Deborah take the women to their favorite places to discover the extraordinary beauty of Côte d’Azur, Provence , Camargue, and Occitanie along with its history, culture, food and wine. Highlights include
- Strolling the seaside Promenade des Anglais in Nice and touring the colorful city
- Meandering through cobblestone streets of Saint Paul de Vence, filled with history, galleries and charming shops
- Discovering Eze and the spectacular gardens of Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild
- Exploring the ancient harbor town Antibes, Patricia’s home away from home
- Walking in Cézanne’s footsteps in Aix en Provence
- Savoring vibrant, fishing town of Sète and an olive oil mill.
- Living in Arles among roman treasures, world-renowned architecture and the spirit of Van Gogh
- Enjoying a safari to observe the Camargue’s unique flora, fauna and rose-colored salt marshes
- Experiencing market day in St Remy de Provence & the spectacular Carrières de Lumières in les Baux de Provence
- Peeking into the Barefoot Blogger’s home away from home in Uzès
- Admire the stunning architectural wonder of the Unesco heritage site Pont du Gard
- Joining harvest time and tasting the wine
Why a tour exclusively for women?
Because it’s simply fun to be with other women. Let your hair down, giggle and empathize, bond on similar interests, get the opportunity to travel solo or with a friend, have the freedom to share past experiences and stories, make new friendships and create new memories to take home and treasure.
If you want to grab a spot on the tour September 19 – October 1, 2022, click here.
EXCITED ABOUT FOOD – a culinary tour
A gastronomic Tour de France? This was no-brainer given France’s reputation as the world capital of food and wine! Add to the recipe celebrity chef and award-winning cookbook author Cheryl Alters Jamison who is hosting this year’s culinary adventures to Provence and Occitanie and you have the perfect plat du jour!! Last year’s food tour to Occitanie in September was so popular that we not only renewed it this year but are now offering another food lovers tour to Provence in June. It’s fully booked with a wait list and early birders signed up for the 2023 edition.
Why travel to France for a culinary tour?
When you think of your favourite holiday experiences, isn’t it often the food that stays in your mind?
It’s an opportunity to discover exciting new flavours, sample regional specialities.
Who doesn’t like sipping french wine and eating french food?
There’s nothing more fun that bonding with fellow food lovers during a “hands on” cookingworkshop.
Eating, cooking and travelling with celebrity chef Cheryl Alters Jamison
A four-time James Beard Foundation award-winning cookbook author, Cheryl is a lifelong Francophile. She made her first trip to France nearly five decades ago, in college, and has spent as much time as she could there, as well as in the French Caribbean. Cheryl has taught cooking classes in venues across the United States, as well as appeared numerous times on the Food Network, NBC’s Today Show, and on other television internationally, from China to the UK. She’s the former culinary editor of New Mexico magazine and host of a weekly food radio show and podcast, Heating It Up. Her twenty cookbooks, many written with her late husband Bill—including Smoke & Spice, American Home Cooking, and The Big Book of Outdoor Cooking & Entertaining—have been widely recognized as standard setters, and have sold some 2 million copies. For a decade, she led culinary adventure groups to the Dordogne. After a few years’ hiatus, she has decided it’s time again to share her love of the country’s South with other food- and wine-obsessed travelers, by pairing up with Absolutely Southern France. She lives just outside of Santa Fe, New Mexico with a small flock of hens with outsize personalities.
If you want to grab a spot on the Occitanie Excited about Food Tour from September 10-18, 2022, click here.
Highlights include
- 3 hands-on cooking workshops with Cheryl Jamison 4-time James Beard award winning cookbook author
- Oyster farm tour in catamaran, fish market, Roquefort cellars, wineries
- Cocktail workshop
- Camargue safari
- Sightseeing: Uzès, Pont du Gard, St Quentin la Poterie, Sète, Montpellier, Aigues Mortes, Camargue
- Cathar country and Carcassonne walled city Unesco heritage site
- Caviar tasting at hatchery
- Roquefort caves tour
