Avalon Burgundy and Provence question

What is the dress code for men for the optional excursion in Monaco (Grace, Glamour and Glitter)?

Thanks

My wife and I took in this optional event while on the Avalon Poetry II in May and we were very disappointed. Following a short walk around a viewpoint over Monte Carlo and bus ride to over to a restaurant in the yatch basin called A'Trego (see photo) we were offered chicken and one other entree for dinner and a little wine; nothing special at all, and certainly, not worth the cost. Dress attire was all over the place with sport coats, sweaters with kakhis, and even sport shirts. Women also dressed from extremely casual to semi-formal with heels. Again, this was not an evening of Giltz and Glamour... IMHO save your money!

Thank you. I really needed this information and the picture. We board Poetry II on July 4th. Are there sny other optionals that you liked or did not like.

If staying in Paris with Avalon, Lido de Paris dinner & show was great.

Also, olive oil tasting and Les Baux tour out of Avignon was good.

Did not care for the winery and experience in Chateaunauf de Pape and expressed opinion to cruise director.

Did several other tours with independent companies, e.g., beaujolias tour & tasting, cooking school in Lyon, etc.

We really liked the crew, cruise director, and ship... Have Fun!

If staying in Paris with Avalon, Lido de Paris dinner & show was great.

Also, olive oil tasting and Les Baux tour out of Avignon was good.

Did not care for the winery and experience in Chateaunauf de Pape and expressed opinion to cruise director.

Did several other tours with independent companies, e.g., beaujolias tour & tasting, cooking school in Lyon, etc.

We really liked the crew, cruise director, and ship... Have Fun!

We are going on this tour on the Poetry 2 this year as well & the comments from Row your Boat are interesting.

A couple of Questions, are there any/many 2 person tables on the Poetry 2 & did you do the Burgundy tasting in Beaune ? We have been to the hospital a couple of times and it is magnificent, however were wondering whether to taste wine instead !

We have been to the hospital a couple of times

If you're interested in wine, the Museum of Wine is a few steps from the Hospice, in a 13thC building and worth visiting.

http://www.musees-bourgogne.org/les_musees/musee_bourgogne_resultat.php?lg=en&id=55&id_ville=12

We are going on this tour on the Poetry 2 this year as well & the comments from Row your Boat are interesting.

 

A couple of Questions, are there any/many 2 person tables on the Poetry 2 & did you do the Burgundy tasting in Beaune ? We have been to the hospital a couple of times and it is magnificent, however were wondering whether to taste wine instead !

Seem to recall that there were opportunities to seat two (2) individually on the inboard center tables in the dining room. Seating as I recall was side by side, however there were no individual and totally separated tables for two.

We did the burgundy tasting in Beaune and not the hospital. We found the wine just OK and no special experience. The "wine cellar" was in town directly across from the hospital. The wines, actually a pinot noir, were fairly expensive. Had a much better experience independently out of Lyon tasting beaujolias wines, and also touring and tasting chardonnay on an Avalon tour out of Macon... Fun!

Seem to recall that there were opportunities to seat two (2) individually on the inboard center tables in the dining room. Seating as I recall was side by side, however there were no individual and totally separated tables for two.

 

We did the burgundy tasting in Beaune and not the hospital. We found the wine just OK and no special experience. The "wine cellar" was in town directly across from the hospital. The wines, actually a pinot noir, were fairly expensive. Had a much better experience independently out of Lyon tasting beaujolias wines, and also touring and tasting chardonnay on an Avalon tour out of Macon... Fun!

Thanks for all of the info, it will be very useful. We are doing the northbound cruise next month & still have questions.

I guess that the transfer between Monte Carlo and the boat is about 3 hours, when do we leave the hotel and does the coach stop en route ? - I see that the hotel is in a great location and we want to do some Monte Carlo sightseeing.

For the train to Paris, are seats pre allocated to people or is it a free for all ?

Any information will be gratefully received.

David

Thanks for all of the info, it will be very useful. We are doing the northbound cruise next month & still have questions.

 

I guess that the transfer between Monte Carlo and the boat is about 3 hours, when do we leave the hotel and does the coach stop en route ? - I see that the hotel is in a great location and we want to do some Monte Carlo sightseeing.

 

For the train to Paris, are seats pre allocated to people or is it a free for all ?

 

Any information will be gratefully received.

 

David

Hi -

The bus leaves the hotel in Monte Carlo after lunch - so you have the morning free. It does a "pit stop" (bathroom break) on the way.

Monte Carlo is quite walkable - but be prepared from some hilly areas.

On the train to Paris, seats are pre-allocated. You get your tickets on the bus on your way to the train station.

As an fyi - the hotel in Paris isn't very central - and not close to any of the tourist attractions. However, if you need to make your own way to the airport, there is a shuttle that stops right outside the door that takes you. Can't remember the price - but it was reasonable.

Fran

Thanks Fran, that is helpful

David

[quote name=

We did the burgundy tasting in Beaune and not the hospital. We found the wine just OK and no special experience. The "wine cellar" was in town directly across from the hospital. The wines, actually a pinot noir, were fairly expensive. Had a much better experience independently out of Lyon tasting beaujolias wines, and also touring and tasting chardonnay on an Avalon tour out of Macon... Fun![/quote]

Could you please share the name of the tour group you used in Lyons....Thanks

Taking the north bound last week of August. Anyone else on board?

Terri (GoVolsTB),

Re. the wine tour out of Lyon we used Kanpai (http://www.kanpai-tourisme.com). Tour was "Beaujolais Crus & Castles"... Excellent!

We are just back from the Avalon Burgundy and Provence tour and it was great, albeit a bit warm.

We flew into Nice and were transferred to an excellent hotel in Monte Carlo (Fairmont) for one night. It was a great hotel in a perfect location.

Around 1:30 on the next day we had a 4 hour coach transfer to Arles and the boat, we had a guide on the bus and it was interesting - the luggage made it from outside of our bedroom to the cabin.

The boat trip generally takes in small French towns that have an interesting past (Romans / Popes etc) and apart from Lyon where we had a coach we had a walking tour direct from the boat at all other stops.

The itinerary describes a cruise after boarding to experience the tranquil vistas of the Carmargue National Park. This did not happen until sailing on day 2 where we had a 20 minute 'token' sail down river with a view of the hedgerow !!

The tours of all of the towns were very good and the whole trip was relaxing, both rivers(Rhone and Saone) were interesting and very quiet.

At the end of trip our luggage left from outside of our cabins and we went for an interesting trip to Beaune, followed by a fast train ride to Paris and transfer to hotel.

Again our luggage found it's way to our hotel (Pulman Montparnasse). The hotel was average, however the room size was good for Paris and there were loads of restaurants close by and a metro station.

In summary a perfectly enjoyable cruise which was nice and relaxing - we only took one optional tour (Beaujolais) as we wanted to concentrate on relaxing.

I would recommend this tour to anyone who wants to relax in a set of lovely French towns with interesting history & if you want loads of coach trips you can have them as well.

Thanks DavidRW for your review. We hope to be on the Poetry II at the end of June 2016 and appreciate your taking the time to review your trip.