Cannes: Exclusive Riviera Tours Review and Warning! (Long)

So I've thought long and hard whether I was going to write a review about this company or not. But CC is my number source of cruise information and I think it's my duty to pay it forward....

Exclusive Riviera Tours ( http://frenchrivierasightseeing-tourguide.com ) is owned by Michel and I think it's a one man operation. So everything in my review will pertain particularly to Michel. Prior to our trip to Cannes I've scoured the internet for the best and cheapest tours and their prices was one of the best. They have an hourly rate of €60 per hour, with a 4 hour minimum.

When I contacted Michel via email through their website I explained that I was travelling with 2 children and 2 seniors with walking difficulties. My main priority in Cannes is to see St Paul de Vence within 4 hours. IF (and only if) there's enough time then we would like to see Antibes, Grasse and a little of Cannes proper (particularly the Film Festival area). Since we only have 4 hours, I thought spending time in Cannes proper is a waste of time. We can do Cannes proper on our own as well as Antibes or Grasse since they're easy to do. St Paul de Vence is where we need private transportation.

Michel's skills in written English is a bit abrupt and lacks the usual business etiquette that we're used to. In other words, he comes off a bit rude. At one point, we had a misunderstanding and he wrote back to me in shouty capital letters. I try and brush it aside because he really has one of the best prices, he had good reviews online and most of the other guides I've contacted were already booked. So attribute his attitude to just being "French" , cultural and language differences.

On the day of our tour, August 21, he was waiting for us as the dock bright and early. We got off our tender 15 minutes early than our scheduled time yet he was already there waiting for us. My husband couldn't join us for the tour because his back pain is acting up so it was just my little girls and my MIL and her sister (both in their mid 70s).

Michel was very nice and chatty and took us first to a look out point to take pictures and then to Antibes. At this point, I was a bit confused as I thought I explained to him that our priority was to see St Paul de Vence and we only like to see other places after we've gotten enough of St Paul. But I decided to just go with the flow since he's the professional. During the tour, he seemed pleasant for the most part but was easily annoyed. One time, when I confirmed with him our meeting point at Antibes he said to me in an irate tone, "didn't I just explain to you just now?"

After Antibes, we were finally headed to St Paul de Vence. We've spent almost 2 hours of our 4 hour tour already. On our way to St Paul, we encountered some traffic (bumper to bumper) and a car tried to cut off Michel's van. We didn't get into an accident but it was close. Michel started to cuss and scream at the other driver. Then as if that wasn't enough, he got off the van and started hitting the driver's door violently while continually screaming and cursing. Then he tried opening the driver's door but thankfully, it was locked. He then made punching motions to the other driver like he wants a boxing match right there and there.

To say that my family were shocked and scared at his behaviour was an understatement. I've lived all over the world and never had I seen this kind of reaction anywhere from a simple traffic violation. We were all females in the car. What we're witnessing was mind boggling.

After his altercation with the other driver that lasted close to 5 minutes and only ended because the traffic cleared enough to for the other other to drive away. Michel got back inside the van, smiled at us pleasantly and tried to apologize for his insane behaviour. He said, " I hope you don't think that I'm a bad person but that driver cut me!". He's Mr Jekyll and Hyde, it seems.

Going to St Paul de Vence was anticlimactic. He took us around this beautiful town that we would have loved to peruse more thoroughly. We had less than 2 hours left to get back to the ship. We were hungry by the time we got to St Paul but we had to rush our lunch. Michel took us to a small shop that sold sandwiches that didn't have a place to sit down. So we hurriedly ate our sandwiches and tried to walk and see us much as we can. The seniors can't walk very fast so everything had to done very slowly. It would be nice see the shops and galleries more.

Anyway, Michel got us back to the ship within 4 hours exactly. He had a credit card machine so I didn't have to pay in cash like in Italy. He also didn't expect to any tip or alluded to an extra tip like our experience with some Italian guides.

Without his flare up, at would've given him a grade of C+ or B-. It was a good tour but I wanted more of St Paul de Vence as I had explained in my email. He just took it upon himself to take us to Antibes and the look out point first. I wanted those sites to be optional after St Paul.

With the flare up, his grade has gone down to F or D at best. I wish my girls didn't have to witness such violent behaviour.

Now, you will have to do a land trip to the SOF with some quaility time in St.Paul. It really is to bad you didn't get to. Anitbes is great for wandering,but S.P even better. Thanx for your posting.

Is Michel a young dark haired guy?

Is Michel a young dark haired guy?

Hi,

Michel is dark haired but not young, probably in his late 40s or 50s. You can find his picture on his website: http://frenchrivierasightseeing-tourguide.com

As I've said above, he is a little psycho and prone to violence. So be careful.

:)

Thanks for the warning and the link. I'll be sure not to book with him.