Spain and the South of France

Last updated 7/8/03

ITINERARY

Laurence Barker
Alan Cutler
Jay & Evelyn Rogers
Mary Rose Walls & Antoinette Acone-Pace
John & Linda Edmundson
Dan Rains & Cathy Gilbert
Julie & Ken Ortolon
Molly Cundari & Victor Carrillo
Ann & Richard Adams
Dale & Patsy Meyers
Ken & Joyce Kennamer
Rick Herold & Dale Matlock
Judy Parks & Jean Hays
EXTENSION
Laurence Barker
Evelyn Rogers & Joyce Kennamer
John & Linda Edmundson
Julie & Ken Ortolon
Molly Cundari & Victor Carrillo
Monday, June 2 Depart USA for Madrid on Continental Airlines. Depart San Antonio at 12:40 on #578, arrive Houston at 1:33. Depart Houston at 2:40 on #62, arrive Newark for change of equipment.
Tuesday, June 3 Arrive Madrid on Continental #62 at 9:25 a.m. Coach transfer to Hotel Moderno, 0034915310900. When your room is ready, shower, nap, get some lunch. Either meet in the lobby before 3:45 to walk to the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza or be at the museum at 4:00. (Alternative: take a taxi for about €4.00.) Use this museum to give you a rich overview of Western Art beginning with the 13th C. Italian all the way through to knock-your-socks-off modern. You start on the second floor and then follow the developments in art history as you move on down. The visit will take anywhere from one to three hours. [Note on museum entrances: If you know that you are going to go to all three of the museums, I will buy all of you who are under 65 a reduced admission ticket to the Thyssen, Prado and Reina Sofia museums. If you know you are going to give the Reina Sofia a miss (modern art), then I will buy you individual tickets for the Thyssen and Prado. If you are 65 or older, you get into the last two museums free, so I will only buy you into the Thyssen. Bring your passports.] Meet back in the hotel lobby at 8:00 to walk to the nearby Pazo de Gondomar Restaurante for dinner.
Wednesday, June 4 Today we do the Prado. Meet in the lobby at 9:00 to walk to the museum. Or take a cab. Be sure and bring along the ticket I gave you yesterday, or your passport to prove your age. Note: I lead people to museums, not through museums. Do some homework before to prepare for the experience. Meet in hotel lobby at 8:00 to walk to Casa Gallega for dinner.
Thursday, June 5 Today you can choose between a Madrid Vision "Hop on, hop off" bus ticket or a visit to the Royal Palace. Meet in hotel lobby at 7:30 to walk to Rincòn de Roque for Tapas. If you want a night on the town, this is a good time for it since we will be through with dinner fairly early.
Friday, June 6 9:00 a.m. coach transfer to Bilbao. With lunch and comfort stops along the way, we should arrive around 4:00 p.m. Upon arrival, check into Hotel Conde Duque, 0034 94 4456000. Dinner at the hotel restaurant at 7:30.
Saturday, June 7 Visit Guggenheim Museum at 10:00 a.m. Your ticket allows re-entry, so you can either have lunch at the museum, or hit a bar across the street and come back in. Dinner is at Restaurante Victor in the Plaza Nueva at 9:00 p.m. I recommend arriving at the Plaza early so you can watch the locals.
Sunday, June 8 Transfer to Biarritz by coach with a stop in Saint-Jean-De-Luz for shopping, lunch and poking around the resort town. After arrival in Biarritz, check into Hotel Plaza, (0033) (0) 5 59 24 74 00. 8:30 dinner at Restaurante Galion.
Monday, June 9 Free day to explore Biarritz. 8:30 dinner at L'Operne Restaurant.
Tuesday, June 10 9:00 a.m. coach transfer to Narbonne. With lunch and comfort stops along the way, we should arrive around 5:00 p.m. Upon arrival, check into Hotel Residence, (0033) (0) 4 68 32 19 41. Dinner at the Le Jardin du Narbonne.
Wednesday, June 11 Depart hotel at 8:50 to meet our guide at the Hotel de Ville at 9:00 for a two hour walking tour of Narbonne, including the horreum and the cathedral. After the tour I recommend going to the market and perhaps pick up a picnic lunch. Dinner at L'Estagnol.
Thursday, June 12 Coach transfer to Barcelona and the Hotel Royal, (0034) 933019400. Since this is a short drive, we will stop in Cerbere for lunch at Restaurant de la Plage. We should arrive in Barcelona around 4:00. Evening free.
Friday, June 13 For the next two days you will have a pass for a "hop on, hop off" Barcelona Bus Turìstic which will take you to all of Barcelona's attractions. 7:30 walk to dinner at La Gavina near the port.
Saturday, June 14 Continue exploring Barcelona with your two-day pass. 8:00 dinner at El Glop (lousy name, great food.)
Sunday, June 15 9:00 a.m. main tour returns to Madrid and the Hotel Moderno. With lunch and comfort stops along the way, you should arrive around 6:00 p.m. Dinner at Pazo de Gondomar Restaurante.
Monday, June 16 8:25 departure for airport transfer for return flight to USA on Continental #63 departing at 11:25 a.m. Or.
OPTION: Aix-les-bains & Verona
Sunday, June 15 Depart Barcelona Sants at 8:45, arrive Montpelier at 13:16. Change trains. Depart Montpelier at 13:35, arrive Lyon at 15:27. Change trains. Depart Lyon at 16:06, arrive Aix-les-bains. at 17:14. Very short walk to Park Hotel du Casino (0033) (0)4 79 34 19 19 Dinner at hotel.
Monday, June 16 Morning visit to Faure Museum, afternoon excursion by boat to Abbaye de Hautcombe. Dinner TBA.
Tuesday, June 17 Day free to explore the spa town. Excursions available, but you may just want to stay around and take advantage of the offerings of our hotel. Dinner TBA.
Wednesday, June 18 Depart Aix-les-bains at 8:15, arrive Milano at 12:45. Ken & Julie will leave us in Milano for overnight stay in the First Hotel (00390) (0) 331 71 70 45 in Malpensa and fly home tomorrow. The rest will continue on, departing Milano at 13:05 and arriving in Verona at 14:38. Transfer by taxi to the Hotel Accademia (00390) (0)45 596 222. Depart hotel at 6:50 to walk to Ponte Nuovo to meet our guide for a tour of osterias. Dinner at one of the osterias that we will visit.
Thursday, June 19 Informal city tour in the morning. Cooking class and dinner at I Signori Zoppi. Signore Zoppi will pick us up at Piazza Bra to take us to their villa in the hills of Verona, departing the hotel at 5:30.
Friday, June 20 Excursion to Valpantena & Valpollicella to visit cantinas. Visit to the ancient quarry where the Rosso Veronese marble was quarried from Roman times until just recently. Dinner (pizza and some of the wine that we purchased earlier) at my apartment while watching a video of Turandot.
Saturday, June 21 Free day. Dinner at the excellent hotel restaurant. Evening performance of Turandot.
Sunday, June 22 Checkout of hotel by 11:00 but leave bags with porter. My apartment will be available as a "crash pad." Dinner at Osteria Sgarzarie. Evening performance of Aida. Return to hotel to pick up luggage and departure for Milano Malpensa. Overnight in the First Hotel, Malpensa.
Monday, June 23 Return flight to USA.

Post tour discussion. . . .
Madrid: Great museums, definitely a repeat city for yet another BET tour. The MadridVision "Hop on, hop off" bus tour was infinitely better than the one in Barcelona. Of the three restaurants that we used, Casa Gallega was the best and charged accordingly. The Hotel Moderno was chosen for location, but it has received some stiff competition recently and as a consequence has been spiffed up a bit.
Bilbao: Any number of people said that modern art was not usually their major interest, but all enjoyed our visit to the Guggenheim Museum. I will definitely bring another group to Bilbao in the future as the Guggenheim has only a modest permanent collection and relies instead on an ever-changing display of temporary exhibits. The Hotel Conde Duque was conveniently located and the hotel restaurant was surprisingly good. Restaurante Victor was one of the high points of the tour.
Biarritz: I may look to using Saint Jean de Luz next time, though we all enjoyed Biarritz. Both restaurants were excellent.
Narbonne: Narbonne is still not quite a prime time tourist destination, but that might be part of the charm. The Hotel Residence is gradually refurbishing the rooms and is the only quality hotel in the central area. Both restaurants that we used can only be described as adequate.
Cerebere: One of the high points of the tour was swinging off of the main highway and going to the coast and stopping for an excellent lunch at the Restaurant de la Piage. The views along the coast rival Highway 1 in California and the Amalfi Coast in Italy.
Barcelona: Most all of us would return to Barcelona in a heartbeat. Both restaurants that we used were excellent. La Gavina is more formal and more expensive. El Glop is a chain (4 restaurants in Barcelona) that serves generous portions of excellent food at attractive prices. The only thing I will change in subsequent visits to Barcelona will be the Bus Turistic pass. I had excellent announcers when I visited in November. Not so this time as all of us complained about the skimpy info indifferently presented. There is a rival company that I may investigate for next time.
Aix-les-bains: The nine of us who stayed over to visit this charming spa town thoroughly enjoyed the experiences. We did visit the Faure Museum which was good for about a half hour. The high point was the excursion on the lake to the beautiful Abbaye de Hautcombe. On the second day we opted to take a guided tour of the old Roman Baths. Big time mistake. Our bilingual guide was a frustrated stand up comedian and thoroughly enjoyed having a captive audience. There was barely enough left of the Roman ruins to see, but that didn't keep him from stretching the tour into 90 minutes. It was so bad that it was funny and made the beer stop afterwards all the more enjoyable. If you are ever in A-L-B, definitely give this tour a miss. However, the town is relaxed, charming and beautiful.
Verona: An objective account of Verona is difficult for me since I live here. The Osteria tour was excellent. I learned a great deal about my adopted home town. Now that I know that the snacks they serve on the tour itself are bread, meat, and wine, I will ask for pasta and veggies for the dinner after the tour. I will definitely include the tour as well as the cooking class presented by Donatella Zoppi on subsequent visits to Verona. I will also repeat the excursion to the wine country in that the cantinas are different from anything in the US. Also, it was interesting to see where the marble came from that we have seen in any number of Italian cities on previous tours. I would have liked to have had more people experience the operas at the Arena, but the tickets are a bit expensive and the hotels charge high season rates and offer no group rates on the opera nights.