A sample menu to whet your appetite!

• Tuna Carpaccio on Toast with Parmesan
  _______
  
  Comte Cheese Souffle on Arugula,
  Sweet & Sour Sauce
  _______
  
  Baby Lamb on the Bone, Rosemary Butter and Stuffed Provencal Vegetables,
  Pomerol Wine Sauce
  _______
  
  Cheeses
  Brie de Meaux, Munster d’Alsace,
  Saint Marcellin, Aged Fourme d’Ambert,
  Crottins de Chavignol
  _______
  
  Peach Pie façon Tatin, Cointreau Ice Cream
  _______
  
  Sweets and Chocolates and Pralines,
  a speciality from Montargis

Highlights of a
Week in the Upper Loire

The Upper Loire and Canal de Briare are situated 100 km South of Paris. The canal joins the Seine River to the Loire River and crosses Burgundy to join the Loire. Hilly countryside, beautiful forests and picturesque villages. This region is known as "the Garden of France".

• Montargis, the "little Venice"
• Gien on the Loire River with its fabulous hunting museum and Gien ceramic museum and factory store
• Eiffel aqueduct over the Loire River
• Wine village of Sancerre
• Beautifully furnished chateaux
  

The Upper Loire

from Montargis to Chatillon-sur-Loire

We meet at your hotel in Paris and travel by private motor coach to Montargis, where you will board La Bonne Amie for a welcome reception with Champagne & petits fours, followed by a short cruise before dinner.

Monday
Cruise from Amilly to Montbouy, an old Gallo Roman site. 
A choice of excursions:

• Chateau de Fontainebleau, famous palace where the French Kings hunted
• The villages of Barbizon and Moret-sur-Loing, where Impressionists once lived and took their inspiration
• Montargis, known as "the Little Venice." Shopping and visit of the Girodet Art museum
• Golf de Fontainebleau or Golf de Vaugouard

Tuesday
Cruise to Chatillon Coligny and its XII century Chateau, built by the Count of Sancerre. 
A choice of excursions:

• Arboretum des Barres, beautiful park featuring 10,000 specimens of trees
• Forest Jump - an exciting sportive outing, walking above the ground from tree to tree
• Gien and its famous faience or ceramic pottery museum & factory shop
• Gien International Hunting museum situated in the Chateau overlooking the Loire with its incredibly rich collection
• Chateau de Sully sur Loire, a medieval fortress, beautiful example of military art
• Golf de Vaugouard or Golf de Sully

Wednesday
Cruise to Rogny and moor at the foot of a 7 locks staircase, built in 1604, an impressive engineering monument of the past, replaced by 6 automatic locks.
A choice of excursions:

• Magnificent Chateau St Fargeau with its extraordinary history, beautiful park and 19th century working farm
• Guedelon, an incredible project back in time, a site where workers dress in the garb of the 12th century, are building a medieval fortress with materials and tools of the times
• Le Jardin du Parfumeur, a private mansion with a beautiful flower garden. Private visit of the estate with a perfume creator

Thursday
Cruise to Ouzouer sur Trezee
A choice of excursions:

• Chateau La Bussiere, privately owned by a Countess, fully furnished and dedicated to the fishermen, surrounded by a lake, a moat, a park, a farm and a romantic 18th century vegetable garden, the pride of the Countess
• Briare, a picturesque town along the Loire River, its Romano-Byzantine mosaic church and its enamel porcelaine buttons museum which made the town famous
• Golf de Sancerre or Golf de Sully

Friday
Cruise to Chatillon sur Loire, crossing the Loire River over the majestic Pont-Canal aquaduct built by Eiffel. This is one of the highlights of your cruise.
A choice of excursions:

• Shopping with the Chef at the local open market of Briare
• Extensive visit of a winery at Chavignol, and wine tasting of the famous Sancerre and Pouilly Fume, Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir, followed by the visit of the medieval village of Sancerre and its antics shops. Panoramic view of the vineyards and the Loire
• Visit a goat cheese farm, the famous Crotin de Chavignol, and choose your own cheeses for dinner
• Golf de Sancerre

Saturday
After Breakfast, transfer to your hotel in Paris.

Please note that on alternate weeks the route of travel is reversed.