Featured Special

Provence Vineyards and Lavender Cycling: Now is the season! Until the end of July you can find Lavender in the fields which gives the countryside a fantastic color and beauty. Add yellow for sunflowers and green for vineyards as well as the scent of lavender in the air and you have the best of Provence! This tour includes very charming hotels throughout and visits some very scenic sites well off the beaten tourist trails of the nearby Luberon. FREE cycling jersey per person for each booking on this tour made by July 15, no modifications, but as shown at

http://www.discoverfrance.com/regions/provence_cycling_tour_sgp13.html

Some of the famous and important sites on this trip include: Avignon, Chateauneuf du Pape, Orange, La Garde Adhemar, Grignan, Vaison La Romaine, and Bedoin/Mont Ventoux . Full tour details at this link.

In the Spotlight

Sarlat and the Dordogne: for cycling or hiking, a gastronomic and prehistory delight !

Sarlat is a key city on both of our cycling and hiking tours in Dordogne area. In fact, Sarlat is the capital of the Black Perigord, and the Perigord is famous for its goose and ducks: foie gras, pate, confit de canard, magret de canard, and many more delicacies! One simply must walk the old town and its alleys, if people were dressed in ancient costume you would think you had traveled time!

Because modern history has largely passed it by, Sarlat has remained preserved and one of the most representative of 14th century France. It owes its current status to France's Tentative List for future nomination as a UNESCO World Heritage site to the enthusiasm of writer, resistance fighter and politician Andr é Malraux, who, as Minister of Culture (1960-1969), restored the town and many other sites of historic significance throughout France. The centre of the old town consists of impeccably restored stone buildings and is largely car-free. (wikipedia)

The cycling and hiking explore the other famous aspect of this area as well: prehistory! Some of the most imporant grottos anywhere are found in the region: Lascaux, Font de Gaume and many smaller. La Roque Gageac and St Christophe and other cliff dwellings can be visited. See full tour details here... and for hiking this link..

What's New

Our challenging cycling tours in the Alpes have expanded! We offer a variety of tour possibilities in the Alpes to hit the major peaks! What, with the Tour de France set to begin in a couple weeks, you too can realize what these giants require - day after day! Note, these tours are for very strong cyclists who seek a challenge - almost no relief for flat riding is possible!. Ventoux to Alpe d'Huez, Gap to Alpe d'Huez, Alpe d'Huez and the region are shown in detail at this link. Full details here...

PURE News

Tour de France starts on July 7 in London! Who and what will it be this year? With all the doping scandals grabbing the headlines so far, lets hope for a real race all the way to the finish! See the new website of Le Tour and the complete maps, routes, and interactivity at www.letour.fr

Beaches - the Blue Flag: This label is awarded to beaches and marinas in the 36 European countries participating in the program. The objective is to help develop the economies of the dynamic communities that are successful in their efforts to develop environmental protection and sustainable tourism.

The label is based on conformity to a series of specific criteria in four main areas:

• Water quality
  
• Environmental education and information
  
• Environmental management
  
• Safety and other services

If you are going to a beach this summer, you can see the list of BLUE beaches at www.visiteurope.com

European Discount Airlines: getting around Europe couldn't be easier, in theory, than with all the new discounters available! Note the "in theory" part. There are many encumbrances with these carriers that sometimes are best left for the train. Or, you may even find some traditional airlines, such as Austrian or Swiss Air, that are very competitive with the discounter prices. Sometimes though you have to look at round trip tickets, even if only going one way in order to get the best fare. See one of our recent blog entries about London as a transit center - not a good idea! Cycling & Hiking Blog

Go Local!

In the department of France called La Drome one can find some of the best there is to know about France. Many people could never find this area on a map, not even some French, but it couldn't be more easy and more overlooked! For example the Drome Provencale borders the Vaucluse in Provence and is everything that the Vaucluse is, except extremely touristy! Currently in June, this part of the Drome is bursting in color: lavender, coquelicot, grape vines, cherry trees, apricot trees, mirabelle (plum), and much, much more! Local markets sell this local produce and if you haven't tasted local produce lately you may be surprised how good the natural taste of a product as simple as a strawberry can be! YES, this is the same department we travel in on the featured Provence tour above on this page! Key cities: Grignan, St Paul les Trois Chateaux, Suze la Rousse.

Self Guided Travel Tips

Reading a map - what could be easier?! Well, this part of self-guided touring is always subjective and up to the person using the map! If you aren't good with maps, you may struggle with directions. It is easy though, its always important to orient your map in the way you currently view your position. You can then determine when you should be going left or right or straight, or you can find landmarks to guide by. On some tours now we include GPS which takes all the guesswork (and some would say adventure) out of map reading! Progress!!

Events

Major upcoming events that can impact your travel plans in France include:

Festival of Avignon - July 6-27; www.festival-avignon.com

Jul 15, 2007 - Jul 31, 2007
Santiago de Compostela (Galicia)
The fiestas in honor of the patron saint of Spain and Galicia reach their climax during the so-called 'Fire of the Saint' the Offering to the Saint and the Cathedral's Incense Burner ceremony.

Tuscany: Some of the big events in the coming 2 months include the following music festivals: Maggio Musicale Fiorentino which is actually underway through June. In July and August in Siena it is the Estate Musicale Chigiana.
www.maggiofiorentino.com
www.chigiana.it

Survey

no survey this month; results from past surveys include:

Newsletter content: areas of interest

cycling tours: 47%
both cycling and hiking: 33%
hiking tours: 6%
multisport: 14%

Top destinations of interest:

France: 80%, Italy 73%, Holland/Belgium 40%, Spain 33% and mid 20% for all other countries.