Divinity Tour of France: Paris, Lisieux, and Lourdes

We had an absolutely exceptional experience with Zicasso and the travel company. During the planning, our travel specialist was superb and helped me design a meaningful pilgrimage to Lourdes and a day in the Pyrenees. Once we moved to detailed planning, our travel specialist was amazing in his attention to detail. He then went above and beyond to help us work with the airport and the airline when our luggage was temporarily lost. I highly recommend this travel company and will use them again in a heartbeat. Merci!!!!

The trip was perfect from start to finish. Our travel specialist did an amazing job putting the tour together for us. All aspects surpassed our expectations. The hotels were beautiful, historic, and centrally located. The tours were exactly what we wanted and all the guides were exceptionally well prepared and knowledgeable.

We used a mix of private and small-group tours, which worked well and added to the experience. The transportation via TGV trains worked perfectly. This was our first time using Zicasso and we were thrilled with the results. It was truly a very memorable trip.

Overall, we had a wonderful experience. The people were friendly, the sights great, and the food was outstanding. The heat was challenging, especially in Paris. The jet lag also weighed on us the first week. We felt more energetic the second week. Your tour app was very easy to use and I liked having all the tickets there.

Both hotels were great. Especially having air conditioning in the heat. Really enjoyed the very personable staff at our hotel in Paris. Super-friendly all around. Would highly recommend our hotel in Paris. We had a great suite in Nice and everything was excellent at our hotel in Nice.

Paris and Nice were two different experiences - both great. Easy to get rides in Paris. Nice not so much. Greatly appreciated the arrangements you made to get us from airports to hotels to trains to hotels to airport. Removed a lot of stress. The people you arranged were all excellent.

The food was terrific. Really enjoyed your list to assist us. Having breakfast prearranged at the hotel was a great way to start the day. I did not appreciate the amount of time necessary to have lunch and dinner as it is the opposite of American quick eating.

Marie really enjoyed her French cooking class in Paris. The restaurant in Paris was an experience. Very good, but expensive. The restaurant in Paris was a great experience, but a little warm in the evening. We had two charming couples sit next to us that Friday evening: an English novelist and his daughter, and a couple from Australia who are involved in the Grand Prix racing business.

The hotel in Cannes treated us very well. Linda showed the staff pictures of her parents on their honeymoon there in September 1945. The staff presented my wife with a gift bag and we had an outstanding lunch there.

While you may not have viewed the pace of the travels as too busy, my wife thought it was busy, especially with long lunches and long dinners. Her pace at age 78 was much slower than Marie, who is 19 and does hiking.

My wife would have liked another day in Nice to go into the Monaco casino at night.

At Versailles and in the museums, Marie would separate from my wife and me, which caused my wife some anxiety (I ignored it as she is 19).

We did limited strolling in Paris because of the heat and because my wife’s legs got tired. She had more energy in Nice.

The Musée d’Orsay has one floor with Van Gogh, which is mobbed. The other floors were not terribly crowded. We should have started with the floor with Van Gogh. We really enjoyed the museum.

We enjoyed Versailles, but it was very hot that day and we were there in the heat of the afternoon. We did not see the outer buildings as we were whipped by the heat.

We really enjoyed Sainte-Chapelle and did not feel rushed.

We postponed the boat ride until 6:30 p.m. as it was so hot. Good that the tickets were flexible.

We saw the Eiffel Tower during the day and at night (with the dinner at the restaurant in Paris).

On the Sunday drive with our driver (he was charming) it was busy, yet afterward I felt maybe we did not allocate our time the best. Again, having no real appreciation for where we were going or the time to get from place to place, it is easier in hindsight to suggest adjustments. Part of this also was lack of alignment of my wishes, those of my wife and those of Marie.

All three of us agreed that the Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild & gardens was a highlight. We loved the lunch and desserts as well. We had plenty of time as well and a beautiful day to visit.

We enjoyed our visit to Cannes, as the hotel visit was very emotional for my wife and they treated us very well. The time went very fast. In hindsight, I and Marie would have liked the boat ride and snorkel from Cannes, but not enough time.

On Wednesday we took a taxi to the neighborhood of the Matisse Museum and nearby monastery and gardens, and then walked down to the Chagall Museum where we had a great lunch under the trees while the museum was closed for the lunch period.

Marie and I also enjoyed going to the top of Castle Hill behind our hotel and walking through the park. We went swimming in the sea twice. Also enjoyed the pool at the hotel.

Thank you for your services in arranging a great trip.

The tour guides were amazing — they gave us an unforgettable experience in Paris and the nearby areas.

The tours and travel you arranged were perfect! The tour guides were friendly and knowledgeable, and made the touring fun! I must also mention that we worked with Zicasso’s travel agent, who was so terrific! She was very responsive and made great suggestions, and made the trip of a lifetime for us!

We had an amazing time on our travels from Paris to the D-Day beaches of Normandy, Mont-Saint-Michel, Saint-Malo, and the Loire Valley. Our Zicasso travel specialist was an excellent communicator and adjusted quickly when the heat wave in Paris resulted in a couple of changes to our itinerary. We felt very well supported throughout our trip.