Discover France Announces 2010 Tour de France Tours

Discover France Adventures, official Tour Operator to the Tour de France, has now posted all of their tour offers for the 2010 race. The offers vary from VIP guided tours with full on insider access to media, the teams, and rides on the closed race course as well as podium access. At the other end of the offers are the self guided tours which give independent do-it-yourselfers excellent locations to see several stages of the 2010 Tour. Discover France is also offering what they call their "Domestique" tours - fully guided tours with excellent lodging and professional guides without the price tag of the VIP access.

If you are cyclists, how about riding a full stage of the Tour de France yourself? That is what Etape du Tour is all about and Discover France has packages to do just that.

The cycling isn't only for strong cyclists! Discover France also offers a VIP tour with moderate cycling distances that will suit perfectly for couples and persons who also want to take in more of the French culture and heritage. This trip starts in Aix en Provence on Bastille Day - what a great way to start!

For those who follow the Tour de France but don't have time to give to a complete cycling tour, there are the Paris only and Bordeaux+Paris offers available. These all include special Tribune seating for the final stage that finishes on the Champs Elysees in Paris. There is nothing like reserved seating for this stage as the streets surrounding are at least 10 people deep!

Custom requests are still being accepted. Numerous groups are organized already, so don't wait, hotel space is getting harder to have. Contact us by email to request a quote.

Good Vintage for Provence Wines in 2009

The famous Côtes de Provence wine is expected to be an excellent vintage wine in 2009


The AOC (protected designation of origin ) Côte de Provence grape harvests is noted by the experts as “excellent”, better than 2008.
Nevertheless, the first grapes showed a return in slightly less important juice than in 2008, those having received more “generous” rain.

For the moment, the harvested volumes seem comparable in 2008 so a decline of the volumes is waited but it should not exceed 5 %. Summer was very dry but winter was rainy enough to insure grapes growing.

Less bottle, better quality, lucky 2010 travelers in Provence should defectively try any AOC “Côtes de Provence”. You have 3 choices:

1) Rosé wines are a genuine symbol of Provence. The Côtes de Provence rosé wines are typified by a very bright, pale pink colour.

Fresh and exotic fruits dominate in their highly complex bouquet, alongsidefloral and spicy notes. Well-balanced and pleasantly zesty, combining freshness and smoothness, they are best served

at a temperature of 8 to 12°C.

2) Red wines. Depending on their origin, composition and the personal style of each grower, the Côtes de Provence reds may be suitable for drinking young or for ageing. They can be light and supple with notes of red berries or flowers, full-bodied and generous after maturing for several months in oak barrels or tanks, or require long ageing to develop a velvety texture and deep aromas.

They should be served at a temperature of 16 to 18°C.

3) Provence Whites - small production, but high quality...

Provence’s white wines are traditionally “blancs de blancs”, meaning white wines produced using white grapes. Their colour ranges from pale gold to green-tinted.

Offering a delicate balance of freshness and smoothness, they should be served at a temperature of 6 to 8°C.

Cheers!

Tom in our Languedoc office