La Grande France - From Icons to Hidden Gems

Of all the escorted tours I’ve enjoyed around the globe, Albatross’ Grand Tour of France - the La Grande France adventure - ranks among the very best. While it boasts many of the world-renowned highlights of this magnificent country - think: the amazing chateaus of the Loire Valley, the chic resorts of the Cote d’Azur, the vineyards of Bordeaux - the itinerary also includes gems that are relatively unknown outside of France. And, believe me, it’s these hidden treasures that will jostle with the big names when you reflect on the memorable moments of this unforgettable trip, which I still often find myself daydreaming about.

LA ROQUE-GAGEAC

Picture the scene. It’s a warm, sleepy afternoon, birdsong trills the air and you’re gliding serenely aboard a barge - called a gabare - on the Dordogne River. Lining the banks are lushly-vegetated trees and sheer honey-toned limestone cliffs that backdrop one of Les Plus Beaux Villages de France (The Most Beautiful Villages of France).

This is La Roque-Gageac, a highlight of any Dordogne Valley tour, which was once a bustling river port and today delights with its fairytale buildings and easy-going boat rides. Several of the village’s centuries-old houses contain cafes and restaurants, where you can break for a leisurely lunch - perhaps enjoying Dordogne duck specialities like foie gras and confit de canard with a glass of wine from nearby Bergerac. There are also little family-run shops where you can buy delicious, freshly-made baguette sandwiches to take away and munch by the river while savouring La Roque-Gageac’s stunning setting.

LES BAUX-DE-PROVENCE

From graceful Parisian boulevards to briny Atlantic fishing villages, pine-cloaked mountains to chocolate-box-pretty coastal towns, this tour really flaunts France’s diverse scenery. But some of the most captivating moments happen underground - and we’re not just referring to the guided tour showcasing the incredible Paleolithic paintings of the Lascaux Caves, one of the UNESCO World Heritage sites on this trip. Also stirring your senses in the darkness are the dazzling, super-sized artworks illuminating the vast walls of Carrières des Lumières - or “Quarries of Light” - a high-tech attraction projecting pieces by acclaimed artists like Claude Monet and Pablo Picasso.

It’s a true Provence tour highlight, dug into the old stone quarries beneath Les Baux-de-Provence, an ancient hilltop village where you’ll have free time to eat, drink and wander. At the village’s summit, there’s a ruined fortress where you can glean sweeping views of the Provencal countryside and its gorges, peaks, woods, wineries and olive groves.

MILLAU VIADUCT

Expect your jaws to drop at a string of engineering marvels from different civilisations on this South of France tour, not least the ancient Roman amphitheatre of Nimes and the equally sensational (and slightly older) aqueduct known as the Pont du Gard. But France doesn’t rest on its laurels and another extraordinary man-made sight on the itinerary is from the 21st century.

Taller than the Eiffel Tower, the Millau Viaduct is Europe’s tallest bridge, carrying traffic 343 metres above the Tarn Valley. Stretching nearly 2.5km, this cable-stayed, steel-and-concrete jewel was masterminded by British architect Sir Norman Foster and French structural engineer Michel Virlogeux. You will be driven across - and below - the viaduct and will also get to appreciate its scale and design from other perspectives, including from an elevated platform above the neighbouring visitor centre and from nearby Millau, an attractive market town (and lunch stop) nestled by the Tarn River.

AIGUES-MORTES

Keep your eyes peeled for pink flamingos as your coach approaches this atmospheric walled town set by the Camargue region, a slice of natural beauty on France’s Mediterranean coast. While you’ll definitely see these vibrant wading birds depicted on arts and crafts in the town’s gift stores, you have a good chance of glimpsing them for real in the salt marshes, canals and lagoons fringing Aigues-Mortes.

This town emerged as a key harbour in the early Middle Ages when salt was a precious commodity, prized by monks, seafarers and kings alike. Proceeds from the trade helped fund the town’s development, not least the 1.5km-long defensive fortifications that still loom impressively. After a walk on these sturdy walls, gazing over the coast, brushed by the salty breeze, you may fancy browsing Aigues-Mortes’ cute shops before an al fresco coffee in the town’s pretty, tree-shaded central square.

PÉZENAS

Located between Carcassonne and Nimes - two of the most enthralling old cities on the itinerary - Pézenas is a postcard-perfect place that is nevertheless absent from many of the popular France guidebooks. That’s good news for you, as this unsung, uncrowded town is your base for two nights in the Languedoc region of southern France. It is one of those true hidden gems of France that makes this itinerary so special.

Like the splendid Sarlat-la-Canéda - where the tour stays in the Dordogne region - Pézenas boasts one of the country’s best-preserved historic quarters.

Bourgeois mansions, built between the 16th and 18th centuries, flank the quaint lanes and squares, where you’ll find alluring spots for souvenir-shopping, boulangerie pastries, patisserie cakes and sit-down, wine-fuelled bistro meals. Pézenas is also a springboard for tour outings to the caves of Roquefort - where you’ll sample the famously flavoursome cheeses - and La Couvertoirade, another of Les Plus Beaux Villages de France, a place that looks and feels so medieval that you half-expect to encounter chivalrous knights and fair maidens in the winding cobbled alleys.

La Grande France - From Icons to Hidden Gems