Bonjour !
I realise we are bombarding you at the moment, but so much is happening....
HERE IS SOMETHING EXCITING TO OCCUPY YOU THIS WEEKEND!!
Our latest website update is ready! Go to www.toujoursfrance.com.au and spend a glorious hour or two planning your trip to France in 2010!
I would like to draw your attention to some very important highlights of next year's program....
Firstly, we have been inundated with inquiries about barge cruising in 2010. As you know, our barge program exclusively uses European Waterways barges. European Waterways have increased their prices for 2010, by approximately 10%, and therefore we have had to increase our prices accordingly (you will see that many of our other tour prices have stayed the same as in 2009). However, due to our agreement with EW we can avoid this increase if we pay in full for any cabins in 2010 by the end of AUGUST 2009.
This applies to any of our tours that incorporate a barge cruise AND any bookings on individual barge cruise departures. Yes, it is early to pay in full, but in the current climate this is a great deal and you are of course still protected by cancellation terms & conditions (please ask us and we can advise these). It is well worth while, if you are keen to join us on either "Spectacular South West & Barging through Burgundy", "Scenic Southern France" or to book a cabin on any one of European Waterways' weekly departures, to take advantage of this offer!! in some cases this is a saving of up to $1500 per person - definitely worth while.
Secondly, our first two "Magnificent Italy & France" tours, which are our wonderful itineraries in collaboration with Si Italy Tours, sold out within four days. These two departures are in September 2010. We have decided to offer a third tour departure, in JUNE 2010. Please let us know if you are interested and we will send you the detailed tour itinerary - if the others are an indication, this will be very popular and sell out fast. The detailed itinerary is on the website, but please note that though the dates are correct on the main page (June 5th - 20th), the dates on the detailed itinerary are still to be changed for this departure. All you need to do, however (until Monday, when it will be updated!) is substitute these tour dates - the days of the week are the same and the itinerary will be identical. Please note that on this tour (as it has a barge component)
the 2009 price was built in, so there is no discount available on this one.
Thirdly - please come back and look at our photo gallery in a few days - as I will be updating this personally with some beautiful new images from this year's tours!!
And stay tuned, as we are still working on several new tours - Ian Parmenter's tours for 2010; AND
the as-yet-to-be-more suitably titled "Mother/Daughter" tours - an opportunity for girls from school years 10 - 12 to experience a fantastic program of French language, history and culture, while Mums have a great holiday too and share an unforgettable experience with their girls. We are also going to be offering custom-made "Girls' Getaways" tours - for groups of friends to see France as they wish to see it - design your own itinerary as a group, including your interests, hotel types and tour inclusions - and we will do the rest!
AND finally, though our "Specials Page" is the only page that has not been updated, I would like to let you know exclusively in advance about our current standard specials:
Like most companies, we like to encourage early bookings by offering "Earlybird" specials - this year we will be offering an 8% discount on selected tours. if you would like to book and pay in full by end September 2009, and a second round of specials of 5% discount if you would like to book and pay by end November. Please note these will not be extended, these dates are set - due to our agreements with our French suppliers. PLEASE ASK US WHICH TOURS THESE EARLYBIRD SPECIALS WILL APPLY TO!
SEVERAL OF OUR TOURS ARE ALREADY HALF FULL - IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN "SPECTACULAR SOUTH WEST & BARGING THROUGH BURGUNDY", "SCENIC SOUTHERN FRANCE", "BATTLEFIELDS OF THE SOMME & BELGIUM" (ANZAC DAY TOUR - APRIL), OR "FLAVOURS OF PROVENCE" (JUNE DEPARTURE) PLEASE LET US KNOW AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. OUR THREE STAR "ENCHANTING PARIS" AND "PROVENCE & THE COTE D'AZUR" TOURS HAVE ALSO STARTED FILLING.
Also, we have a very special last minute offer on a barge cruise on "La Belle Epoque" in Burgundy - one cabin only - departing September 13th, 2009. The normal price for this cruise is $4500 per person, but we are able to offer 30% off, meaning a price of $3150 per person!! Again this is a fabulous deal but absolutely a one-off as it is our last available cabin for the season. So if you are travelling at this time and would like to take advantage of this, or know someone who might, please apply to us as soon as possible. This is wonderful value for a 6 night cruise that includes all accommodation, food, drinks including wine and spirits, excursions and entries, and transfers to and from Paris!
TO THOSE OF YOU WHO REQUESTED A COPY OF OUR BROCHURE BY MAIL, PLEASE NOTE THAT WE HAVE JUST COMPLETED OUR MAILOUT AND YOU SHOULD RECEIVE IT EARLY NEXT WEEK.
As always, we are very excited about our 2010 program - and judging by the amount of inquiries and bookings already received , will be an exceptional year, welcoming new guests as well as many repeat travellers. We look forward to welcoming you on a tour in 2009!!
Kind regards,
Sue Heine
Tour Manager
