Being Driven Around The French Riviera For A Day Is Pretty Awesome

Miss Expatria, Christine Cantera, is not a fan of tours - big or small. She set aside her reservations for a day and took a private-guided tour of the French Riviera with Kensington Tours. The verdict? "An absolutely fantastic day. We learned a lot, we covered a lot of ground, and we never once felt rushed or wrangled or herded in any way." Her France tour started in Nice, the day tour took her to the popular hill-top town of St-Paul-de-Vence, the charming and picturesque streets of Tourettes, outstanding views of the surrounding countryside in Gourdan and in Fragonard she got to make her own perfume! She traveled by the comfort of a roomy, air-conditioned minivan driven by Pierre - Kensington driver and guide - who stopped for picture-snapping opportunities and expertly handled those mountain-side curves. Here's what Christine noticed right away about Pierre:

1. "Although the tour hadn’t officially started yet – after all, we were just walking to the van – he kept dropping these cool little facts about Vieux Nice, our neighborhood".
2. "The way he did this was not stereotypically tour guide in style. He wasn’t walking backwards in front of us, or speaking loudly, or trying to instruct us. As is normal when five people are walking together through a busy market, we weren’t all together in a huddle; during our 10-minute walk, we were in varying combinations of two and three. Pierre was more like a super-knowledgeable friend than a tour guide, easily moving between us and imparting his knowledge conversationally. I really liked this. It felt natural".

And, here are Christine's final impressions on Kensington Tours: "I recommend Kensington without reservation. The team was great; they give you a dedicated web page for your tour(s) that you can refer to and send along to friends and family, and the tour itself was the perfect way to see and experience the region without feeling for a second like you’re schlepping." Click here to read more about Christine's private-guided Kensington Tours experience in the French Riviera.