PRE OPTIONS
4 Night Bordeaux Pre-Trip: September 1-5, 2012
$3,950 per person, based on double occupancy
September 1-3 | Chateau Grand Barrail, St. Emilion
Next to the famous wine producing châteaux of Saint-Emilion, and close to the Medieval City, stands the imposing architecture of the only 19th Century Château Hotel of the Bordelais right bank: the Grand Barrail Hotel Restaurant & Spa.
Surrounded by a park of 3 acres, the Hotel Grand Barrail has 41 rooms and 5 suites spread among four buildings: the Château, the Residence, the Maison du Bien-Être and the Maison du Vignoble.
September 3-5 | Les Sources de Caudalie
Les Sources de Caudalie, located among the vineyards of Château Smith Haut Lafitte, a Graves great growth, was established in 1999. The concept behind Les Sources de Caudalie is inspired by the "French Paradox," discovered over 20 years ago. It refers to a study proving that the French diet and lifestyle, particularly in Southwest France, is conducive to good health.
Between vineyards and forests, at only 20 minutes from Bordeaux center, the architect Yves Collet created from scratch contemporary buildings from recycled local materials in tune with the surroundings.
POST OPTIONS
Barcelona Post-Trip: September 15-18, 2012
$2950 per person based on double occupancy
Program includes three nights deluxe room accommodation at the Mandarin Oriental Barcelona with breakfast; meals and sightseeing activities per itinerary, including a Full day Highlights of Barcelona Tour; Modernist Barcelona and Gaudí Architecture Tour and Barcelona Gourmet Walking Tour and Paella Lunch with noted ffood writer Jeff Koehler.
Founded by the Romans, Barcelona is a beautiful Mediterranean city that offers an impressive number of Gothic, Romanesque, Modernist and contemporary monuments. Particularly renowned are architectural works by Antoni Gaudí and Lluís Domènech that have been designated by UNESCO as “World Heritage Sites.” A cosmopolitan city with a manageable size of approximately 1.7 million inhabitants, delightful to walk through the beautiful and vibrant Barcelona streets enjoying their friendly atmosphere and the excellent Mediterranean weather.
ITINERARY
Saturday September 15 [B]
Madrid to Barcelona
Breakfast at the hotel and check out
10 AM Group transfer to airport
Take domestic flight Madrid – Barcelona IB # 6764 (Coach class tickets included) which departs Madrid at 12:15 PM and arrives into Barcelona at 1:25 PM
Your host will be waiting for you at arrival hall with a signboard reading "GCCC Group" for your private transfer to the hotel.
Check-In at Mandarin with the remainder of the day at leisure.
Sunday September 16 [B]
Highlights of Barcelona Tour
Breakfast at the hotel
9:30 AM - 5:30 PM Full day Highlights of Barcelona Tour
Enjoy a walking tour with your local expert guide to visit the old areas of Barcelona historical centre. Meet your guide at the lobby of the hotel.
Barcelona’s ancient city centre, which during the Roman Empire was surrounded by walls, makes up what today is known as the Gothic quarter. In its narrow streets, quiet squares and attractive corners a great number
of Gothic buildings, both civil and religious is to be found. The cathedral started to be built in Romanesque style and was finally completed during the Gothic period.
You will also visit Barcelona´s former major synagogue and the Picasso Museum, which displays the most important and exhaustive collection of the works of art from Pablo Picasso's youth and learning period.* The Picasso Museum is closed on Mondays.
Continue to El Born, a fashionable district in Barcelona and very authentic. Violin makers, glass-makers and designers, retired people playing cards as well as young people make up a very unique atmosphere.
Also visit el Raval quarter, one of the most bohemian areas of Barcelona.
Break for lunch on your own, and then continue with your guide to tour Modernist Barcelona and Gaudí Architecture
Enjoy the beauty of the Eixample while learning about Catalan Modernism that flourished between 1888 and 1906. Modernism is one of the principal attractions of Barcelona, to the extent that UNESCO has recognized many of the city’s modernist buildings as World Heritage sites. You will visit the Casa Milá (La Pedrera) located on the beautiful Paseo de Gracia, the Güell Park, the Sagrada Familia Church, considered Gaudí’s masterpiece and also Gaudi’s constructions at the entrance of the Güell Park.
Return to your hotel with dinner and the remainder of the evening on your own.
Monday September 17 [B,L]
Barcelona - Gourmet Walking Tour and Paella Lunch
Breakfast at the hotel
10 AM - 4 PM Barcelona Gourmet Walking Tour and Paella Lunch
Meet your guide, Jeff Koehler, in the lobby of your hotel. Jeff is an award-winning food writer, cookbook author and longtime Barcelona resident who has written for Food & Wine, Gourmet, Saveur, Virtuoso Life, Washington Post and Los Angeles Times.
His books include La Paella: Deliciously Authentic Rice Dishes from Spain’s Mediterranean Coast (selected by the New York Times as one of the 2006’s best cookbooks) and the recent Rice Pasta Couscous: The Heart of the Mediterranean Kitchen. He is currently working on The Country Cooking of Spain, a large volume that is part of Chronicle Books’ prestigious “country cooking” collection.
Barcelona is a gourmets paradise. From La Boqueria market – Europe’s best covered food market – to the numerous small specialized shops sprinkled around the dense old city.
While you walk, you will discover not only some of Spain’s best products but also learn why they are so special. (You will also be advised about purchased you may wish to take back home.) And as you walk from Las Ramblas, through the Barrio Gotico, to El Born you will see, on the way, some of the most historic corners of Barcelona.
For example, in Oro Líquido, a specialized olive oil shop which sells oil from more than 100 different producers, you will learn about the different varieties and blends of oil. A few doors down in Caelum, a shop that sells only products from several monasteries and convents around the country, you will find some of Spain’s most exquisite, traditional pastries.
At Casa Gispert, nut roasters since 1851, you can taste some exquisite hazelnuts and marcona almonds that have been freshly roasted in the shop’s wood fire, according to methods unchanged for a century and a half. The same at La Ribera, a shop filled with salt cod and tins of preserved seafood.
Your tour finishes over lunch with Jeff at one of the few places in Barcelona that serves genuine and truly good paella. Over a long, unrushed meal in a place unknown to tourists, learn the history of paella, its role in Spanish culture, and Jeff's recommendations for preparing it.
Remainder of afternoon is at leisure to explore Barcelona on your own
Tuesday September 18 [B]
Depart Barcelona
Breakfast at the hotel
Check out and meet your driver at the main entrance of the hotel abd transfer from the hotel to airport for your departing flight. Pick up from the hotel will be 2 - 3 hours prior to flight departure time.
The Mandarin Oriental, Barcelona
This new luxury hotel is situated in an elegant mid 20th century building on the city’s famous Passeig de Gràcia, near the Casa Batlló by Gaudi with its fabulous façade.
Interiors are by one of Spain’s leading designers, Patricia Urquiola; the results are enduring modern designs which incorporate subtle reflections of the hotel’s luxurious, Oriental heritage.
Views are either over Barcelona’s most stylish boulevard, Passeig de Gràcia or the landscaped interior garden. A number of guestrooms have a balcony or terrace, from where you can admire the surrounding modernist façades.
Rooms are Deluxe, if you would like to upgrade please inquire for availability and rates.
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