Custom Travel To France

France is the most visited country in the world. Despite the reputation of its grumpy people, the hexagon-shaped country just keeps on hitting the highest score every year of the most visitors. However, its opponents, Spain and Italy, seem to be slowly making their way up and getting closer and closer each round.

The people at the French Ministry of Tourism, well aware of the situation, are definitely spending the big bucks to educate the nation on how to greet and treat tourists. Heck, to start with, we have a whole ministry dedicated to this, who even oversees branches in most countries to promote this wonderful land.

The government ensures continuous training of its travel industry soldiers by encouraging them to properly greet the visitors, like the campaign “Bonjour!” that was launched in 1994, and recently refreshed by the campaign “Bienvenue en France”, widely marketed to all concerned.

Another useful aspect of the ministry is to run surveys on traveling habits and attitudes of the foreign visitors. This is how I came to know that 36% of the entourage of American travelers speak negatively to them about France. 16% would not recommend the destination AT ALL.

Wow.

Ok. So I’ll admit it: we the French have a centuries-old tradition of complaining. Yes, we like to complain about the weather (it’s always too hot or too cold anyway), and we like our strikes. The people strike to complain, and the ones who don’t, complain about the ones who do. We are very much attached to our quality of life and our 35-hour work week, and seem to have no intention of compromising it, even if it means we will be the laughing stock of the rest of the world forever.

Once in a while, I have a surprised client who comes back from France feeling cheated of an experience for not having encountered a smelly taxi driver yelling at them in French. It’s as if the French were saving their social skills for special occasions, or for people who they ascertain are worth it. But I know for a fact that if you dig a little deeper, most of us not taxi drivers can actually be nice and funny and capable of leaving those dreary faces behind.

But has the French gone too far into maintaining their high standard of Complainers? With the Euro climbing through the roof these days, it seems that missing your hotel reservation because the railroad workers are on strike, or being snubbed by the crêpes vendor because you forgot to say “s’il vous plaît” , is just not cute anymore. Because traveling to Europe is more expensive than anywhere else right now, travelers are expecting courtesy, and they want their trip to run smoothly. They just want a nice time for their money’s worth. AND THEY SHOULD!

Which is exactly why the Italian and the Spanish are gaining points. Being naturally warmer people than the French, they are using their Latin charm to lure the tourists over to their borders.

So why on earth are 78 million people still packing their suitcases to happily go get bullied by rude Parisians? I personally can think of a million and one reasons, and here are a few of them:

• BECAUSE you enjoy getting a fresh baguette first thing in the morning and listen to the boulanger complain about the weather.
• BECAUSE a 5-course meal is not just reserved for Sundays.
• BECAUSE you like a good Pastis and a game of Belote with a bunch of strangers.
• BECAUSE each region is so culturally different that you will never be bored.
• BECAUSE visiting a prehistoric cave and a 12th century fortress can be done in the same day.
• BECAUSE you don’t have to choose between sea and mountain.
• BECAUSE most French cheeses are exclusively produced in their own regions so you won’t find them anywhere else.

And finally…

• BECAUSE where else are you going to participate in a French Kiss World Record event on Valentine’s Day? http://www.parisianevents.com/parisianparty/?p=565

Yes, for these charming reasons and many, many more, France is still sitting up high on its throne. Despite their quirks and eccentricities, the French can be lovable. Really.

By Celia Coene, BellaTerra Travel.

Last month, we participated in a seminar organized by the French Government’s Maison de la France in San Francisco. It attracted some 130 travel agents from the Bay Area who were there to learn more on how to sell France, to make contacts and have a drink. The whole BellaTerra family showed up: Beth, John, Laurent and myself.

Different kinds of associations and companies were represented amongst the stands. Several American tour operators had a table, such as RailEurope and European Tours. Some Regional Tourist Offices also made the trip all the way from France to proudly advertise their French region. I got to chat with my friend Penelope Vinter, the Sales Manager representing the Burgundy region, who helps me negotiate new contracts within this beautiful area soon-to-be featured on our site.

It was the opportunity for me to not only meet a bunch of travel agents ecstatic about our products, I also discovered new boutique Parisians hotels that I believe our clientèle will love, such as Le Chat Noir, a brand new design hotel located near the Moulin Rouge cabaret.

It was an exciting opportunity for us, and I must proudly say, a huge success. Our table was crowded the whole time, we distributed all our brochures and goodies and got a wonderful payback after that. It’s not easy trying to get our name out there, but the word is definitely out and despite the Euro not being on our side, we are growing healthier and stronger every day, and building wonderful, and hopefully lasting relationships with dedicated travel agents.

As I sit here in the Boston Logan airport at 7 in the morning, I am trying to grasp the amazing 2 days it has been for BellaTerra.

I was attending the French Affairs conference in Cambridge, MA, organized by Maison de la France which, for those who don’t know, is the company ran by the French Minister of Tourism in charge of promoting France as a desination worldwide, kind of like an humongous tourist office. (see their website)

The conference’s goal was to enable American Tour Operators and French incoming services to meet and do business. A big gala dinner was planned as well as an award ceremony, rewarding tour operators for their diverse skills and accomplishments.

All the big ones were there: Air France Holidays, Tauck tours, Trafalgar, Travel Impressions, and many, many more. A total of about 400 were represented, and me, proudly representing BellaTerra Travel, which let’s face it didn’t ring that much of a bell to a lot of people. Maybe you can see what I am getting at by now, but imagine my surprise when the speaker announced the 4 nominees of the Best Website Award and pronounced the name of my beloved little company amongst 3 giant ones!

Ok, you had to be there to get the feeling. But seeing BellaTerra Travel written on a giant screen in front of hundreds of formally dressed competitors was the most amazing feeling of accomplishment, and not to mention astonishment. By the time they announced the winner, Air France Holidays, I had already been shipped on a one-way ticket to cloud 9 and no way that not getting the prize was going to get me down from up there. I was so proud that our baby (yes, still talking about BT) along with 3 years of really hard work had been recognized by such a prestigious organization as Maison de la France.

It was an awesome evening. I felt asleep that night with a big smile on my face and my heart filled with pride, not knowing that the next day was going to be a continuation of all that good stuff…

The second day of the conference started with an interesting discussion group about demographics analysis and travel behavior of the baby boomers. That was followed by a nice lunch and a trade show allowing us to talk one on one with the French Providers.

I later checked my emails, which is when I was in for another big surprise: ModernAgent, a daily newsletter publication distributed to travel agents around the country had published an article about us, announcing the release of our Alpine Winter Ski Package! That was huge news, as not only this is a widely read publication, but it was also our first exposure in the press! I was overjoyed.

The wonderfulness kept pouring in, as I later received within an hour 2 requests of travel to France, one for a family of 9, and the second for a group of 20.

These 2 days have really been fantastic. The whole team is really proud, and wants to mainly thank Laurent (nicknamed Wawa for the easiness of the pronunciation) who created our wonderful website that retained the attention of the people at Maison de la France.

Thank you Wawa! You’re the best geek ever!

I came back from France a few days ago, with a bag full of ideas and a camera full of photos of the beautiful South West region.

I was lucky enough to be part of a FAM trip (meaning Familiarization in travel lingo) organized by Air France and Maison de la France, the French Ministry of Tourism’s branch that promotes France abroad. Not only do they make it a wonderful deal for us tour operators and travel agents, but they also make us feel very special.

To confirm the point I was making on the blog I wrote on September 21, we really are spoiled in the travel industry: when I showed up at the airport, I found out I had been bumped to Business class, as were the other agents on the trip. It was such a cool experience. Never before did I find a transatlantic flight too short! I must say that you arrive at your destination in a totally different state than when flying economy, which is well rested, well fed and your ego inflated!

We had a very full few days and, so I will only write about what I thought were the highlights and worth the trip:

• Château de Garrevaques.

Spending the night there was just as I imagined it would be sleeping in a castle. I felt like Cinderella except without the nasty mother-in-law. I loved everything about the place, including the owner and hostess, Mrs Combes, who made my stay just as worth as her beautiful property. She was genuinely nice and humble, and went out of her way to make us and the other guests feel at home. The castle is her heart and soul: she is the 16th generation of her family to inherit it and she is determined to maintain it in the best shape possible. The building looks like a fairytale medieval castle with the four turrets. Inside the furniture and the decoration is original and many items date back centuries, giving the place an antique feel in every room. There are only three guest rooms in the main building, the rest being in the Pavillon du Château, which is just as spectacular inside. Each room is different: I had the Chinese room which was very roomy and comfortable, as well as beautiful. I chatted quite a bit with Mrs Combes and I discovered that besides doing a lot of work herself (such as waxing the gigantic floors!), she was also running a little spa in a building behind. She took me for a quick look inside, of what I thought was going to be a simple massage room. Instead of that she opened the doors to a peaceful and wonderful-smelling haven that had no less than ten treatment rooms and some of the most prestigious hydrotherapy bathtubs and spa jets I had ever seen! What a woman! The Château de Garrevaques is located in the village of the same name, about 30 miles from Toulouse, and is well worth a stop.

• Rocamadour.

Rocamadour (pronounce rock-ahm-ad-oor) is a village built vertically on a rock and considered one of the most beautiful villages of France. Indeed it is quite a spectacle, especially when you arrive from above the rock at sunset! This was a holy place and a stop point for the pilgrims making the grueling trip to Santiago de Compostela in Spain by foot. There is a footpath that leads you from the castle at the top to the main church of Notre-Dame at the bottom, which contains a Black Madonna, known to have been carved by Saint Amadour. Besides being touristy, the village is definitely worth a detour and would be a highlight on any trip, religious or not. Although bare in mind that if you are here in pilgrimage, the tradition wants you to climb up 17 steps on your knees. I spared myself the effort but I did went down the path along the village on foot rather than taking the elevator…

• Saint-Cirq-Lapopie

The name is a mouthful for anyone not French, so don’t bother trying to pronounce it, I won’t even help you to. However, don’t let the annoying spelling of the name discourage you from visiting it. Also classified as one of the most beautiful villages of France, you will understand why as soon as you get there. My description will come no closer to the real beauty of the site but let’s try: it is a medieval village, with quaint little medieval houses, medieval narrow streets, crooked roofs, lots of flowers and a whole lot of charm! We stopped there for lunch in a typical restaurant and had a stroll in the streets afterwards. It will only take a couple of hours to stop there, but you will remember it always. Really.

• Cordes-sur-Ciel

My oh my! Another one classified as one of the most beautiful villages of France! Well, I am not native of that region but I must forget my Savoy pride for a moment and admit, and it is hard for me, that they have some of the best scenic sites. This is yet another beautiful medieval village that is perched on a hill. Therefore you can either burn up all the Foie Gras and climb it on foot, or take the little touristic train on wheels that gets you almost all the way up. For the remainder though, you have to put your Foie Gras to good use, but it’s a nice stroll in stone-paved little streets lined up with quaint boutiques. Once at the top, on the main square, there is a Chocolaterie that will delight your palate and make up for the calories just burnt.

• The assembly lines of the A380 at the Airbus site, Toulouse.

Some people were dreading the visit and thought it would be technical and boring, but I honestly found it very interesting. I was disappointed not to go inside one, but it was still amazing to see three of the monster planes lined up with an army of ants bustling about. I don’t know that I am really looking forward to waiting in line with 524 other passengers to get on board, but I thoroughly enjoyed the visit and the fact that it certainly is going to be more economical and environment-friendly, with the capacity being so much more increased.

• Albi and the Toulouse-Lautrec Museum

Albi is a medium-size town, all made out of bricks, giving it the nickname of “red town”. It is a good place for shopping as well as sightseeing. The highlight of the town is the famous cathedral Sainte Cécile which resembles a fortress and is made out of… red brick, of course. The 13th century cathedral stands proud in the middle of the city, dominating the river Tarn, which makes for some pretty pictures. It took two centuries to build it and is a magnificent example of Gothic style. Right next to it is the Toulouse-Lautrec Museum, worth a look inside. The painter was born in this town and his most famous works are displayed there, such as the Moulin Rouge poster and the Ambassadeurs.

• Toulouse

Toulouse is a big town but you will most likely fly in or take the train there to start exploring the region. It has some very pretty neighborhoods and tons of shopping. It is very lively and full of students, so there is always something going on there. It is called the Pink City, see for yourself on those pictures.

• A word about the food

Ok. Even though I had a terrible indigestion due to an overdose of Foie Gras, I have to say that everything we ate was very tasty. I personally find it easy to overdo it as most restaurants offer the typical menu which usually contains Foie Gras, cassoulet or duck confit. We were treated so nicely that we were offered a typical meal for lunch and dinner every day, but next time I go by myself I will definitely choose some lighter options once in a while. My advice: to really appreciate it, pace yourself. Pick a few good restaurants for the whole trip, but avoid the typical stuff at every meal, it definitely gets heavy. The South West region is famous for its cuisine and its wine, so try a bit of everything, you will probably discover some new tastes!

With all the great on-site information I collected, I am now working on putting together packages and custom tours and I am very excited! The South West is not only beautiful (there goes away my Savoy pride again) but the people are genuinely nice and welcoming. The pace of life is much slower than the capital and makes for a relaxing vacation. It is a great pairing with a few days in Paris or for those who want to discover “the real France”.

Yesterday, my wonderful clients Patrick Mason and Rebecca Kurland wrote to my request a testimonial reflecting the last trip that we arranged for them. Here is their original text:

“My wife and I have used the services of Bella Terra travel on two occasions. The first was in 2006 when we spent three weeks if France, two of them touring by car. Celia Coene of Bella Terra travel arranged for our hotels in Annecy, Avignon and Lyon. In Annecy we stayed at the Hotel L’Abbaye, a lovely, comfortable inn near Annecy-le-Vieux. In Avignon, we were booked into a very welcoming and beautiful B&B called the Bastide des Papes. Very accommodating staff and Millie the resident dog was a nice substitute for our dog. In Lyon, we were booked into the Grand Hotel des Terreaux which is modern, comfortable and very well located. Both our hotels in Annecy and Avignon were unique and had a personality of their own.

Recently we revisited Annecy and Lyon. This time as we didn’t have a car, Celia booked us into the Hotel Allobroges in the center of Annecy. Again a comfortable hotel, well-staffed and ideally located. In Lyon, due to the world rugby championships, we were forced to book a hotel we would not otherwise have chosen. After our first night, I left a message for Celia (this was a Sunday morning in the United States) and asked if she could do anything to get us either a better room or a different hotel. Given that it was the weekend, I didn’t expect to hear from Celia until Monday at the earliest. To my surprise, Celia called me around 7 p.m. local time, told me that she had arranged a room at the Grand Hotel des Terreaux, and could she send a cab to pick us up? We were stunned to say the least. In addition to the good choices she’d made for us in 2006 and 2007, Celia had the resources and a dedication to customer service so as to get us out of an unpleasant situation.

One other example of Celia’s attention to detail and customer service: While we were working out the arrangements for our 2007 trip, I mentioned to Celia that we would be celebrating our wedding anniversary in Annecy and could she recommend a good restaurant (she provided us with a list of several good restaurants). The day of our anniversary, Celia had made arrangements with our hotel to buy us an aperitif before our dinner. A lovely, unexpected touch on her part, but indicative of how she conducts her business.

We will, no doubt, use Bella Terra travel in the future and would recommend them to our friends.”

Patrick kindly allowed me to forward his contact to whomever may wish to verify the authenticity. Should you wish to do so, please call him at 510 482 4341.

Celia Coene

Well it has been quite a journey so far ever since we started our company, BellaTerra Travel. It all started in 2003, when my good friend John Holding and I had this idea of conducting tours in France. John had had this passion about traveling forever and had already traveled extensively throughout the globe. He also knew some people who had a tour operator conducting wine tours in France. As for me, I have a French degree in tourism (the equivalent of an Associates Degree) and have always been in the travel industry since I graduated. So we started playing with the idea and naturally things fell into place. We were very enthusiastic about our project and had a ton of ideas. After setting up the company, we both went to France to explore deeper the regions of France that we already knew and made lots of relationships with providers and charming places to stay. Back home, we printed posters and advertised here and there with our modest budget. The problem was: despite our great intentions, we were not known at all, and we could only set up 2 trips per year without quitting our full time jobs, which made it difficult. For months, nobody signed up. Then came the departure date, and our enthusiasm had taken a toll. Nonetheless discouraged, we gathered our hopes again and planned a new trip. We started giving conferences about the French Alps all over the Bay Area. Our presentations actually attracted a lot of people and despite talking to full rooms of very interested folks, still nobody signed up. However, after each conference, we had many inquiries regarding custom trips to France. Could we arrange custom travel just for a couple? Could we organize excursions, accommodations and car rentals? We were not prepared, but after all being French and in the travel industry, why couldn’t I do it? Suddenly, it was all making sense.

That’s when we decided to follow the trend and therefore modify our scheme. We took requests for custom tours and started building our products from there. We knew very well that the market had a low level of competition: the French Alps for example are hard to find amongst tour operators. A few will offer some ski options, but never any cultural experiences even though the region has so much to offer such as medieval castles, spectacular lakes and mountains and adorable chalets. As for Provence and Paris, even though they are more popular destinations, none of the big tour operators offer the level of personal service and customization. We already had the places picked out as well as the providers, we needed someone to help us with marketing and developing the website. John’s wife, Beth, was the perfect match for the marketing job. She had tons of experience in sales and was a big executive in a software company. My husband Laurent, being a wiz in computers and softwares naturally took the job of crafting our website. Both of them became members of BellaTerra Travel. John having been the CEO and CFO of a big company employing over 1,800 people, doing our accounting and taking care of the paperwork was a walk in the park for him. As for me, I became the Chief Operating Officer in charge of setting up the products and making reservations. With our team completed, we headed into the new path of building custom trips to Paris, the French Alps and Provence.

Life has been really good since then. Slowly, our database of customers started growing until I was able to leave my full time job at a local travel agency and dedicate myself to BellaTerra.

Having so much more time on my hands enabled me to work on the products, provide a high level of customer service, and grow the business with the precious help of my colleagues.

I am getting ready to leave to the South West of France in 2 days. The trip is sponsored by the French Ministry of Tourism to help promote the destination. When I get back, I will have plenty of insights on the region and we will offer exciting new packages and activities in that beautiful area.

Celia Coene

Last week my husband Laurent and I came back from THETRADESHOW. It is a huge travel retailing and destination expo that takes place each year either in Las Vegas or Orlando. This year was Vegas. Not only did we have fun in the city of evil, but we also learned a ton of things and met some cool people.

The trade show was over 3 days and each day had a theme: the first one was about Cruise/Luxury/Destination. We weren’t too interested in that since at BellaTerra we focus on custom trips to France that range mostly from budget to mid-range. The main trade show though was hosting hundreds of providers of all sorts so we spent most of the time going from stand to stand and learning about industry trends and new products.

The second day’s theme was Home-Based Appreciation Day and Business Building. Since we work from our home office, we attended quite a few seminars that day that turned out to be a great source of advice. The seminars were geared especially towards travel agents who were just starting a business, but we gained a lot of confidence as we realized that we were doing a lot of things right in building our business and our brand and in dealing with customer service. Even when you feel that you are going in the right direction in your business, it is always good to hear it from someone else.

The third day was about Business Travel and Technology. It was quite interesting. That’s actually where I got motivated to start this blog. For all of you travel agents who weren’t lucky enough to attend this great event, here is a good CRM custom-made for the travel industry: OpenTravelCRM. A bunch of geeky very nice guys built it from scratch and THETRADESHOW was their first time presenting it to the public. It is completely free and has a lot of useful features such as FIT building and commission tracking. It is still a little bit shaky but I think that if you give them some time it will become a wonderful tool. It works for travel agents as well as for tour operators like us.

After much learning, we were rewarded each night by some great events organized by the committee. We got to try out the brand new hip-and-happening club called LAX at the Luxor. Entrance and drinks were free for us young professionals under 40, who all danced our troubles away on techno music in a gothic/chic decor of chandeliers and red drapes. The last night was the best for me personally: THETRADESHOW had provided me with a ticket to see the Blue Man Group. I have always been a big fan ever since I saw it a few years ago and seeing it again was just exhilarating, despite the fact that my husband had a ticket to another show.

We had a really good time and came back with many new ideas for our business. We will share them with our colleagues and try our best to continue running a successful business. Not only do I love planning custom trips to France for our clients and travel agents, but I also love that we are always so spoiled in the travel industry!

Celia Coene

Howdy all. My name is Celia, I am French and I co-own a tour operator called BellaTerra Travel. In a few words, we sell custom trips to France to individuals and travel agents. I love my job, and as a bonus, I get to work from home. Everything is so cool about it: I talk to people who are in a great place in their life: they are happy and excited about planning a trip. Giving advice that people appreciate is a great feeling.

Who said that travel agents were on the verge of extinction? More and more, I find that people are thirsty for personalized service. Yes it’s true, Expedia, Travelocity and Orbitz have their advantages: they are practical, easy to use and only charge between $5 and $10 service fee. They are so big that they manage to get unbeatable deals on all sorts of travel arrangements. But those who have ever had to change a flight or hotel while away from home will know the value of having a good travel agent. Yes, you might pay a few more bucks for the service. But when you will be stuck at the train station because you missed your train, guess who is there for you to sort it out? Yes! YOUR very own travel agent. Money well spent.

When people call me to arrange a trip to France, they often mention how nice it is to be able to talk to a human who actually listens and gives advice. I find that those travellers are not necessarily looking for the best deal around. They often are limited to a budget, but that doesn’t mean that they travel to save money, but rather to have a good time and they want to make sure that everything goes smoothly. They want personalized service, they want to know the places I liked and the off-the-beaten path adventures. They want good service, friendliness, and advice, even for a few more bucks. And that is why I enjoy it so much.

So Expedia, beware of travel agents. They offer what you will never be able to offer: human contact!

Celia Coene