Q and A
To France's Wine Regions
Q.
Could you give names of agencies that offer tours of wine-growing areas of France? -- Mary Flanagan, Port Washington, L.I.
A. Here are some companies that may be of help: Holden Pacific Wine Tours, 814 35th Avenue, Seattle, Wash. 98122, (206) 325-4324, offers "France in Your Glass" tours. The company will arrange tours for groups of as few as six. For 1992, the company plans a nine-night tour of Champagne and Alsace (starting in Paris) for $2,495 a person in double occupancy, May 3 to 11 and Sept. 6 to 15. A tour of the "Great Estates of Bordeaux and Cognac" May 26 to June 11 is $2,995 a person, and Oct. 5 to 17, $3,195. A tour of Cognac and the Loire Valley, June 4 to June 16, is $2,995, connects with the Bordeaux tour listed above. There is a Burgundy tour June 8 to 18 and Sept. 12 to 22, $2,995, and one of the Rhone Valley and Provence, June 16 to 26 and Sept. 12 to Oct. 1, for $3,595. Prices are subject to currency fluctuations, the company says.
X.O. Travel Consultants, 38 West 32d Street, New York N.Y. 10001, (800) 262-9682 or (212) 947-5530, which mainly organizes tours for wine clubs and companies, has two tours open to the public in 1992. One, of Champagne, Alsace and Germany, May 11 to 23, is about $3,000 a person, not including air fare. The other, sponsored by Executive Wine Seminars, a New York wine school, runs from July 23 to Aug. 2 and visits Burgundy the Rhone Valley and Provence. It includes dining at several Michelin three-star restaurants. The land cost is $4,200 a person.
World Wine Tours, 69-71 Banbury Road, Oxford OX2 6PE, England, offers about 50 tours of wine regions in Europe, all led by wine experts. The number from the United States is (44) (865) 310 344. About 30 of the tours are in France, and participants sometimes combine two in nearby regions. There will, for example, be three tours of the Loire Valley in 1992: May 3 to 9, July 5 to 11 and Oct. 11 to 17; the cost is about $2,100 a person in double occupancy and includes lodging, meals, wine tastings and visits to wineries. The trips to Bordeaux fall into three categories: The standard tour, with lodging in a hotel at a cost of about $1,450 a person; the "intensified" tour with more visits and tastings, June 7 to 11, at $1,850 a person, and finally the three-day ($1,190) and six-day wine school sessions ($2,590) in Chateau Loudenne in Bordeaux, including lodging at the chateau and meals. L.A.-to-S.F. Bus Tours
Q.
I am interested in a bus tour from Los Angeles to San Francisco. Can you give names of operators? -- Charlotte Jacobson, New York, N.Y.
A. Here are some companies offering bus tours to San Francisco starting in Los Angeles.
Maupintour, 1515 St. Andrews Drive, Lawrence, Kan. 66047; (800) 255-4266. An eight-day tour originating in Long Beach, Calif., a suburb of Los Angeles, ends in San Francisco. At the start, participants spend two nights in Long Beach and take a cruise to Catalina. The tour then goes to Santa Barbara, Solvang, Santa Maria, San Simeon and the Hearst Castle, Carmel, two nights in Monterey, Felton (with a ride on a narrow-gauge railroad through a giant redwood grove), and then San Francisco, where there is a two-night stay. The cost is $1,699 for a single traveler and $1,299 a person with two in a room, including 15 meals. There are 12 tours April through December.
Talbot Tours, 1952 Camden Avenue, Suite 104, San Jose, Calif. 95124, (408) 879-0101. Tours from Los Angeles to San Francisco are 7 to 12 days, with several tours a year. A typical tour includes three or four nights in Los Angeles, then stops in Santa Barbara, Solvang and San Simeon, Monterey and Carmel, with a three or four night stay in San Francisco. Tours range from $90 to $125 a day, including hotel and meals, depending on the hotels and restaurants.
Misha Tours, Post Office Box 152046, San Diego, Calif. 92195, (619) 588-4644. This company organize bus tours for groups, but individuals can join some tours, usually during the summer. Five- to seven-day trips from Los Angeles stop in Santa Barbara, San Simeon, Monterey and Big Sur and San Francisco. The price is $550 to $600 a person for five days, including meals and lodging and a flight back to Los Angeles.
Mac's Travel Service, 18738 East Amar Road, Walnut, Calif. 91789, (818) 965-0731. This company offers five tours a year from Los Angeles to San Francisco. Tours are usually four or five days, with a scenic drive directly to San Francisco, and then a stay of several days in San Francisco, and a return bus ride to Los Angeles. Rates start at $210 a person, including sightseeing and lodging, no meals included. Ireland to Britanny by Ferry
Q.
Is there some way in late April or early May I can travel by boat from Ireland to the west coast of France near Nantes? -- Hubert J. Beudert, Bloomfield Hills, Minn.
A. About as close as you can get is Britanny. During the time you will be in Ireland, Irish Ferries runs weekly cruises from Rosslare, Ireland, about 100 miles south of Dublin, to Le Havre and from Rosslare to Cherbourg. The ship for both trips is the St. Patrick, a car ferry that holds more than 2,000 passengers and 280 cars. Basic passage at any time of year other that June, July and August is $116 ($202 in summer). A cabin is $119 to $215. The Le Havre-bound ferry leaves Rosslare each Wednesday at 7 P.M., arriving in France at 5 P.M. The ferry for Cherbourg leaves Rosslare each Friday at 10:30 P.M., arriving in France at 5 P.M. The ship has a restaurant, and there is live music. Irish Ferries is represented in the United States by Lynott Tours, 350 Fifth Avenue, Suite 2619, New York, N.Y. 10118; (800) 221-2474 or (212) 760-0101. Reservations required.
There is also ferry service from Cork to Rosscoff, offered by Brittany Ferries. The 1992 schedule for the 17-hour voyage is not yet available. In 1991, a ferry left Cork for Rosscoff once a week, and the fare was $103 to $128 depending on date, and a cabin was an additional $73 to $209. The line's United States representative is Odessa America Cruise Compmay, 250 Old Country Road, Mineola, N.Y. 11501; (800) 221-3254. Rain in Costa Rica
Q.
I am planning a trip to central and eastern Costa Rica some time between January and April. Can you outline expected rainfall during that time? -- J. A. Korda, Cromwell, Conn.
A. The period you are considering is the driest time of year. In January, San Jose, the capital, has an average of three rainy days, with an average rainfall of 0.6 inches; February has only one rainy day, with a total of 0.2 inches; March has two rainy days, with a total of 0.8 inches. April gets a little more rainy, with an average of seven rainy days and 1.8 inches. By contrast, in the summer, the rainy season, the capital has 23 or 24 rainy days a month.