Taste Provence: Unforgettable Half-Day Culinary Journey

What a great way to see the outskirts of Nice! Loved Fragonard Perfume Factory. Driver was prompt and knowledgeable. We had a great time!

Giuseppe took us on a wonderful journey to a world outside of Nice. The drive was a little scary (curvy as he would say) but that just added to the thrill. We were able to make a few photo stops and spend time in a little artsy town on a hill.

Walking the ramparts and visiting the shops in St Paul de Vence. The historic village had a genuine and unique charm and the people were gifted artists and very friendly The art galleries had extraordinary collections

Felt that we were a bit rushed as it was only a half day tour. Sylvie was good tour guide and drove the roads very well. I recommend her

My wife and I have come up with a number of titles for a Trip Advisor review of today’s tour. The brochure promised “Flavors & Tastes of Provence.” Well, we had an adventure but not the one we’d envisioned. The titles we settled on are “Smartour = Not So Smart” or “Six-hour Taxi Ride” or “Smiley and her tour from hell.” The tour was supposed to start at 1:00 and last five hours. To the company’s credit, someone did call us to apprise us of a late arrival (1:30) due to traffic. Ok. We waited patiently. When our tour guide (Smiley) arrived at 1:45, we discovered that we needed to drop off two visitors, a mother and daughter, from the morning tour. That took one hour as the two were outside Nice, and then we had to backtrack through Nice simply to begin OUR tour. When we arrived at the first of four designated stops, Saint-Paul de Vence, Smiley dropped us off for 40 minutes and went to pick up someone. What? After almost two hours in the van, we both had to go to the bathroom, so our first visit was to the tourist office to locate a toilet. Then we had time to share an ice cream cone and take a few pictures. Saddened that we didn’t have time to enjoy a meal or to explore this charming city, we returned to the designated pick-up spot at 4:00. Smiley was a few minutes late. We were joined in our van by two other travelers, a lovely South Korean couple, who had been dropped off in Saint-Paul de Vence when Smiley had returned to Nice to pick us up, return the mother and daughter to their hotel, and whatever else she might have done. The woman complained that they’d had FOUR hours in Saint-Paul de Vence. She and her husband had too much time while we didn’t have enough. She asked Smiley to help her call and cancel a dinner reservation at 7:30 as they wouldn’t get home in time. As it was late and had started to rain, I told Smiley that we were ok to return early but that we’d need to have a discounted rate if we couldn’t visit the four destinations advertised in the tour. The designated route for the tour was supposed to be Saint-Paul de Vence to Tourettes-Sur-Loup to Gourdon to Grasse. After calling her manager, Smiley announced that we could visit all destinations. We proceeded in silence; the rain was torrential at this point. Smiley shuffled the schedule (to Grasse next!) to catch the perfume factory before it closed. Helene (our tour guide at the factory) was good. She gave us a 20-minute tour, but we weren’t so interested in perfume; we were more interested in seeing historic architectural treasures. When we got to Gourdon, Smiley gave us 30 minutes. My wife and I along with our fellow travelers disembarked from the van, armed with umbrellas. It felt apocalyptic with the dark sky and the rain pelting us at every step. It was very cold, and when our umbrella turned inside out, my wife screamed. This was not the last time that four-letter words flew. Two crystal stores were open; nothing else. We couldn’t get any food or drink; after we snapped a few pictures, all four of us returned to the van early. We proceeded to Tourettes-Sur-Loup. Smiley asked if we’d like time to get out and look around. We asked if anything would be open. NO. We snapped a few pictures and agreed to return to Nice. We arrived home two hours late. We had spent the majority of our time in the van—not out visiting. We don’t blame Smiley. Aside from the inclement weather and traffic, we blame Smiley’s manager who tried to combine half-day tours with full-day tours with some airport transports thrown in. Whose dumb idea was that? It didn’t work for us, and we’ll tell anyone we know to avoid Smartours because—based on our experience—they’re pretty dumb.

<p>the Provence tour was amazing! Loved seeing the streets, little villages, and chatting with the people. Our driver was professional, informative, and witty.</p>

<p>Our guide was very friendly and knowledgeable. Really enjoyed the tour, but just wish we could have had a bit more time in each town. Would have happily skipped going to Grasse, if it meant more time in the other towns.</p>

En compagnie d’un couple qui nous ont fait visiter le Massif de l’Esterel, nous avons été ébloui par les villages construits en montagne, par la vue magnifique sur la Méditerranée et par la nature sauvage du Massif de l’Esterel.