Walking in Provence and the French Riviera – October 10 – 23, 2020 In short… We had a blast! This was our first time travelling with Seniors Discovery Tour, and my husband and I found the whole experience thoroughly enjoyable. Having been do-it-yourself travellers for over 50 years, it was wonderful to have someone else manage the details so that we could totally immerse ourselves in the trip. We couldn’t have asked for a better Tour Manager in Nina Gilners. She handled every situation calmly and efficiently. She was with us every moment, from our arrival at the airport in Toronto, to our return two weeks later. Everything ran smoothly and she listened to our concerns and adapted to the group dynamic. Our guides, Isabelle & Yves were amazing, both personally and professionally. Each day Yves would do a longer, more strenuous walk and Isabelle a shorter one with less climbing and fewer stairs. Isabelle’s walks would give us more time to learn about the local culture and to take photographs, while Yves’ tour would cover more ground and provide a better workout. No matter which walk we chose to take we always looked forward to challenging ourselves and learning about the area we were visiting. Both accommodations were lovely. In Gréoux-les-Bains at the Hotel Villa Borghese, all the meals were amazing and the staff warm and welcoming. In Menton at the Hotel Royal Westminster, we had a stunning view of the Mediterranean, however, the dinners were disappointing. Despite the request that everyone be able to walk a minimum of 8 kilometers a day, several of our fellow travellers experienced difficulties finishing the day’s walk. Our group consisted of 20 people, 8 of whom were over 80 years old, while my husband and I are in our early 70’s. Although we personally didn’t experience any difficulties completing the walks, they were more challenging than we had expected, and we joked that we should rename the tour “boot camp for seniors”. Each day we had the luxury of rotating between the shorter walk and the longer, more challenging one… depending on how we were feeling that day. Some days we felt a bit rushed when trying to take photographs or stopping for lunch. Personally we think it might be an idea to trim a few kilometers off the daily walks, adding a little more time to shop or relax at a café along the route. Despite these minor quibbles we would definitely use Seniors Discovery Tour again. Our nostalgia for the trip is both strong and bittersweet as we find ourselves in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. As life long travellers, we long to be on the road again and our thoughts go out to the tour operators who must be suffering with such a large loss to their business. Steve & Brooke Weslak