French Highlights With Italian Riviera Extension

This city was made for walking. Stroll grand boulevards with sweeping views of the city, pristine parks with trees planted in perfect rows, and narrow streets crowded with vendors selling flowers, pastries and cheese. Then head to the Île de la Cité, a small island in the Seine, to see Notre Dame Cathedral. Look up at the great stone buttresses, grotesque gargoyles, and massive stained-glass windows.

Visit one of the original college towns. Since the Sorbonne’s founding in the 1100s, the Left Bank has attracted not only intellectuals but also the cafés, bookstores, and cinemas that tend to accompany them. It’s also attracted its fair share of famous residents – a plaque marks one of Hemingway’s apartments on rue du Cardinal-Lemoine, and the imposing neoclassical Panthéon holds the tombs of Voltaire, Rousseau, Victor Hugo, and Marie Curie.

The world's largest art museum, the Louvre is housed in a medieval fortress-turned-castle so grand it's worth a tour itself. You walk through the 71-foot glass pyramid designed by I.M. Pei and added in 1989, and step into another world-one with carved ceilings, deep-set windows, and so many architectural details, you could spend a week just admiring the rooms. But check out the art on the walls. The Mona Lisa is here, as well as the Venus de Milo and Winged Victory (the headless statue, circa 200 BC, discovered at Samothrace). The Louvre has seven different departments of paintings, prints, drawings, sculptures and antiquities. Don't miss the Egyptian collection, complete with creepy sarcophagi, or the collection of Greek ceramics, one of the largest in the world. (Please note the Louvre is closed on Tuesdays.)

What's that huge white arch at the end of the Champs-Élysées? The Arc de Triomphe, commissioned by Napoleon in 1806 after his victory at Austerlitz. Your licensed local guide will elaborate on this, and other Parisian landmarks. See some of the most famous sites, including the ornate, 19th-century Opera, the Presidential residence, the ultra-chic shops of the Rue du Faubourg St-Honoré, and the gardens of the Tuileries. You'll pass the Place de la Concorde, where in the center you’ll find the Obelisk of Luxor, a gift from Egypt in 1836, and the Place Vendôme, a huge square surrounded by 17th-century buildings. Spot chic locals (and tons of tourists) strolling the Champs-Élysées. Look up at the iron girders of the Eiffel Tower, built for the 1889 World's Fair to commemorate the centenary of the French Revolution. See Les Invalides (a refuge for war wounded), the École Militaire (Napoleon's alma mater), and the Conciergerie (the prison where Marie Antoinette was kept during the French Revolution).

The ultimate palace, Versailles was built by Louis VIX, and housed the royal family and its groveling court from 1582, when the Sun King moved in, to the French Revolution. Everything in Versailles is worth a look, from the 250-foot-long Hall of Mirrors, with themed salons-"war" and "peace"-on either side, to Marie Antoinette's faux country hamlet. When being a queen became too much to bear, she would pretend to be a commoner, tending her sheep and wearing peasant clothes. (Please note Versailles is closed on Mondays.)

See the city from the water on an hour-long cruise along the River Seine. The Seine cuts right through Paris, dividing the city in half. See the Eiffel tower rising up on the Left Bank, the walls of the Louvre on the Right Bank. A guide will point out other monuments and architectural marvels as you pass, many of which are illuminated by clear white light at night.

Journey to the Loire Valley, stopping to see Chartres Cathedral on the way. Built on an ancient worshipping ground to house a piece of the Virgin Mary’s veil (which is still on display), this 13th-century Gothic church is best known for its windows. With over 20,000 square feet of stained glass, visiting Chartres can be like walking around inside a large jewel. But don’t spend all your time looking up—on the floor is the only surviving medieval labyrinth. The faithful travel the winding 300-yard path on their knees to reach the image of paradise at the center. Ouch. You’ll also stop at Château de Chambord, the largest and most lavish of the Loire châteaux (and that’s saying a lot). It took 1800 workers over a decade to complete the palace for King François I, who once suggested that the river be diverted to make a moat (a smaller river was later diverted). The palace has 440 rooms, and in many of them you can see François’ salamander emblem—reported to have been an appropriately slimy symbol for the king.

Built on an ancient worshipping ground to house a piece of the Virgin Mary’s veil (which is still on display), this 13th-century Gothic church is best known for its windows. With over 20,000 square feet of stained glass, visiting Chartres can be like walking around inside a large jewel. But don’t spend all your time looking up—on the floor is the only surviving medieval labyrinth. The faithful travel the winding 300-yard path on their knees to reach the image of paradise at the centre. Ouch.

France’s aristocrats began building defensive castles in the Loire Valley in the 11th century. A few hundred years later, their descendants created pleasure palaces among the lush green forests and wandering waterways. Today, sumptuous Renaissance castles stud the banks of the silvery Loire River, the longest in France. First stop: Azay-le-Rideau. This castle’s limestone turrets and slate spires are set on an island in the middle of the Indre River. Almost completely surrounded by water, the castle mixes Gothic and Renaissance styles to fairy-tale effect. But few castles can compete with Château de Chenonceau. Built on a series of arches over the Cher River, Chenonceau was designed by a woman in the 16th century. It was once inhabited by Catherine de Medicis, who commissioned the delicate spirals and the formal gardens, and had the bridge covered by a two-story stone gallery.

Dug by men from the XIIth century onwards to extract the stone, “the tuffeau” destined for building, The Cave aux Moines was used as far back as the beginning of the XXth century to cultivate mushrooms. The beginning of the cave and the first metres of the galleries were used by people to live; that kind of living was called the "troglodytes". Here people and animals lived as a community.

Cross the Viaduc de Millau, the world's highest bridge, with supports taller than the Eiffel Tower. The bridge's innovative design blends almost seamlessly with the surrounding mountains.

Lush lavender fields, olive groves, terra-cotta roofs, and ochre walls lit by golden sunlight...your Tour Director will guide you through the splendor that is Provence. Explore legacies of the Roman Empire like the Pont du Gard aqueduct, a sophisticated work of engineering that is intact after more than 2,000 years, and visit the Nîmes amphitheater. Built by the Romans nearly 2,000 years ago, it was once the site of gory gladiator and animal combat, and is still used today for performances and bullfights (some things never change). Also see the medieval ruins of Baux-de-Provence.

Journey to the Cote d’Azur by way of the tree-shaded boulevards and carved fountains of Aix-en-Provence and Cassis, where the coast is riddled with Calanques. These deep channels, carved into the white limestone cliffs by ancient rivers, make a perfect backdrop for your cruise through the crystalline waters.

On the Mediterranean coast, five miles from the Italian border, lies the tiny, glittering independent state of Monaco. Ruled by the Grimaldi family since the 13th century, Monaco is the epitome of French Riviera glamour. Your Tour Director will lead you on this brief adventure. See the casino that Charles III opened in the 1850s to avert financial straits; needless to say, his plan worked--so well, in fact, that Monaco is a nearly tax-free state. Drop in on Prince Rainier (OK, see his house, the Palais du Prince), and visit a parfumerie in nearby Eze, where rich scents are made from local flowers such as jasmine, rose, and lavender.

To celebrate the 500th anniversary of the voyage of Genoa's most famous resident, Christopher Columbus, the city constructed an immense aquarium shaped like a ship setting sail. Recently a real-life boat was added to the space, doubling the aquarium's size. See jellyfish, crocodiles, eels, dolphins, sharks, and all manner of other Mediterranean and international sea creatures in this amazing aquarium, one of Europe's most popular.

Cinque Terre (CHIN-kwuh TEH-ruh; "five lands") is a series of five traditional fishing villages strung along the scenic cliffs of the Italian Riviera. Colorful houses and gorgeous views line the road between the five villages (Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore), where wine-making, olive-farming, and anchovy fishing still occupy most of the residents' energies.