European Experiences

Living the good life in the Duoro River Valley on the Portugal Experience.

The breathtaking landscape is protected by UNESCO for the technical w**e growing methods on steep slopes, requiring a hand harvest. It’s also the historic center for Port w**e production and the first w**e appellation in the world. The industry is strictly regulated by the Institute of Douro and Porto W**e.

We had a fabulous day out, visiting a w**ery during harvest time, enjoying a delicious Portuguese lunch overlooking the vineyards, a truck ride down to the river and a cruise on the historic Friendship yacht. This was a bucket list experience!

https://european-experiences.com/portugal-experience/

One of the highlights of our Périgord Experience trip is the opportunity to canoe down the Dordogne River.

It's always a memorable experience: over roughly two hours, our canoers paddle down the picturesque and winding river, working their way under stone bridges and past enchanted medieval castles perched above.

But this time, our day started out with an air of uncertainty. A thick fog hung over the village upon our arrival, and the conditions didn't look especially inviting for canoeing.

The fog, rather than take away from the experience, ended up adding an extra air of enchantment to the early part of the route. By an hour in, the sun had cleared the rest of the morning's haze. It was an unforgettable experience.

Later that day the group visited the impressive medieval fortress, the Château de Beynac, before enjoying a relaxed dinner on your own back in Montignac.

Portugal is a wonderful discovery for our European Experience travelers who have been to France, Italy or England. The country has a rich and varied history, which is especially present on our trip.

Our hotel base is Guimarães, the birthplace of the first Portuguese king with an ancient castle and Dukes Palace. This charming town is protected by UNESCO for its perfectly preserved Medieval architecture.

A historically significant fact is that Portugal ruled the seas a century before Britain and had colonies around the world. Porto has several centuries of maritime history, shipping w**e and other goods from the Douro river across the Atlantic and beyond. The country is cosmopolitan and open minded due to its unique heritage.

We’re having a great time learning and seeing the history, and eating delicious meals along the way!

https://european-experiences.com/portugal-experience/

We welcomed our first Luberon Experience group of September 2026 to Bonnieux on Saturday afternoon. Our group includes five Australians (all from Queensland) and nine Americans (from California, Oregon, Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina), and we're already a very compatible group.

On Sunday we spent the morning at the busy L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue market, enjoying all the sights, smells, and sounds. Many came home with special purchases! Kathy came home with food for our lunch... roast chicken, potatoes, salad greens, heirloom tomatoes, tapenades, olives, cheeses, and fruit (pears, grapes, melon, and figs). We enjoyed a relaxing feast in our hotel garden!

After lunch we explored the top of the village of Bonnieux, the oldest areas of the village, including an unexpected visit and overview inside the old church (12th, 15th, and 16th century). We ended our walk at the historic house of our friends Michele and her son Jean-Camille. Jean-Camille led a tour of many rooms of the house, including caves from the 4th-6th century and the strong house from the 12th century. The most recent addition is from the 18th century. The family's restoration of the house has extended over three generations and 60 years... a true labor of love.

We can't wait to share more of this special region with our group this week!!

https://european-experiences.com/luberon-france/

Have you ever wondered how prehistoric people lived? How they hunted? How they socialized? How they passed their time? How they made fire? How they made everything needed for daily life? Well do we have the thing for you!

This week, after a morning with the incredibly engaging Nils at the site du Castel-Merle, we not only left with answers and insight, but also with a newfound appreciation for prehistoric men and women. Through his deep knowledge, passion, and expertise, Nils brought this extremely distant history to life for us.

We feel so lucky to get to explore this rich corner of France, visit this special historical site, and to have connected with Nils and with the site’s owner, Isabelle, whose great great grandfather worked on the initial digs at Castel Merle over 100 years ago!

“Benvindo”, welcome to the Portugal Experience!

We kicked off our first group of September with an energetic food tour of Porto. We had fun exploring the city and bonding with our new traveler friends, all while treating our tastebuds. Our guide Angelo brought the Portuguese food traditions to life, with tastes of charcuterie, cheese and emblematic local w**es. We also hung out at a neighborhood tavern, or “tasca”, munching down delicious hot “bifana” pork sandwiches, and finished the evening with a light supper at a contemporary restaurant.

This is a super, enthusiastic group and we are going to have a fun week!

https://european-experiences.com/portugal-experience/

On Thursday, our group headed north of Montignac.

Our first stop was the impressive Château de Hautefort, a site with roughly 1,000 years of history. Our group enjoyed the spectacular Renaissance architecture and orderly French-style gardens replete with vibrant flowers and neatly manicured topiary. After touring the grounds, we came away with a better understanding of why the castle is sometimes referred to as the "Versailles of the Périgord."

We then headed to Terrason, a scenic town lining the Vézère River. There, we met our friend Martin for a tasting of special local aperitifs, including walnut w**e and chestnut w**e. After working up an appetite, we headed over to Martin's adjoining restaurant, where we savored a flavorful three-course lunch, starting with the regional specialty garlic soup, followed by a large salad (some of us even had the specific Périgordine salad featuring goose terrine, smoked duck breast, and goose gizzards), and finishing with strawberries and whipped cream.

Afterwards, the group had the opportunity to visit the many many artisan shops found in Terrason before a special garden visit in the town.

We're looking forward to returning to this beautiful region next year. Learn about the trip on our website: https://european-experiences.com/perigord-dordogne-france

Visiting the painted caves of Lascaux is often one of the highlights for our travelers on the Périgord Experience. For some, it is something they’ve dreamt of seeing for years, or even the main reason they wanted to travel in this area.

Unfortunately, Lascaux is not open to the public - only a select team of scientists is allowed a limited number of hours in the cave each year, in an effort to conserve the 17,000-22,000 year old paintings and reduce the human impact.

Our group visits Lascaux II, the original replica (as we like to joke), opened in the 1980s, located just a few hundred yards from the original cave. It is an exact copy of the original cave, down to the centimeter, and the artist who spent six years painting the cave did so using the techniques historians believed the Magdalenian people used. You would only know it’s a replica because the ground is much smoother to walk on!

This year we were lucky to have Ludivine as our guide for our private visit. After having worked at Lascaux for 14 years, she is not only incredibly knowledgeable, but deeply passionate about and connected to the site.

Photos are prohibited inside the main chambers of the cave, so here’s some other shots from our visit!

Twenty years ago this week, in September 2006, Kathy and Charley Wood welcomed the very first Luberon Experience group.

The Wood family had lived in Bonnieux for 6-1/2 months in 2004-2005 after a first visit to the Luberon area in 2003. They returned in early 2006 to finalize all the arrangements for their first small group tours. During their extended stay in 2004-2005 they learned so much about the area and made good friends who wanted to help. Kathy and Charley were passionate about the area and enjoyed working with people... perhaps they were just a bit naive about starting a small-group tour business!!

That first group had just three people! The following week they welcomed a larger group of six people. The groups were enthusiastic about our approach, and we made plans for more groups in May and September 2007.

Just after those first two groups, a movie filmed mostly in the Luberon was released: A Good Year. Although not a huge success, movie-goers were enchanted with the area. And because of Kathy's blog during our long stay, we were fortunate that we were discovered by a USA Today travel reporter coming to the area to interview Peter Mayle and do a story about the movie. She contacted us for help and then joined us for a day of our second trip. Our big break-- she mentioned our Luberon Experience trip in her article... with a link to our brand-new website. Serendipity! The next year our four trips were mostly full, and the rest is history.

Twenty years later, Charley has retired and Kathy's co-leader is Christian Linke, a long-time resident of the area and an excellent addition to our team. We've now hosted over 80 different groups in the village of Bonnieux and have welcomed over 1,000 travelers here. Charley and Kathy have both been named honorary citizens of Bonnieux, truly an honor!

Tomorrow we'll welcome the first of two Luberon Experience groups. We're always excited to be here and to welcome our travelers to this special place.

We want to thank everyone who has joined us here in the Luberon. (Some have been with us here several times!) We'd love to hear your memories of your Luberon Experience.

We also want to thank our local partners, who are an important part of our team, especially our hosts of 20 years at LE CLOS DU BUIS. We continue to make changes every year, but several experiences from our very first trips continue as part of our program today: the L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue market and market picnic; the Friday market in Bonnieux; visits to the villages of Gordes, Saignon, Roussillon and Lacoste; meals at special village restaurants; lunch or dinner at the home of our dear friend Janice; a walk in the Cedar Forest; a visit to a special local w**ery hosted by the w**emaker.

Enjoy these photos from our September 2006 trips.

We're booking now for our May and September 2027 trips. We'd love to have you join us to experience the beautiful Luberon! https://european-experiences.com/luberon-france/