Jeanne Mills Tours Chronicle
Here is a sampling of where we have traveled since 1995 and what we've seen.
May 2008 - Paris and the Loire Valley, the "Chateaux Country"
Highlights - Guided visits of the Orsay, Louvre and Orangerie Museums by our favorite Paris guide, Marie-Madeleine, the Foundation Yves Saint Laurent, the Sainte-Chapelle, Montmartre and the fabric district in Paris; Monet's home and garden and the Museum of American Art in Giverny; the George le Manach Silk Weaving Factory in Tours and the castles and gardens of Chambord, Chenonceau, Villandry and Langeais.
May 2007 - The French Rivera, Provence and Paris
Highlights - Villas Kerylos and Ephrussi de Rothschild, Villefranche and our young guide Sandi, city tour of Nice and day in Monaco with Morgane, Renoir's home and studio, driver Jean-Luc in Provence, fields of poppies, aperitifs at Susan and Hervé's home, Souleiado museum, Arles, Yves Saint Laurent Foundation and visit of their archives, guide Marie-Madeleine at the Louvre and Versailles.
June 2006 - Strasbourg, Quilt Expo X in Lyon and Paris
Highlights - City walking tours in Strasbourg and Colmar, Museum of Printed Textiles and Wallpaper Museum in Mulhouse; Textile Museum and the Leonard Exhibit, Quilt Expo X and the Magic Patch Quilt Expo and the Hat Museum in Lyon; Marie-Madeleine, our guide for the Orsay Museum and World Cup Match excitement in Paris. To see more photos, click here.
May 2005 - Provence and Paris
Highlights - Monet's home and garden in Giverny, Picasso and Louvre Museums in Paris; Souleiado Museum, Maison de Boutis and Les Olivades guided visits, fabric dyeing demos with Susan Seagram, meeting French quilters, al fresco dinners in two Provençal gardens, and Jean-Luc, our terrific driver in Provence. To see more photos from 2005, click here.
April/May 2004 - Quilt Expo IX in The Hague, London and Bath
Highlights - Rijksmuseum and Queen's Day in Amsterdam, Quilt Expo IX in The Hague. Victoria & Albert and London City Museums, William Morris Gallery, Globe Theater, Kensington and Hampton Court Palaces, American Museum and Roman Baths in Bath, Oxford and the Cotswolds in England.
May 2003 - The French Riviera, Lyon and Paris
Highlights - Matisse, Picasso and Maeght Museums, Greek Villa Kerylos, Matisse Chapel, Monaco and Monte Carlo on the Riviera. Museum of Textiles and small silk workshops in Lyon. The Louvre, Jacquemart-André and Marmottan Museums in Paris.
April 2002 - Barcelona and Paris
Highlights - In Barcelona, Quilt Expo VIII. Visits and tours of the city including the architecture of Antoni Gaudi, the Picasso, and Costume and Textile Museums, a guided visit of an early 20th century woolen mill in Tessarra, and a day trip to Montserrat, a monastery perched high atop a mountain. In Paris, the Cluny Museum with its Lady and the Unicorn Tapestries, Orsay Museum, Notre Dame Cathedral, La Ste-Chapelle, the Conciergerie, The Opera House, Le Rouvray Quilt Shop, Montmartre and the fabric district of Paris.
November 2001 - Kyoto, Tokyo and the Yokohama Quilt Show
Highlights - Edo-Tokyo Museum (history of Tokyo), Indigo scarf dyeing workshop at Aizen Kobo in Kyoto, Yokohama Quilt Show, a walk in the Mitake River Valley with its trees dressed in fall colors, a visit including show and tell and a workshop with Japanese quilter Yukko Hirasawa and three of her students, shopping at a shrine sale, at the quilt show and in Tokyo fabric shops, and bravely eating, with chopsticks, everything brought to the table.
May 2001 - Nice, Avignon and Paris
Highlights - Renoir's home in Cagnes-sur-Mer, Picasso Museum in Antibes, Monaco and Monte Carlo, Matisse Chapel, and visit and lunch with French quilt club in Rocquebrun on the Riviera; Pont du Gard, Paul Cézanne's studio in Aix-en-Provence, Les Olivades factory tour and Souleiado Museum visits, cooking class in Provence; the Louvre, fabric district Marché Saint-Pierre, Ste-Chapelle in Paris; and Monet's home and garden in Giverny.
April 2000 - Strasbourg and Alsace, Paris, Brittany and Normandy
Highlights - Quilt Expo VII in Strasbourg, Museum of Printed Textiles in Mulhouse; Cluny, Orsay, Rodin and Jacquemart-André Museums in Paris; Chartres; Mont-Saint-Michel and Quimper in Brittany; Saint-Malo, the Bayeux Tapestry, the Peace Museum in Caen and American Cemetery in Normandy.
December 1999 - January 2000 - Millennium trip with members of Jeanne's small quilt group, their family members and friends - Paris and the French Riviera
Highlights - Paris on New Year's Eve, 1999, gourmet 10-course New Year's Eve dinner, spectacular fireworks from the Eiffel Tower, joining the crowded streets at midnight; the Ephrussi de Rothschild Villa, the Villa Kerylos, the Maeght Museum and hill towns behind the coastal villages of the Côte d'Azur.
April 1999 - The Loire valley, Provence and Paris
Highlights - Chambord, Chenonceau and Ussé châteaux visits in the Loire Valley; visits of Arles, Aix-en-Provence and Isle-sur-la-Sorgue in Provence; the fabric district, Marché Saint-Pierre, and the Opera House in Paris.
May 1998 - Paris, Alsace in eastern France, Switzerland, Quilt Expo VI and Munich
Highlights - Guided visit in Strasbourg, Beauvillé factory outlet, visit of the DMC factory in Mulhouse, France; Textile and Lace Museum in St. Gallen, Switzerland; Quilt Expo VI in Innsbruck, a day in Salzburg, Austria; and in Munich, Germany.
April 1997 - Paris and Provence
Highlights - Visits to the castles of Fontainebleau and Vaux-le-Vicomte, south of Paris; Monet's home and garden and the American Museum of Impressionism in Giverny; the fabric printing factory of Les Olivades, the Souleiado Provencal Museum, Les Baux and perched villages in Provence.
May 1996 - Loire Valley, Lyon and Paris
Highlights - Quilt Expo V in Lyon and additional international quilt exhibits related to Quilt Expo, meeting with French quilters in the city of Tours, Villandry's Renaissance gardens, the Château of Langeais and the triple walled medieval town of Loches in the Loire Valley; visit to the Museum of the Toile de Jouy near Versailles.
May 1995 - Paris and the Loire Valley
Highlights - Visit of the Manufacture des Trois Tours, a factory where silk fabric continues to be hand woven on restored antique looms, meeting with French quilters, visiting châteaux of the Loire Valley; Monet's home and garden in Giverny; the Louvre and Cluny Museums in Paris.