Ceramics <i> du Jour</i> in French Villages

The ceramics of France is the focus of a 12-day tour March 19-30 escorted by ceramic artist Gail Sherman. Tour participants will visit studios and factories, where they will meet with craftspeople and artisans. The trip will also include visits to museums that focus on both contemporary and historic ceramic art. The tour stops at Saint-Armand-en-Pulsaye, a small village in the heart of France that supplies all the local factories with ceramic clay.

Starting in Nice, the group will journey to Vallauris, known for its colorful pottery, and to Biot, a center for glassware. Traveling north, the group will spend time in Limoges, where France’s most famous porcelain is produced. Also on the itinerary is Gien, where porcelain known as faience is produced at the 173-year-old La Faiencerie de Gien factory.

Along the route, the tour will visit numerous historic sites, including Grasse, the perfume capital of France; Avignon, famed for its bridge and 14th-Century papal palace; Carcassonne, the walled city of medieval times, and Ni^mes, where participants will visit some of France’s best-preserved Roman ruins.

The tour will conclude in Paris, where participants will visit the Sevres porcelain factory as well as lesser-known artist neighborhoods.

Cost: $2,995 per person, double occupancy, including lodging at hotels, castles and country inns; breakfast and either lunch or dinner daily; all transportation within France; airport transfers; admissions, and guides. Not included: international transportation to France. Contact: Gail Sherman at Shure Travel, 16501 Ventura Blvd., Suite 502, Encino, CA 91436; telephone (818) 783-1013.

Mexico’s Monarchs

The monarch butterfly brightens eastern Michoacan, Mexico, by the hundreds of thousands each winter. Participants can see them on four-day tours to Michoacan’s capital city of Morelia about 190 miles northwest of Mexico City.

Tours leave Wednesdays from Nov. 28 through March 15. The butterflies form their colonies near the old mineral town of Angangueo near Morelia. Instinct guides a new generation to the same winter refuge each year. Butterflies cover the trees in a profusion of color with swarms of orange and black. Fluttering wings are everywhere. The Mexican government has established sanctuary for the monarchs here.

Morelia is considered the aristocrat of the colonial cities with its architecture kept in the traditions of old Spain. A city tour is included in the package--a visit to the San Augustin Cathedral, the Main Plaza, the candy market, Government Palace and shopping centers with regional handicrafts. One full day is spent in Angangueo.

Cost: $425 per person, double occupancy, including hotels, some meals and ground transportation. Air fare is extra. Contact: Mexico Travel Advisers at (800) 876-4682 for information; for reservations, call a travel agent.

New Mexico

Spend four days in the snow-covered mountains of New Mexico to ride snowmobiles and go cross-country or downhill skiing.

The trip is planned for Jan. 25 and begins with a day in Santa Fe, relaxing, shopping, museum and gallery hopping, and a stay at a five-star hotel off the plaza. Taos is the home base for the next two nights where the guests will experience guided snowmobile activities and skiing.

Cost: $945 per person, double occupancy, including air fare, land transportation with full-time driver, lodging, three meals, one day’s snowmobile activities, one day’s lift ticket and refreshments. Tour does not include lessons for downhill skiing or ski equipment rentals. Contact: Aventura Artistica, tel. (800) 808-7352.

Yosemite New Year

Family Adventure Tours will conduct a New Year’s outing to Yosemite National Park, Dec. 28-Jan. 1. The trip includes four nights’ accommodations in cabins at Yosemite Lodge, cross-country ski lessons and tours, a New Year’s Eve party and brunch at the Ahwahnee Hotel. The cost is $200 for adults and $50 for children.

Contact: Family Adventure Tours, 1164 Alvira St., Los Angeles, CA 90035; tel. (213) 939-2819.

English Flowers

A full day at the Chelsea Flower Show in London on members only day is part a 10-day tour called the Gardens of England, departing May 15.

Talks with the owners of private cottage gardens in the Cotswolds and Sussex will be contrasted with meeting owners of landscaped gardens such as Hodnet Hall Gardens, Stourhead, Wisley gardens, Great Dixter and Sissinghurst Castle gardens. Additional stops on the trip include a private tour of David Austin Roses and a private meeting and book signing with Rosemary Verey, a well-known author and gardener.

Afternoon teas in private homes and a theater show in London finish the trip. Hotel stays are in Stratford-on-Avon, Bath and London.

Cost: $2,780 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air fare, hotels, motor-coach transportation, all breakfasts, some lunches and dinners, and guide. Contact: Lenora Monahan, 7 Mainsail Drive, Corona del Mar, CA 92625; tel. (714) 644-8389.

Yellowstone on Skis

Montana-based Off the Beaten Path is offering winter tours to Yellowstone National Park Jan. 20-27, Feb. 3-10, Feb. 10-17 and Feb. 17-24. Participants will cross-country ski through the park, guided by naturalists and certified Nordic ski instructors.

These trips combine the region’s natural wonders--geyser, fumarole and paint pot; elk, bison and wolf--with scenery and snow. Guests and guides discuss geology, human history and wildlife, including controversies hanging over the park’s future: overgrazing, mining, snowmobile-generated pollution and the restoration of the timber wolf to balance the park’s ecosystem.

This adventure is designed for anyone with Nordic or alpine experience. The trip begins and ends in Bozeman, Mont.

Cost: $1,900 per person, double occupancy, including accommodations at Mammoth, Old Faithful and historic Gallatin Gateway inn near Bozeman, naturalist, guide service, ski instruction, ground transfers, and all meals. Transportation to Bozeman is not included. Contact: Off the Beaten Path, 109 E. Main St., Bozeman, MT 59715; tel. (800) 445-2995.

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The Times is not responsible for changes in prices, dates or itineraries. These should be confirmed with cruise lines, travel agents or tour operators.