Merci Beaucoup for French in France

Combine study with travel to Dijon and Paris on a 27-day French language program that leaves Los Angeles July 1. Classes at all levels are held at the International University of Bourgogne in the ancient capital of Burgundy, famous for cuisine and the world’s finest vineyards. No knowledge of French is required; the university’s program of activities includes local guided visits, films, music, dance, cooking classes and a Sunday in the country. Optional excursions include a three-day trip to Provence.

Cost: $2,195 per person including air fare from Los Angeles, classes, campus activities, dormitory accommodations in Dijon and six nights in a Paris hotel, all breakfasts, student meal tickets in Dijon, transfers, cooking facilities at the university and pre-departure orientation.

Contact: Prof. Kenneth Carter, Foreign Language Department, Long Beach City College, 4901 E. Carson St., Long Beach, CA 90808; telephone (310) 420-4335 or (714) 494-2059.

Britain in Pieces

A 12-day journey emphasizing the history of the British Isles is being organized for departure July 4. The tour is hosted by World Encounters of Santa Monica and Good Times Travel Club of Huntington Beach. They will take travelers through scenic areas of England, Scotland and Wales. Tours of London, Cardiff, Bath and Edinburgh are included, as well as visits to the medieval cities of York, Salisbury and Cambridge. Guests stay two nights in a castle in Wales.

Cost: $2,145 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air fare from Los Angeles to London, some meals, hotels, guide and tours. Contact: Ray Fike at (714) 589-6779 or World Encounters at (310) 393-8741.

Magic of Morocco

Fun and Fantasy is hosting a tour to Morocco May 27 to June 7 to visit imperial cities, colorful souks, casbahs, Roman ruins, Berber villages, the Atlas Mountains and the Moroccan desert. Highlights include stopovers in Fez, a UNESCO Heritage Site, and Marrakech, with its colorful square, palaces and gardens. Participants will take a day journey through the Dra^a Valley with its red earth, beehive villages, and palm, fig and date oases. In Zagora, the group will have a desert feast, and spend the night in Berber tents (hotel rooms will also be available).

Cost: $2,575 per person, double occupancy, including air fare, hotels, daily breakfast and dinner, extensive sightseeing in air-conditioned coaches, a tour leader and local guides, and transfers and porterage charges.

Contact: Frank Tysen, Fun and Fantasy Tours, 2115 3rd St., No. 206, Santa Monica, CA 90405; tel. (310) 450-4873.

Big Game Safari

A 14-day safari to the game reserves of Kenya, including two nights on a cruise on the Indian Ocean and with an optional five-day extension to Tanzania departs on July 25. Participants will visit Masai Mara Reserve, Lake Nakuru and the Samburu National Reserve. The tour provides accommodations at Nairobi Serena, a tree-top lodge; Mount Kenya Safari Club, and Serena Beach in Mombasa.

Participants will also attend a session at Kambi Garba primary school for nomads and refugees, in northern Kenya. Lectures and informal discussions are held throughout the safari.

Cost: $3,850 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air fare, ground transportation, hotels, most meals, museum and park entrance fees. The Tanzania extension will include Ngorongoro Crater and Lake Manyara and costs an additional $625 per person. Contact: Dorothy Dunson at Journeys to Kenya, 249 S. Lafayette Park Place, Los Angeles, CA 90057; tel. (213) 386-4318.

Way Back When

Haggins International Tours is hosting an anthropology tour to Athens and Egypt Aug. 3-13. The journey will include a tour of the Acropolis, Parthenon and the market in Athens. The group will fly to Cairo, and stay in a former king’s palace, the Mena House Hotel, a palatial estate at the foot of the Great Pyramids of Giza. While in Cairo, members will visit Memphis, Sakkara, the Step Pyramids, markets and the Museum of Antiquities. Then they will board an overnight train to Aswa^n and, upon arrival, fly to Abu Simbel to see the temples of Rameses II and Nefetari. Participants will cruise the Nile in a felucca and make stops to ride a camel, visit the Temple of Luxor, and Valley of the Kings and Queens.

Cost: $2,247 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air fare from New York, accommodations, some meals and sightseeing. Contact: Jon Haggins, 306 W. 38th St., New York City, NY 10018; tel. (212) 563-2570.

Copper Canyon

Main Street Tours is offering an escorted tour of Mexico’s Copper Canyon National Park Sept. 22-27. Many parts of the canyon are accessible only by a railroad, which snakes along canyon walls, dropping from the rim of the Tarahumara Mountains at about 12,000 feet to sea level in 112 miles, passing through 87 tunnels along the way. It has been home to the Tarahumara Indians for almost 2,000 years. The group will stay overnight in Los Mochis, El Fuerte and three nights in Copper Canyon.

Cost: $1,225 per person, double occupancy including air fare, 15 meals and Spanish-speaking guide. Contact: Main Street Tours, 1751 W. Torrance Blvd., Suite N. Torrance, CA 90501; tel. (310) 212-0791.

Sail, She Wrote

Spend eight days afloat and ashore in London with mystery writer Donald Bain of the “Murder, She Wrote” book series. Bain will lead a five-day transatlantic mystery cruise aboard Cunard’s QE2, departing from New York to England May 28. Passengers will participate in discussions with Bain, to help him develop the plot for the next book in the series, and employ their sleuthing skills to solve a mystery acted out on board.

Cost: from $3,448 per person, double occupancy including the cruise, return air fare to New York, on-board activities, three nights’ hotel accommodations, breakfast daily in London, a half-day London sightseeing tour, tickets to a theater performance, a tour of famous London crime scenes, a fish and chips supper, transfers, porterage, and hotel and guide gratuities. Contact: Coronado Travel, tel. (800) 227-1244.

Jewish Heritage

The University of Judaism will co-sponsor a Jewish heritage tour of Poland Sept. 25 to Oct. 3. The visit will encompass guided tours to Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, exploring Jewish roots and meeting with Poles and some of the Jewish residents of Poland today.

Cost: $2,385 per person, double occupancy, including air fare, hotels, guided motor-coach tours and most meals. Contact: Eclectic Tours, tel. (310) 657-1802.

French Wines

A 13-night wine tour of France led by Robert Lawrence Balzer leaves Sept. 13 and begins with a tour of Paris. Participants then take a motor coach to Champagne country to visit champagne cellers and local churches and museums. The next region is Burgundy and the Rhone Valley to tour vineyards and villages. A stop is made in Bordeaux to see the harvest of Sauvingon Blanc and in Cognac to visit a distillery.

Cost: $4,395 per person, double occupancy, including hotels, most meals and sightseeing. Not included: air fare to France. Contact: Francis Reps, Presidential Worldwide Travel, 28197 Manchuca, Mission Viejo, CA 92692; tel. (714) 380-0849.

Plenty o’ Green

A decorative arts tour of private homes in Ireland leaves Sept. 11 and returns Sept. 25. Private luncheons and receptions are held in grand settings, such as the Kildare Hotel and Country Club in County Kildare and Birr Castle in County Offaly. Designers from Ireland will give information on architecture and furniture. Guests also will have a chance to golf, fish and sightsee. The tour begins in Dublin and departs from Shannon Airport.

5,900 per person, double occupancy, including limousine from airport, motor-coach transportation, tour guide, baggage handling and most meals. Not included: air fare to Ireland. Contact: Patsy Malone, Ireland Behind the Scenes, P.O. Box 50812, Montecito, CA 93150; tel. (805) 969-4331.

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