View France Through the Eyes of an Artist

To commemorate the centenary of the death of artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Travel Plans International is offering “The Toulouse-Lautrec Legacy” tour, which departs monthly through October 2002. The five-night excursion starts in Montmartre, the once-seedy artists’ haunt in Paris, and includes a show at the Moulin Rouge.

Next is a journey by super-fast TGV train to Bordeaux, where the group will spend an afternoon exploring sites where the artist vacationed and lived the last winter of his life.

From Bordeaux the tour continues to Albi, where he spent his boyhood and where the bulk of his work now is displayed.

En route to Albi is a stop at a garden that specializes in vegetables popular during the Lautrec period, such as sorrel and nettles. There will be a luncheon styled after a meal that might have been prepared by the painter, who also was an accomplished chef. In the afternoon is a tour of Chateau de Malrome (owned by the artist’s mother), where Lautrec died in 1901. There is also a stop at Verdelais to visit Lautrec’s tomb.

Cost: $2,440 per person, double occupancy, including lodging, meals and airport transfers. Air fare is extra.

Contact: Travel Plans International, 1200 Harger Road, Oak Brook, IL 60523; telephone (800) 323-7600, https://www.travelplansintl.com.

Bhutan, India: On Foot

Bhutan expert and travel author Bruce Kirkby (“Sand Dance: By Camel Across Arabia’s Great Southern Desert,” 2001) is leading a moderately active trip to the Himalayan country of Bhutan and to India from Oct. 1 to 13.

Butterfield & Robinson’s “Bhutan and Darjeeling Walking Expedition” begins in northern India, where travelers will walk the green hills of Darjeeling’s tea plantations, then absorb the scenery of Sikkim en route to Kalimpang, where ancient footpaths lead to mountain monasteries. The ultimate destination is Bhutan and its artisans’ villages, ancient fortresses and pristine meadows with mountain views. The 13-day journey is designed for travelers who want to get deep into the country’s culture, touring rarely visited monasteries and encountering local people along the trail.

Cost: $6,250 per person, double occupancy, including hotels, all meals, entrance fees and guides. Other departure dates are available with other tour guides. Air fare is extra.

Contact: Butterfield & Robinson, tel. (800) 678-1147, https://www.butterfield.com.

Bahamas: Holidays

Regal Cruises is celebrating Halloween and Thanksgiving with two cruises to the Bahamas on the 900-passenger Regal Empress, departing Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Oct. 29 and Nov. 17, respectively.

Passengers are invited to pack costumes for the ship’s Halloween stop on the island of San Salvador, the reputed first landfall of Christopher Columbus on his initial voyage of discovery in 1492. Local attractions include the ruins of Farquharson Plantation, known locally as Blackbeard’s Castle, and Watling’s Castle, former home of the buccaneer George Watling.

The following day is spent on Eleuthera, an island of colonial villages and pineapple plantations. Nassau, the hub of the Bahamas, is the final port before returning to Fort Lauderdale.

The five-night Halloween fares range from $419 to $949 per person, double occupancy; the seven-night Thanksgiving cruise, $619 to $1,419. Port charges and taxes are included, but air fare and land excursions are extra.

For reservations, contact a travel agent. For information, contact Regal Cruises, P.O. Box 1329, Palmetto, FL 34220; tel. (800) 270-7245, https://www.regalcruises.com.

China, Japan: Traditions

This fall, Journeys East, a California-based tour company, will offer a two-week trip that follows the path of East Asian culture across 12 centuries from its roots in China to its reinvention in Japan. Called “Tracing Traditions: From China to Japan,” this tour offers participants a new perspective on the history and culture of Asia by meeting with masters and providing hands-on experience in the arts of painting, architecture, garden design, calligraphy, ceramics and more. Departures are Nov. 3, and Nov. 2, 2002.

The 15-day trip begins in Hong Kong, where participants get tips on how to appreciate Chinese painting. Moving on to the mainland, travelers taste tea with tea farmers, practice tai chi at dawn and learn calligraphy from a master near Hangzhou’s West Lake. Other highlights include learning about herbal medicine at a 200-year-old Chinese apothecary, walking along the old canals of a remote village, visiting a classical garden with Suzhou’s premier landscape architect, and learning about Chinese music.

After flying to Kyoto, participants will discover how these traditions developed into new forms of expression in Japan. Tour members will sit for zazen meditation and discuss religion with a priest at a Zen monastery in Kyoto, view paintings evolved from Chinese Buddhist traditions and meet a ceramic artist working in celadon, which originated in China and Korea. Participants will see an incense ceremony and learn how incense was introduced from China and developed into a sophisticated Japanese art form.

Cost: $5,500 per person, including lodging, all meals except one dinner in Kyoto, and all transfers in China and Japan. Air fare is extra.

Contact: Journeys East, P.O. Box 1161-T, Middletown, CA 95461; tel. (800) 527-2612 or (707) 987-4531, https://www.journeyseast.com.

Oman: Old Arabia

Travelers can sample the authentic flavors of old Arabia in Oman, the fabled home port of Sinbad the Sailor. Worlds Apart, a company specializing in travel in the Middle East, has an Oct. 23-Nov. 3 tour to Oman that includes a four-wheel-drive exploration and three nights of desert and beach camping.

The journey begins in the old trading port of Muscat, which has a sultan’s palace and an ancient harbor cradled by mountains. Moving south, travelers will explore fishing villages and hidden coves on Oman’s scenic coastline and see how dhows, traditional Omani sailboats, are constructed by hand. A dhow ride takes the group to Ras al Hadd, the easternmost point on the Arabian Peninsula, for a night of camping near a sea turtle sanctuary.

Moving inland, travelers will camp in the desert and visit with Bedouins. Cost: from $3,495 per person, double occupancy, including accommodations, many meals and guides. Air fare is extra.

Contact: Worlds Apart; tel. (510) 836-2952, https://www.worldsapart.org.

Turkey: Crafts

People who appreciate folk art, textiles, handcrafted beads, embroidery, antique carpets, rural scenery and archeological sites will find them all on a trip to Turkey from Oct. 20 to Nov. 3. Travelers will go to remote villages for private meetings with expert potters, carpet weavers, woodworkers and ceramists who work in traditional ways.

The journey begins in Bodrum, a coastal town that is the center of the Turkish art community. Nearby are craft villages seldom visited by foreigners.

The group will visit the ruins of Ephesus, a well-preserved classical city; Buldan, known for its cotton fabric; and Afyon to shop for authentic antique clothing. The tour also stops in Cappadocia and Konya. In Istanbul, tourists will meet with a master textile artist in his home and a calligraphy artist whose work is in museums worldwide.

Cost: $3,487 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air fare from New York, internal air fare, all hotels, breakfast and lunch or dinner daily, private motor coach and expert folk art guide.

Contact: Specialty World Travel, tel. (800) 242-2346, https://www.specialtyworldtravel.com.

France: Hill Towns

The treasures of the French Riviera are not limited to the coast. The hills of the hinterland will be explored on a photography tour Oct. 5 to 14.

Back-country hilltop villages, some of which date to the 10th century, will be visited, including St. Paul de Vence, Grasse, Mougins (where Picasso spent his last years), Peille and Tourrettes-sur-Loup. Also on the itinerary are the Italian border town of Menton, the picturesque Mediterranean villages of Roquebrune and Eze, and St. Tropez. The group will get help from experts with photographing the vivid fall colors.

Cost: $2,100 per person, double occupancy, including accommodations, breakfast, four dinners, ground transportation and tuition. Air fare, film and processing are extra.

Contact: France Photogenique, 3920 W. 231st Place, Torrance, CA 90505; tel. (310) 378-2821.

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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.