France Heats Up With Cooking, Cuisine Tour

A culinary adventure featuring French foods and wines will be led by David Lebovitz, a pastry chef and author of the cookbook “Room for Dessert,” and Anne Block of Take My Mother Please Tours, from Sept. 6 to 13. Participants will be welcomed to Bordeaux at a reception in a private home in the heart of the old city.

French chef Jean-Pierre Moulle will introduce Bordeaux’s gastronomic specialty shops, with samples of the region’s cheeses, chocolates and pastries. Lunches and dinners will be in restaurants known for regional specialties, such as cassoulet, and foods of the nearby Pyrenees.

On market day, the chef will show participants how to choose local fresh ingredients. Then he will teach a cooking class with a lesson in wine tasting at the family estate, Chateau La Louviere. An excursion to Sauternes includes tastings in the countryside, picnicking at a farmhouse surrounded by vineyards and a visit to Chateau d’Yquem, where one of the world’s costliest wines is made.

In Paris, participants will visit cookware shops and go to the Left Bank for a demonstration in the workshop of celebrity chocolatier Pierre Herme. A day trip to Normandy is also planned.

Cost: $3,750 per person, double occupancy, including hotel, daily breakfast, welcome reception, some meals, private tastings, demonstrations, chef’s cooking class in Bordeaux, train tickets to Paris and guided excursions. Group size is limited to 12. Air fare is not included.

Contact: Take My Mother Please Tours; (323) 737-2200, www.takemymotherplease.com.

France: Drawing

One of the world’s greatest concentrations of Upper Paleolithic art (dating from 15,000 to 27,000 years ago) can be found in limestone caves in southwestern France. Art fans can take drawing and watercolor lessons at the sites of the caves on a trip from June 14 to 28 with instructors Richard Lang and Judith Selby.

Lascaux Cave II, the Cave of Pech Merle and the Cave of Font-de-Gaume will be visited, as well as medieval villages, castles of the Dordogne River valley and gardens.

The trip begins with an overnight in Toulouse and ends in Bordeaux. Artists will also explore the Quercy Blanc region of southwestern France. Accommodations will be in a private manor home in the Perigord region.

Beginner to professional levels of art skill are welcome.

Cost: $4,595 per person, double occupancy, including accommodations, most meals, all transfers and ground transportation within France, excursions, guest lecturers, art instruction and guides. Three units of UC Santa Cruz Extension credit are available. Air fare is extra.

Contact: Carol Duchamp at Art Trek; (888) 522-2652, www.arttreks.com.

Amalfi Coast and Sicily

A 15-day tour of the Amalfi Coast and Sicily, Italy, departs Oct. 1 with retired professor Alberto Benzi. He will conduct lectures on the art and archeological treasures at each stop.

The itinerary begins in Naples with visits to the Archeological Museum, the Royal Palace and the San Carlo Opera House. The tour proceeds along the Amalfi Coast to Sorrento, Pompeii, Positano and Ravello, with a visit to the gardens of the Ruffolo and Cimbrone villas.

One highlight will be a mini-cruise from Amalfi to Positano and Capri, offering a view of the Amalfi Coast.

The tour continues through Calabria to the Strait of Messina for a boat ride to Sicily. On the island, participants will visit the Greek theaters and archeological sites of Taormina, Syracuse and Agrigento.

Cost: $3,895 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air fare from Los Angeles to Naples, first-class hotels, daily breakfasts and dinners, bus and motorboat transportation, entrance fees and tips.

Contact: Professor Benzi Cultural Tours; (858) 454-1434.

Yellowstone: Field Trips

National Park Lodges and the Yellowstone Assn. Institute are teaming up to offer a four-day educational program in the park featuring naturalist-led field trips by day, interpretive programs at night, meals in the historic Roosevelt Lodge dining room and accommodations in the Roughrider cabins, which have wood stoves and washstands.

Presto logs in a wood-burning stove will be provided for heat. Bathrooms with private showers are in a separate building a short walk from the cabins.

Called the “Roosevelt Rendezvous,” the program will be offered every five days during September beginning Sept. 5. Institute naturalists will offer a selection of field trips, including wildlife-watching excursions, interpretive driving tours and natural history hikes.

Cost: $458 per person, double occupancy, including lodging, all meals and field trips. Air fare to Bozeman, Mont., transportation from the airport and taxes are extra.

Contact: Yellowstone Assn. Institute; (307) 344-2294, www.wolftracker.com.

Canada: Hikes

Something’s Afoot of Toronto is offering three- and six-day tours on foot in Ontario throughout the summer and early fall. The six-day trip includes a hike in the Niagara Falls area, with a ride on the Maid of the Mist boat and visits to wineries. The per-person, double-occupancy price is $1,240. The three-day version is $615.

Another six-day option is a hike that follows the Rideau Canal from Ottawa to Kingston and includes a Thousand Islands boat ride. This excursion costs $1,120 per person, double occupancy. There are frequent departure dates for all the excursions.

Air fare is not included in trip prices. Fees cover nights in small inns, all meals, guides, van support, baggage handling, admissions and tips.

Contact: Something’s Afoot; (416) 695-1838, www.niagarafallslive.com.

Turkey: With the Works

A journey through the great empires of Turkey with Luis Gardenas, a retired judge and an expert on Roman and Greek antiquities, will run Sept. 4 to 18.

The trip starts in Antalya on Turkey’s Turquoise Coast with a tour of the archeological museum. After Perga and Aspendus the group will take a boat ride to Olimpos, with its Roman-era temples, baths and necropolis in a jungle-like setting. Also planned: Phaselis, Pamukkale to see the Hierapolis curative baths, Kusadasi, the oracle center in Anatolia, Ephesus and Troy.

In Istanbul, participants will visit the Turkish Islamic Art Museum, St. Sophia, Topkapi Palace, Chora Church, the Blue Mosque and the archeological museum.

Cost: $3,890 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air fare from Los Angeles, ground transportation, accommodations, two meals per day, entrance fees, transfers, baggage handling and taxes.

Contact: EastWest International Tours; (800) 359-6719, www.east west-tours.com.

Northern Europe: Cruise

During June, July and August the Seabourn Pride will sail the waters of Northern Europe on 13-night itineraries. Seabourn’s “Baltics and Russia” cruises will leave and return to London and call at Hamburg, Germany; Tallinn, Estonia; St. Petersburg, Russia; and Stockholm.

The ship will spend three days in St. Petersburg, allowing time for passengers to visit palaces and museums. In Tallinn, a shore excursion will include a concert by musicians in period costumes at Kadriorg Palace.

Cost: from $8,314 per person, double occupancy, including all meals and some excursions. Air fare to London is extra.

Contact: GalaxSea Cruises and Tours; (480) 998-7606.

Austria: Music

Herzerl Tours of Tuckahoe, N.Y., will take music fans to places associated with Austrian classical music.

The year-round tours will start in Salzburg, where Mozart’s birthplace and home will be visited and his opera “The Magic Flute” heard at the marionette theater.

Then the Joseph Haydn museum will be visited and a chamber concert heard. The group will then take a bus to St. Florian to visit the Anton Bruckner museum. In the capital, Vienna, tourgoers will attend a Vienna State Opera performance and visit the House of Music and places associated with Beethoven, Schubert and other composers.

Cost: $2,495 per person, double occupancy, including air fare from New York, six nights’ hotel accommodations, all breakfasts, many meals, entrance fees and guides. Air fare to New York is extra.

Contact: Herzerl Tours; (800) 684-8488, www.herzerltours.com.

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