Adventures and Events

• Dates: May 21-28, 2025 (France in 9 Days, 7 Nights in Destination)
Option to add up to 3 nights to your stay
• Cost: (INCLUDES flights - rates subject to change)
Single Occupancy - $3,299
Double Occupancy - $5.398
• Details: Click here for full details and to request a quote.
Can't make this date - more dates are available.

See more info below. If you have any questions, you can email Claudette@ClaudetteTravels.com.

Experience France on a complete historical tour! Start in Paris, then journey to the stunning castles of the Loire Valley. Next, visit Mont-Saint-Michel before exploring the World War II landing beaches in Normandy. Cap off your epic French adventure with a delightful cheese-tasting experience! ~Claudette

INCLUDES:

• All flights
• Accommodations
• Some transfers
• Activities
• Breakfast

- - - View Complete Details and BOOK - - -

This is a joint event with Eastside Social Club and Seattle Social and Getaways, My guests will be those signed up in other groups.

Our friends at PhotoFly Travel Club ( https://www.photoflytravel.com/) an exotic adventure to one of the world's natural wonderlands!

May 22nd - May 28th, 2025

Go here to sign up: https://photoflytravel.org/tour/galapagos-small-group-tours/

Email us at joinus@photoflytravel.com for the daily itinerary!

The Galapagos is an “up-market” destination but fortunately we’ve been able to create something special at an amazing value! Take a look at the details below and you will see that our small group trip is arguably the best deal out there!

• 7 days
• 3 nights/4 days on Santa Cruz
• 3 nights/4 days on private motor yacht
• 6 breakfasts, 5 lunches, 4 dinners
• Round-trip domestic flight to/from Galapagos
• All snorkel gear

Part 1: Santa Cruz Island & Nearby Gems

Santa Cruz is the most important island in the Galapagos archipelago with the only substantial port town of Puerto Ayora. From white sand beaches teeming with endemic marine iguana, lush highlands where the giant tortoises still roam, turtle coves, thriving reefs, ancient calderas, and sea birds

• Highlands & Tortoise Reserve: Walk into the forest overgrown with lichens, ferns, and tortoises; the pond at El Chato is surrounded by forest teeming with birdlife
• Charles Darwin Research Station: Founded in 1959, it has a Natural History Interpretation Centre and carries out educational projects in support of the Galapagos National Park Service.

Day Boat Excursions

For our two days staying on Santa Cruz, we’ll head off island on exciting day trips via boat and in search of biological wonders!

• Santa Fe Island - White Sands, Cacti, & Giant Iguanas: White sand beaches surrounded by sea lion colonies lined with endemic cactus forests is just one appeal to this natural wonderland.
• South Plaza Islet - Land of Red & Yellow: An impressive cactus forest where colorful yellow and red land iguanas live will be our introduction to this small landmass.
• North Seymour Island: Formed by a series of underwater volcanic eruptions, this island is the home to large nesting colonies of blue-footed boobies, great frigate birds, and swallow-tailed gulls.

Part II: Private Luxury Yacht Island Hopping

Our next experience is very special. We’ll board our very own private cruising yacht and embark on a journey throughout the eastern Galapagos Islands. Aboard the Coral I or Coral II, we’ll live in the perfect combination of classic beauty and exquisite style. Built in Holland, the ship surpasses all the standards you would expect from a high-class yacht, providing a slightly larger than average cruising vessel while maintaining the friendly atmosphere of a small expedition yacht.

Every cabin features handsome wood decoration, along with air-conditioning, a private bathroom, safe deposit box, telephone, and more. Additionally, the boat has plenty of room to relax with three sundecks (some shaded), a jacuzzi, comfortable dining room, and lounge.

• Dragon Hill: Bright, pink flamingos thrive as we walk by a brackish lagoon to the trail which leads across typical dry zone vegetation. Dragon Hill is an important nesting ground for endemic land iguanas, not to mention incredible views & photograph opportunities of the anchored boats and neighboring islands at the top.
• Bartolome Island: Enroute to the summit, impressive views of the surrounding islands, including the eroded tuff cone Pinnacle Rock make for incredible & iconic panoramic photographs. Next, we’ll make our way down to the beach for snorkeling and a chance to see the famous Galapagos penguins, sea turtles, and white-tipped reef sharks among a great variety of colorful fish.
• Rabida Island: Dark-red sand covers the unique beaches of Rabida, home to thriving sea lions colonies. This island is considered the epicenter of the Galapagos due to the diversity of its volcanic geology.
• Santiago Island & Espumilla Beach: This is an amazing location due to the remains of an eroded shoreline, home to seabirds, fur seals, and playful Galapagos sea lions. The white, sandy Espumilla Beach nearby is in James Bay where mangroves and a small palo santo forest lead to salty-water lagoons home to wading birds like pink flamingos.
• Black Turtle Cove: Back on the north shore of Santa Cruz Island and accessible only by sea, four species of mangrove crowd and form an internal lagoon and turtle sanctuary where sea turtles visit the calm waters.

Don’t forget to email us for the day by day itinerary of these Galapagos small group tour (joinus@photoflytravel.com)

***

Join Us!

For our solo travelers, we pair you up with someone of the same sex unless single occupancy is requested.

Price: $4,795
Single Supplement: $1,595

Deposit: $600.00

Go here to sign up: https://photoflytravel.org/tour/galapagos-small-group-tours/

Time to head back to Whistler since we were there last in 2017. If you don't already have plans for the holiday weekend, come join us on this awesome road trip! I'm doing this as a motorcycle ride, but you can drive a car up, motorcycle not required, though recommended, LOL. This is a beautiful drive up the coast from Vancouver to Whistler and there are numerous waterfalls and amazing vistas to the ocean as well. Bring your bathing suit for the hot tub! Don't forget your Enhanced Driver's License or Passport to cross the border. ~Claudette

THE PLAN
Welcome to come up on Friday with me or on your own on Saturday and stay as long as you'd like.
DAY 1 - If you'd like to follow the bikes, this is our route: https://maps.app.goo.gl/8P15993SGWZ9QcBY7 4:05 214 miles
We're meeting in Costco and plan to stop in Squamish, BC
Evening - Grab dinner together
DAY 2 - Hang out in the Village, grab lunch and/or dinner together
DAY 3 - Welcome to join the bikes for a road trip out to Pemberton, maybe out to Lillooet and Cache Creek.
Afternoon - Stop at a winery we visited on our last trip for lunch or elsewhere - open to suggestions
Evening - Grab dinner together
DAY 4 - Head home on same route, I'll look into punching it up - thanks Destination Highways BC!

LODGINGS
I have a great place for us, staying in Whistler Village. Get your own studio apartment room (w/ private jacuzzi tub, limited few with balconies) for under $125 a night (includes taxes and fees, sleeps up 2 or 4 ppl with Murphy bed). 2 bedroom units, sleeping up to 6, are available. Space is subject to change. Paid parking available.
BOOK HERE!

This is a joint event with Lady Riders and Seattle Riders motorcycle groups, along with Eastside Social Club, Seattle Social and Getaways, and Bon Voyage. My guests are people signed up in the other invited groups.

May 23 - June 1, 2025

Travel friends at PhotoFly Travel Club ( http://www.photoflytravel.com/ ) are bringing back their adventure to Japan!

See details below and email joinus@photoflytravel.com for the daily itinerary!

Sign-up: https://photoflytravel.org/tour/japan-group-tours/

Our Japan group tours are chock full of diverse activities including unique cultural experiences, fantastic landscapes, and all the beautiful temples and architecture which make Japan so iconic.

• 9 nights/10 days
• Breakfast daily
• 1 Lunch, 3 Dinners (Welcome & Farewell Dinner)

Tokyo: 2 Nights

The never-ending hustle and bustle of the city creates an energy that is quite contagious.

Highlights:

• Privately guided tour through parts of Tokyo

– Akihabara: otherworldly place filled with bizarre Japanime, neon signs, and streets & alleys lined with vendors.
- Asakusa Kanon Temple (Sensoji Temple): See and photography Tokyo’s oldest and most famous Buddhist Temple.
– Meiji Shrine: Named for a dynastic ruler from the Meiji period in Japanese history, thus making the shrine one of Tokyo’s most famous landmarks.

Takayama: 2 Nights

The Japanese Alps & Takayama

Central Honshū is home to the Northern Japanese Alps and Japan’s heartland. Boasting some of Japan’s most magnificent peaks and dramatic scenery, the Northern Alps are truly spectacular!

Highlights:

• Shin-Hotaka no Yu Hot Springs: Open air hot spring is in a beautiful setting
• Hirayu Great Falls: This magnificent waterfall is over 200 ft tall and 20 ft across.
• Kamikochi Valley: Inside Chubu-Sangaku National Park, this highland area is home to an amazing walk through lightly forested areas with ponds, macaque monkeys, and curving river with the mountains as a back-drop.

Takayama lies in the heart of the Hida Mountains. Established in the 16th century as a castle town of the Kanamori family, it’s now famous throughout Japan for its old town area of narrow streets containing many well-preserved inns, tea houses, shops and merchants houses.

Highlights:

• Privately guided tour
• Takayama Morning Market: On the bank of the Miyagawa River, the market is fun to observe stands selling local farm produce, flowers and crafts.
• Takayama’s Old Town : Visit and photograph Takayama Jinya, the old government house.
• Optional Hida Folk Village Tour: This open air museum exhibits over 30 traditional houses from the Hida region, the mountainous district of Gifu Prefecture around Takayama.

Hiroshima & Charming Miyajima Island: 1 Night

Despite its tragic past, Hiroshima is now a bustling and vibrant city which has risen phoenix-like from the ashes.

Hiroshima:

*Privately guided tour
– Memorial Peace Park, Museum, & A-Bomb Dome: Experience the poignant reminder that caused Hiroshima’s fame.

Miyajima Island is small sacred island located in the Inland Sea. It has been a holy place of Shintoism since the earliest times.

– Vermilion Torii Gate & Itsukushima Shrine in Miyajima: After a ferry ride to this sacred island we’ll visit the world famous vermilion torii gate at this UNESCO World Heritage Site. Miyajima is one of Japan’s three most scenic places.

Kyoto: 4 nights

Home to 17 UNESCO World Heritage sites, over 1,600 Buddhist temples and 400 Shinto shrines, this ancient city showcases the heart and soul of traditional Japan.

Highlights:

• Privately guided tour

– Kinkakuji Temple (Golden Pavillion): Covered with 18 carat gold leaf, this incredible building was originally built by the Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu in 1397.
- Okochi Mountain Villa: Form residence of a film star, this famous villa consists of several beautiful gardens and buildings, including living quarters, tea houses, and a meditation hall.
– Monkey Park Iwatayama: We’ll meander up a small hill to reach the park with a nice overlook filled with macaques.
– Gion District & Optional Geisha Cultural Exchange: Walk through the sleepy district where geisha come from all over the country to train. For those interested (not included) we’ll get to have an incredible experience in a local house with a geisha for a cultural exchange and private photo shoot.
– Fushimi Inari Shrine: Filled with thousands of vermilion gates, this hillside complex and temple is enormous and beautiful

• All transfers, rail tickets, public transit, entry fees, taxies and activities as listed in the itinerary included
• International airfare is not included - flying into Narita International Airport in Tokyo (NRT) and departing from Kansai International Airport (KIX) in Osaka.

Email us at joinus@photoflytravel.com for the daily itinerary!

Join Us!

Solo travelers will be paired with same sex unless single occupancy is requested.

Price: $3,995
Single Supplement: $915

Deposit: $600

Sign-up: https://photoflytravel.org/tour/japan-group-tours/