RHEIMS: ANCIENT TO ART DECO - VIA PARIS Thursday-Saturday 28-30 June 2007. **CLOSING DATE - 14th MAY.

Champagne capital, with its magnificent Gothic cathedral where French kings were crowned, Reims has a familiar name yet, although so close to Paris (45 mins on the new TGV), despite its UNESCO World Heritage sites, it is surprisingly under explored. The Roman 3c. Porte de Mars, the 18c Place Royale, the baroque Jesuit college and art nouveau buildings survived but the bombardment in the Great War resulted in a wealth of Art Deco architecture created in the 1920s with, arguably, some of the finest interiors of the era in France with vivid stained-glass, mosaics, murals and sculpture: the grand theatre stunningly embellished by Edgar Brandt, the sumptuous Carnegie Library, and the 17c. town hall with its impressive 1928 interiors. The great Romanesque basilica of St Rémi, the excellent Beaux Arts Museum which has works from Cranach to the Impressionists, a decorative arts museum, a church decorated by Lalique & Maurice Denis serving a garden-city, a chapel decorated by Foujita, a moderne market-hall, a small museum in Eisenhower's war room where the Germans signed the act of surrender 8 May 1945, a vintage-car museum and 1930s brasseries, Reims has much to offer. Travel to Paris by Eurostar is actually cheaper booked individually so I propose own travel (Thurs: dep. Waterloo 08.13/Sat: dep. Gare du Nord 18.16, or an opportunity to extend your visit: lots of current exhibitions in Paris!). **Hotel 2 nights b & b, local travel & TGV, entries, 2 dinners, £299 + srs £42

LYONS & Le Corbusier Wed-Sat 24 - 27 October 2007 **CLOSING DATE 30 June.

Second city of France, Lyon is so often bypassed yet has more to offer than any French city outside Paris. A major Beaux-Arts museum, an important decorative arts museum in an 18c. building designed by Soufflot with the unique Textiles museum nearby, a majestic 17c. town hall, splendid squares with monumental fountains, a picturesque mediaeval & Renaissance quarter, impressive 19c architecture including the hill-top basilica with its vivid mosaics, by contrast there are extensive Roman remains. With the grandest Art Deco brasserie in all France, major modernist buildings by Roux-Spitz and the influential Tony Garnier in his home city, and Villeurbanne with its moderne civic centre, utterly redolent of the 1930s. The Cité Internationale by Renzo Piano with its contemporary arts museum, is one of the latest attractions of this vibrant city with works by Calatrava, Mario Botta, Jean Nouvel and Corb's famous La Tourette monastery. The vintage car museum has those of Hitler, and de Gaulle. Flight, **Hotel 3 nights b & b, local travel, certain meals, entries, £499 + £57 srs.

VALENCIA: Wed-Sun 7-11 **CLOSING DATE 30 June Nov 2007.

Third city of Spain with 300 days of sun per annum, it has become one of the most exciting and energetic cities of the 21c. on the Mediterranean with spectacular, futuristic architecture by Calatrava, Norman Foster int al, created around its lovely mediaeval and baroque Old City of honey-coloured stone with attractive squares and fountains. Its notable Fine Arts, Ceramics and atmospheric fin-de-siècle artist's house-museums are now joined by glittering, new high-tech museums near the port and beaches. With its lively cafés, smart restaurants, chic boutiques and impressive Modernista architecture with vivid ceramic decoration, notably the most splendid and colourful market-hall in all Spain, Valencia is the destination to raise the spirits. Flight & hotel schedules awaited but provisional price: Flight and 4 nights ***hotel b & b, etc : £575 + £79 srs.

PREVIEW FOR WINTER/SPRING 2008

In the planning for Winter/Spring 2008: Tangiers & Fez, Istanbul & Ankara, Palermo & Syracuse, Arles & Avignon, Rotterdam Moderne.