France April 27 - May 9. We have had several Gale One tours that were Great, but not this one. Basically the accommodations and land travel were not acceptable. Sights were wonderful. First, the Bus was too small for such a long trip. When sitting, my knees hit back of seat in front of me. No space for legs or anything else. Very cramped. Could not use pouch on back of seat in front of me. Overhead bin was very tiny. Secondly, Most Hotels, especially Mercure hotel chain were terrible. No air or windows in the rooms. Asked for fan but not always available. Hotel in Bordeaux was the worst. 1 of 2 elevators not working; very hot in room; no relief in sight; meals too sparse. The only decent hotel was in Lourdes where we could open the window. We understand that air-conditioning is infrequent in Europe, but for the price we pay, Gate One can find better places to stay and still be in center of cities. Tour guide was very nice but seemed uninformed. Gate One tour guides for Greece, Morocco and Sicily were tremendous comparably. Some of her facts about castles etc. differ from most tour books. She needs to use a script as her English is too halted for being a guide. She seemed to often pause mid-sentence thinking for the next word. She frequently asked tourists for the correct word to use. Poor idea to show two 50-year-old irrelevant movies in the bus. Could not see subtitles unless sitting in first 2-3 rows near the screens. We were looking for more history about the country, artists, music, Resistance movement during WWII, French influence around the world, why Paris selected for so many international treaties, etc. Several lunch rest stops were at gas stations. We were captive for expensive, lousy food. It would have been nice to know this a day or two in advance so that we could purchase food elsewhere & bring it with us on those days.In closing, we like Gate One generally and have several friends who used them per our recommendation. Not sure I would suggest it again. Thank you for your opportunity to reply here.
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