French Country Adventures offers genuinely small group, all inclusive tours for no more than 6 people. Since the tour group size is very small, compatibility is essential. While updating my website I discovered I need to rephrase the reservation form to have clients answer pertinent and personal questions more truthfully, such as do you have physical or mental disabilities? Do you use a cane? Do you have hearing aids? Do you need a restroom often? Would your age, height or weight prevent you from participating in an activity on the itinerary? Does walking uphill over uneven cobblestone streets seem a challenge? Are you always late? Do you interrupt when others are talking? Why have you decided to come? What are your individual needs? What are your expectations?  Are you nervous or worried about traveling?

Before signing up for one of my recent tours a woman asked before filing out the reservation form, “Who are you? Why should I pay you all of this money?” As it turned out her ex-husband was a prison warden, but nonetheless It seemed only fair to give her an answer.

“Twenty years ago I started a monthly blog about living in France which is now read by Francophiles in over 80 countries and have written over a hundred articles of interest for print and online magazines. For more than 30 years my love of art history informed my work as an architectural, interior and landscape designer for my company, Insite Design, and as owner of Edenwild Inn B&B and Les Trois Amies Catering Company, I further honed my entrepreneurial and organizational skills by joyfully engaging with non-profit organizations supporting education, poetry and the arts. I chaired the Boards of The Northwest School and Gage Academy of Art, and was a member of the Board of Directors of Copper Canyon Press. It is a long way from the west coast of the United States, where I lived and yet decades of commitments, complex decisions and a variety of life experiences have brought me to the idyllic landscape of Gascony, in the Gers department of the Occitanie region in southwestern France. It has been an interesting and endlessly rewarding adventure.”  She filled out the form and paid her deposit. Equitably, since I’m redoing the reservation form for my clients, I’ve also created a new and updated MY STORY page.

What is more difficult to explain to future clients is tour guides are so much more than our biographies, We are teachers, psychologists, researchers, storytellers, and jugglers. We are adaptable, unflappable, tactful, empathetic, diplomatic, and ambassadors of the country through which we guide clients. Tour guides open your eyes with their knowledge of the things you cannot see, even when you are looking at them.

Sue Aran lives in the Gers department of southwest France. She is the owner of French Country Adventures, which provides private, personally-guided, small-group, slow travel tours into Gascony, the Pays Basque, Provence and beyond. She writes a monthly blog about her life in France and is a contributor to Bonjour Paris and France Today magazines. Slow Travel Tours is an affiliation of small-group tour operators who offer personalized trips in Italy, France, England and other European countries.

• French Country Adventures 2027 tour schedule will be available in a few weeks. If you’d like to be on my mailing list, please email me sue@frenchcounrtyadventures.com