Newsletter - March 2017

Greetings from Robbi and Jim

A warm welcome to all of the members of our Aroma Tours Newsletter in over 30 countries around the world.

Robbi and I are excited to be finalizing the details for the beginning of another wonderful season of Aroma Tours adventures this May in the beautiful Spanish spring with our Flavours of Spain Tour and Spanish Gourmet Pilgrimage and it always delights us to begin the mental journey that leads up to our actual departure.

After 23 wonderful years, as contemplate throttling back on the number of tours we will be offering, Robbi and I feel truly blessed to once again be sharing our passion for the fabulous places and experiences that we love, with delightful people from around the world.

This year is all set to be another fabulous tour season with almost all of our tours now down to the last few places! As always, it is our returning guests and their friends who are leading this fabulous response.

• There are a few places still available in Spain, Provence, Italy and Bali, and if you would like to "seize the day" and journey with us this year, we invite you to visit our information request page for more details or our booking request page to reserve your place.

Aroma Travellers Our Thanks

Without doubt, the main reason that we have grown and flourished over the years, is the on-going support we have received from our past Aroma Travellers and we are once again thrilled to see that they will be making up over 60% of our guests!

We would also like to give our heart-felt thanks to all of you who continue to support us with your kind words and referrals.

Robbi and I also greatly appreciate the wonderful words of thanks we have received over the years and have added a new compilation of Guest Comments to our site.

A Feast of Photos and Memories

We have well over one hundred thousand photos in our archives and it is always a delight for us to spend a little time reminiscing about the wonderful times we have shared with our Aroma Tours guests.

With that in mind we have gathered up a few photos of our recent adventures so that you can share pictorially in some of the lovely moments that we enjoyed with our Aroma Travellers during our journeys together.

We invite you to join us to explore some of these wonderful places, people and experiences with us and take your own "selfie" memories.

• For more details please visit our tour information page and if you would like to share a wonderful adventure with us in beautiful Provence, you can reserve your place via our make a reservation page

Survivor Provence - The Musical

During our Heart of Provence Tour as we sat in yet another beautiful restaurant enjoying a long, leisurely lunch, our dear friend and driver that year Bill Bachman, came up with the amusing idea of "Survivor Provence".

We all decided that if Provence was to be the "ordeal" to be endured, especially with such fine company, we were all ready to sign up!

As our discussion continued Frank one of our guests from Rockville USA who was writing and producing a musical back in the states decided that "Survivor Provence" had to be presented as a musical.

As fate would have it, that year in Provence was blessed with many musical moments for us to enjoy from the "Fete de la Musique", to wonderful jazz performances in the ruins of an old chateau, a big band concert in a beautiful winery, choral ensembles, blues and gypsy swing bands and a colourful traditional Provencale parade with dancers and folk music.

At the end of our tour Frank wrote a lovely impromptu piece to the tune of Bob Hope's famous signature song "Thanks for the Memories" - thank you indeed!

Our Current Booking Status

Bookings for our 2017 season are continuing wonderfully well with almost all of our tours now down to the last few places and several soon to be fully booked.

Robbi and I hope to have the pleasure of welcoming you and we invite you to get in touch with us shortly for further information or if you would like to secure your place.

The current booking status at the time of this newsletter is:-

• For detailed information about any of our tours please visit our tour information page and if you would like to join us please visit our make a reservation page.
• It is our pleasure to assist you with any questions you may have and we invite you to get in touch with us at [email protected]. 

Please note

• Our up-to-the-minute booking status is available via our calendar page

• If the tour you would like to attend becomes fully booked, please let us know if you would like us to add you to the waiting list for that tour in case a place becomes available due to a cancellation.

Provence Aromatherapy Retreat

In addition to our delightful gastronomic and cultural tours, we have for over 20 years been offering our fascinating special interest Provence Aromatherapy Retreat which has been attended by guests from over 30 different countries.

This year the retreat will be focusing on skin care and wellbeing with our world renowned trainers, Dr Bo Hengden, Megan Larsen ( Sodashi ) and Robbi Zeck ND, all set in a tiny hilltop village amongst the blooming lavender fields of Provence.

As always, our attendees will gain a great deal of knowledge from our wonderful trainers and local experts and will be empowered to make their own wonderful natural skin care and well being products for personal or professional use. We will also enjoy the beauty and culture of Provence, experience essential oil production from field to bottle, as well as sharing with other aromatherapists from around the world

• For more details please visit our information request page and if you would like to reserve one of the last 2 places please visit our booking request page

Photos of Tuscany by Susan Troxell

This time our Aroma Tours Photo Fest continues with a beautiful collection of photos taken by our dear friend and 9th time repeat Aroma Traveller Susan Troxell from New York City USA.

Susan has joined us for both of our Italian tours and was a prolific shutterbug throughout. As a result of the more than 700 photos that she has kindly shared with us, I thought it fitting that we should chronicle our Aroma Tours Italy adventures through Susan's lens.

Susan's endless enthusiasm, sense of fun and kind heartedness have always been very welcome on tour and her stunning photos give you a sense of the lovely places and experiences we share during our Aromas of Tuscany Tour

Tuscany and the Dolce Vita

We are greatly looking forward to sharing the beauty and bounty of autumn in Tuscany with our Aroma Travellers this September during our Aromas of Tuscany Tour.

As well as glorious countryside and nourishment for the eyes, life in Tuscany takes on a different pace with long lunches in beautiful hilltop villages, fabulous coffee, delicious wines, truffles, parmegiano cheese, porchini mushrooms, prosciutto, fresh pasta..... ( so many wonderful tastes ), laughter and the fine Italian art of "dolce fa niente" - sweet doing nothing!

Our journey is also about absorbing the richness and passion of Italian life and savouring its cultural heritage evident in the art, architecture, pageantry, festivals, fashion, design, craftsmanship and unique approach to living.

We are all destined to be transformed by the magic of this wonderful place - feeling more Italian moment by moment, speaking more enthusiastically, smiling broadly and even display a bit of emphatic hand waving!

• If you would like to join us this year as we explore Tuscany's perched villages, rolling hills, delicious food and wines, rich culture and joy of life we invite you visit our information request page for more details.

Travelling Solo in a Group

As well as couples and friends travelling together, we are regularly joined by solo travellers - mostly women, who appreciate being able to journey with liked minded people from around the world, without the need to do all the planning and take on the daunting task of touring by themselves.

Joining one of our small group tours is easy and we have already made all of the arrangements on your behalf to ensure that you have a delightful, stress-free holiday with the focus on having fun.

Having a ready-made group of friends to travel with, and us to take wonderful care of you is the way to go!

We have carefully crafted off-the-beaten-path itineraries that are the perfect balance of structure, experiences, details and free time to enjoy in your own way.

There have been a significant number of guests over the years who and have joined us multiple times, some of whom have become dear friends.

• Susan Troxell from NYC holds the record for the most tours attended by a solo traveller - she has journeyed with us 9 times!
• Mona Smith, pictured at the beginning of this snippet, is a close second and has joined us 8 times.

Our Invitation

Robbi and I look forward to welcoming you to one of our delightful tours or retreats as we continue moving towards our retirement in the next few years.

• For detailed information about any of our tours please visit our tour information page and if you would like to join us please visit our make a reservation page.
• As always if you have any questions or if you would like us to assist you personally with advice about your travel arrangements or with any other details please contact us at [email protected]

Warmest regards,

Jim and Robbi