Thank you for taking the time and trouble to write your review of your experience. Firstly, we are sorry that your experience was anything other than excellent, the standard that we strive to achieve.
Naturally, we are very pleased that you recognised the qualities of Helene as your guide – being someone who is by nature warm, welcoming and very friendly. Helene is qualified sommelier, with a passion for the wines of Provence, and we know that we can always count on her to give of her best on every tour that she leads.
On the specific points that you raise:
1. The van that you were driven is our back-up vehicle, and was only put into service due to a technical problem with one of our other vehicles. As you rightly say, it does have A/C, but it’s not the system is not very powerfull. This was of course exacerbated by the heat wave conditions that you rightly mention – over which we naturally have zero control. We are very sorry that you didn’t get to be in one of our “regular” fully A/C vehicles, as this seems to have been the single biggest problem on your day out with us. In the event – it was either use this vehicle, or be faced with having to postpone/cancel your tour – and perhaps we took the wrong option? Only you can judge that.
2. With regard to the cold platter lunch, this is provided and served by Chateau Saint Martin, to whom you paid the price of 27€. In the description of the tour, we say in the section “Not Included” [in the price of the tour] that “Lunch is available at one of the vineyards, or in a local medieval Provencal village - budget from 25€ per person.”
3. In previous seasons, the vast majority of our guests who have had the cold platter/buffet lunch at Saint Martin have enjoyed it. This is especially so, given that the fixed price also includes plenty of wine to accompany your lunch (your choice of the same Cru Classé wines that you have enjoyed during the tasting), desert and coffee. We will be raising the point that you make about the choice, variety and value-for-money with the owner of the vineyard, in order to help them to improve this offering. Naturally, we want our guests to feel fully satisfied with their lunch.
4. As far as the length of the tour is concerned, it is stated in the description that it lasts “8 to 9 hours”. The departure is at 09.30am as you said, so an 18.30 drop off time is not over-running the expected timetable. Obviously, there does have to be some flexibility built in to the timetable, as there are elements that we do not control – e.g. traffic conditions, weather, occasional late arrivals of guests at the morning pick-up, etc. However, we note your valid point about adapting the tour, in this case, to the weather conditions. Again, this is something that we do try to do as a matter of course when the circumstances require it.
If you come back to the Riviera again sometime, please do get in contact with us directly via our website and we’ll be delighted to suggest some other vineyards that you might like to visit, and also do everything in our power to ensure that you have the type of experience that is befitting a tour by Azur Wine Tours.
A bientôt!