Awaken the artist within during a nine-day tour of the City of Light.
The Nov. 11 Paris tour is designed for women in the creative arts. Participants will meet for discussions on the Left Bank near the spot where Gertrude Stein held her post-World War I salons.
“A big part of the trip is to help women expand their network,” said tour leader and former Paris resident Karen Kane, who will set up meetings with gallery owners and auditions for performing artists.
The group will tour places such as Dada artist Man Ray’s studio and Musee de la Vie Romantique, dedicated to writer George Sand. Participants will visit the Pompidou Centre and view the Impressionist collection at the Musee Marmottan Monet. The itinerary also includes an organ concert at Notre Dame Cathedral.
Cost: $2,499 per person, including hotels, some meals, excursions and Paris airport transfers. Airfare to Paris is not included.
Contact: Paris by Design, Cambridge, Vt.; 800-430-5436, www.parisbydesign.com.
Spree In Guadalajara
Shop the mercados till you drop on a four-night trip to Guadalajara, Mexico, that begins Nov. 9.
The tour will include visits to Tlaquepaque and Tonala to seek out ceramics, blown glass, fabrics and antiques.
The group will tour the Cathedral of La Asuncion in Guadalajara and see the well-known murals of Jose Clemente Orozco in the Government Palace and other government buildings.
Cost: $975 per person, double occupancy ($300 single surcharge), including hotel, some meals, ground transportation, guides and airport transfers. Airfare to Guadalajara is not included.
Contact: Now Voyager Travel, Huntington Beach, Calif.; 800-872-7847, www.yourvoyagenow.com.
Broadway and art
See the Broadway musical “Spamalot” and a lot of art on a weeklong tour of New York City.
Participants in the Dec. 16 trip visit the Guggenheim Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art and take in Broadway hits including “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.”
Cost: $1,920 per person, double occupancy ($825 single surcharge), including round-trip airfare from Los Angeles, hotels, some meals, ground transportation and airport transfers.
Contact: Broadway Melody Tours, Pacific Palisades, Calif.; 323-227-8370. Travel arrangements made by En Route Travel, Pacific Palisades.
Golfing with the guys
Experience deliverance from the honey-do list on an all-guys getaway to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.
The three-night package, available now through Dec. 17, includes a bucket of beer on arrival, a tequila tasting, a cigar-rolling demonstration and a daily nine-hole round of golf.
Participants can add a chartered deep-sea fishing outing or a jungle-canopy zip-line tour.
Cost: $838 and up, depending on date and availability. Included are accommodations, hotel taxes, beer on arrival and daily round of golf. Airfare is not included.
Contact: CasaMagna Marriott Puerto Vallarta Resort; 800-223-6388 (request rate GGOB), www.casamagnapuertovallarta.com.
Petrified forest
Officials at Theodore Roosevelt National Park say an out-of-the-way petrified forest has become a popular tourist destination.
The Petrified Forest Trail is in the park’s South Unit, which can be reached through the town of Medora, N.D., about 130 miles west of Bismarck and 24 miles east of the Montana state line (exits 24 and 27 off Interstate 94).
The largest preserved specimen of petrified wood in the state is on display in Watford City, the gateway to the North Unit of the park. The petrified stump of a bald cypress tree – 8 feet in diameter, 6 feet tall and 17,000 pounds – can be seen at the Long X Trading Post, a recently opened visitors center named for a historic local ranch and a Texas-to-North Dakota cattle trail.
Antietam Trail
A trail at the Antietam National Battlefield in Maryland lets hikers walk the route soldiers took as they marched over hilly farm fields toward a meeting that ended with the Union failing to corner Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.
The Final Attack Trail officially opened during a weekend of activities marking the 133rd anniversary of the Battle of Antietam, also known as the Battle of Sharpsburg. More than 23,000 men were killed, wounded or reported missing at the western Maryland site on Sept. 17, 1862, in the bloodiest one-day clash of the War Between the States.
For more information, go to www.nps.gov/anti/home.htm, or call the local convention and visitors bureau, 301-791-3246.
Travel classes, seminars
Rick Steves’ Europe Through the Back Door hosts free travel classes most Saturdays at 10 a.m. at the Edmonds Theater, 415 Main St., Edmonds.
Oct. 1 – Italy.
Classes are free, reservations recommended. Call 425-771-8303 ext. 298 or visit www.ricksteves.com/seattle.
The Savvy Traveler offers travel seminars at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. most Saturdays at 112 Fifth Ave. S., Edmonds.
Classes are free, reservations recommended. Call 425-744-6076 or 877-225-1994.
* Exotic Iberia: Spain and Portugal, 10 a.m. Sept. 24.
* Belize: Ruins, reef and rain forests, 10 a.m. Oct. 1.
* Scandinavia, 1 p.m. Oct. 1.
* Argentina and Buenos Aires, 10 a.m. Oct. 8.
* Baltics and western Russia, 1 p.m. Oct. 8.
* On safari in East Africa, 10 a.m. Oct. 15.
* Hiking in Switzerland, 1 p.m. Oct. 15.
LiveWell Ventures Travel Services hosts a free “Taste of Travel Seminar” at 7 p.m. the first Thursday of each month at Brindle’s Marketplace at Camano Commons at Terry’s Corner, 848 N. Sunrise Blvd., Camano Island. Each seminar features guest speakers.
Complimentary hors d’oeuvres and coffee will be served. A wine tasting is available for $5.
For information, call 877-357-0022, 360-629-0881, or visit www.livewellventures.com.
The Herald is not responsible for changes in prices, dates or itineraries. These should be confirmed with cruise lines, travel agents or tour operators.
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