Delightful wines and marvellous meals are just a few of the memories uOttawa alumni brought back from their inaugural tour with the Alumni Association. On October 3, 16 travellers flew off to the very first exotic location offered under the Assocation’s new travel program: France’s Burgundy and Provence regions.
The group meandered across the two magnificent areas aboard the luxury river cruise boat MV Princesse de Provence. The seven-night tour, which journeyed down the Rhône and Saône rivers, began in historic Lyon, France’s culinary capital, and stopped at the legendary Cluny Abbey, Christianity’s largest building from the Middle Ages. Travellers also tasted wines from Trévoux, the heart of the Burgundy wine industry, and explored a famous duo along the way: the Palais des papes and the Pont d’Avignon. The final destination was the ancient city of Arles and its breathtaking Roman monuments, where Vincent Van Gogh gathered much of his inspiration.
“We took one look at the travel brochure and knew we couldn’t miss the opportunity,” says Mona Browne (MBA 1984). Her fellow travellers agree: “My mother and I were delighted with the trip. And it was amazing to travel with a group that shared my pride in the University,” says Lynne Novak-Garrod (Social Sciences 1975).
On top of traditional site visits, the group enjoyed private tastings and concerts, as well as special presentations on the local cuisine, culture and residents, allowing everyone to get a better feel for daily life in the French countryside.
The travel program is one of the many services provided to graduates by the Alumni Association. But the trips themselves aren’t your usual run-of-the-mill getaway, because participants not only discover enchanting locations around the world, they also meet other alumni and build friendships that last well after the tour ends.
The program calls on a number of companies, thus serving up an array of travel options ranging from the ultimate in whirlwind to the very best in winding down. All of the firms, however, specialize in “university” tours, that is, strictly for travellers from Canadian and American universities. On the October cruise, for instance, ten universities were represented on the vessel. The largest contingent—and without a doubt the most energetic—was the U of O’s. “What a delight to have such a large group for the very first tour!” says Tom Markwell, associate vice-president of sales at Thomas P. Gohagan and Company, the agency behind the Burgundy/Provence package.
A unique feature of these agencies is that, on certain excursions or trips, they allow the universities to send a professor whose expertise ties in with the destination. The uOttawa Alumni Association will certainly get the chance to send one of its faculty members on a tour very soon.
In 2009, several tours are on the schedule: Tahiti and French Polynesia, the Galápagos Islands, the Canary Islands, Tuscany, and a cruise on the Danube. In 2010, the Association plans to double the number of destinations offered.
University staff and friends are also invited to take part in the tours. For details, contact the Alumni Association at mailto:travel@uOttawa.ca..
