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Gourmet India Tour with James Beard-Award Winning Chef, Prasad Chirnomula

If you ever wanted to visit India, see the major sites, stay at the top hotels, and be guided by one of the finest Indian chefs in America, you now have that opportunity. Geringer Global Travel has just announced a “Gourmet India 2011” jaunt led by James Beard-award winning chef, Prasad Chirnomula. Owner of five Thali restaurants in Connecticut, Chirnomula was the first Indian chef to be rated “Excellent” by The New York Times. From January 30 to February 15, Chirnomula will take you to all his favorite haunts in the old country, including the fishing village and market in Koli, the spice market in Cochin, and the fruit and vegetable markets in Colaba. The trip will feature lectures and cooking demonstrations by internationally renowned chefs, including lunch at Philip Kutty Farm, a family-run restaurant featuring Malabar cuisine on its own self-contained island, and a barbecue on a beach in Goa featuring Master Chef Rego. Lodging includes many of Travel & Leisure’s top hotels in the world, including the Oberoi Amarvilas in Agra, the Oberoi Udaivilas in Udaipur, and the Mumbai Taj Mahal Palace. Price of the 16-day trip is $12,910 per person, including four internal flights, all hotels, meals, and guides.
 

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A Big Thank You for Your Continued Support of ActiveTravels!

Every year, ActiveTravels evaluates our goals as a company as we strive to be the best at what we do: customizing authentic vacations to locations across the globe for our diverse group of members. In 2014, our goal was to have 100 members. We crossed that threshold in September and we are extremely grateful! So many of our members have spread the word about what we do making advertising unnecessary and enabling us to help create memorable travel experiences for our wonderful clients. Even if you are not a member, but subscribe to this blog, thank you for your time! 

We’re headed off to Sugarloaf and Sunday River in Maine to ski next week, then visiting my family in New York over New Year’s. I’ll be back the week of January 5th with my 5 Favorite Travel Days in 2014. In the meantime, check out our December Newsletter to find out about an exciting new photography trip in Argentina in March, new hotel offerings in Tel Aviv, our favorite ski destinations in the West, a quick trip to Newport, Rhode Island, and new apps to help you conquer jet lag.
 
Wishing You a Happy, Healthy, and Prosperous 2015!
 
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Kids Stay Free at Iberostar Properties April 8 to December 13

Hey New Englanders! Still want to get away over Patriots Day Week with the kids. Iberostar Resorts just announced that two kids will stay free at their Mexican and Caribbean properties when two adults pay the full price. These include several of my favorites, Iberostar Paraiso Maya in Riviera Maya and Rose Hall Beach, outside of Montego Bay. If you prefer to head to one of their all-inclusive properties over the summer, the offer is good from April 8 to December 13.

 
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Memorable Spring Bike Rides, Biking to Giverny

Next week, I’ll be blogging live from Ontario’s wine country, Niagara-on-the-Lake, on a bike trip organized by Butterfield and Robinson. To get me in the mood, I’m going to devote this week to my favorite spring rides over the years. First up, biking to Giverny.

 
Those of you with a love of art history know Giverny as the home of Claude Monet. Less than an hour by train from Paris, you can make the pilgrimage to Monet’s home and his spectacular Japanese water garden inundated with day lilies, the inspiration for many of the works that hang on the walls of the Musée d’Orsay in Paris and other impressive collections of Impressionism around the globe. Fat Tire Bike Tours escorts riders from Paris’ St. Lazare train station to the quaint village of Vernon. Once you arrive, you head to an outdoor market to stock up on picnic food–soft, creamy Reblochon cheese, slices of yummy Rosette de Lyon sausage, duck liver pate, warm baguettes from the neighborhood boulangerie, juicy strawberries and apricots, and a bottle of wine to wash it down. 
 
After passing out bikes, our guide Andrew led us to the banks of the Seine River where we watched a family of swans swim as we dug into our goodies. Then we were off on an easy bike trail that connects Vernon with Giverny. We entered the picturesque hamlet and were soon walking over that Japanese bridge seen in many of Monet’s works. The whole trip took about 8 hours and cost 75 Euros per biker, a perfect day trip from Paris. 
 
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The Much-Needed Therapeutic Waters of Temagami

As soon as I laid eyes on the waters of Lake Temagami, all I wanted to do was jump in and swim. And for 3 days, that’s primarily what I did. Dove in the heavenly waters of this vast lake and swam free crawl, backstroke, elementary backstroke, underwater, to a small island directly across from us, where our friend Bruce had his cabin (I’ll talk more about him tomorrow). It was a perfect cleansing of my body in these pristine waters, happily washing away the year’s stress with each stroke. 

I had no idea where we were, a place called Ojibway on an island 20 minutes by boat from the parking lot some 5 to 6 hours drive north of Toronto. Amy had found the place because her daughter, Sophie, was a counselor at Keewaydin Songadeewin summer camp in Vermont, sister camp to Keewaydin Temagami located on the same island as Ojibway. There were no campers during our stay, because the Temagami camp is primarily used as a base for long-distance canoe trips for paddlers, upwards of 6 weeks in summer. Ojibway felt like summer camp for adults in one of the most serene settings I’ve visited in Canada. The inviting waters entice you to grab a canoe and paddle to your heart’s content, following the loons. Meals are served family-style on the long tables and the food was surprisingly good. So was the company, many of whom had a long history with this island, including a woman from Mississippi, who told me that her grandfather had found this place in the early 1900s, not wanting to deal with the crowds in New Hampshire’s White Mountains. Her family has been returning here for over a century. And who can blame them! 
 
It’s hard to find a more peaceful and stress-free setting, one where your WiFi only works close to the dining area (and very slow at that). You’re free to discard the smart phone and read your stack of books, go for a paddle, have gin and tonics on the deck, and yes, swim. I want to hold on to that image of me diving off the dock at Ojibway to hopefully keep my blood pressure down the rest of the year. At least, until I return to this special spot and dive in again. 
 
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Take the Ski Bus from Quebec City to Le Massif

When I last skied Le Massif and penned a story on the mountain for The Boston Globe, I took a train from Montmorency Falls, just outside Quebec City. I learned last night at a Quebec press event in Boston that the train no longer runs in winter. However, you can still take the Ski Bus, which picks you up at your hotel in Quebec City and drops you off at Mont-Saint-Anne and Le Massif. Skiing down the trails of Le Massif, overlooking the expanse of the St. Lawrence Seaway, you feel like you’re going to plunge straight into the water. Le Massif also offers guests the rare chance to go rodeling or luging down a 7.5-kilometer trail on the northern face of the mountain. The exhilarating two-hour trip starts with a snowcat ride to the top of the trail, where you’re handed a small sled. Then you start cruising downhill, curving around banks, and sweeping over hills, all with that same glorious view of the St. Lawrence. It’s a blast! 

 
If you love Paris in the springtime, then you’ll adore Quebec City in the wintertime, where, for 17 days, the party never stops. Quebec City’s Winter Carnival is the largest in the world, attracting more than one million people. The 60th anniversary takes place from January 30 to February 15, 2015. Sled down an ice chute, view the impressive ice castle, made from 1600 blocks of ice, eat maple syrup on snow, and see some of the major events like Le Grande Virée, a dogsled race that cruises through the heart of the historic Old City. Combined with the skiing at Le Massif, it’s the ideal to experience of the joie de vivre of this French-speaking city. 
 
I’m off to see my son’s jazz band perform at his college, then spending Thanksgiving week with family. I’ll be back on December 1st.  Have a Happy Thanksgiving! 
 
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June/July Newsletter Now Available at ActiveTravels.com

Last month, we were excited to learn that Conde Nast Traveler chose ActiveTravels to design a 10-day New England itinerary for a family of four. We created a Dream Day Itinerary quickly, the editors were pleased with it, and now the story will be featured in their July issue, both in print and online. Also in May, Men’s Journal magazine hired me to be their resident travel expert, writing weekly columns for their website. Many of those stories were originally featured in this newsletter first: like introducing you to the new website, OptionsAway, and why we prefer Global Entry over TSA PreCheck. The Men’s Journal column is in addition to all the travel stories I still write for The Boston Globe, Washington Post, Yankee, Everett Potter’s Travel Report, and FamilyVacationCritic.com, among others. 

Many of the travel pieces we write for the newsletter stem from those original trips, including June/July’s feature story on Bali. We also suggest our clients’ favorite lodgings in Provence, a Quick Escape to Lisa’s hometown of Chicago (glorious this time of year), an art historian who offers Art Tours, and why new direct flights to Costa Rica and Panama will be ideal for a winter getaway. Remember that an ActiveTravels membership entitles you to visit the archive of all our past newsletters. This is especially useful if you need a Quick Escape this summer or fall.
 
I’m off to Hawaii with the family, the reason why this is a bi-monthly issue. The next time you hear from me I’ll be blogging live from the Ko Olina Resort on the picturesque west coast of Oahu. Look forward to celebrating the 4th of July with you, Hawaiian-style!
 
Happy Travels! 
 
Steve
 

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