THIS ISSUE
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- Welcome
- Thank you for your kind words
- Booking status update
- Bali Rejuvenation Retreat - New!
- Bali Women's Retreat
- Please keep in touch
- Manners French style
- Balinese fish curry
- Previous newsletters
- Thought for the day
- Our Invitation


WELCOME
=========================================
Welcome to the last Aroma Tours' newsletter before we start this year's
series of tours in Turkey and Provence.

Robbi, John and I will be flying out in a little over a week. We are
greatly looking forward to the start of this year's adventures and meeting
everyone who is joining us this year. It has been a challenging year to date
but we are pleased to report that as usual all of our tours have been well
patronized and are going ahead with flourish.

We are still receiving bookings for all of our tours. This year has been
quite different from other years, with a good many people waiting until now
to make their decision to join us. We still have two vacancies for our
Turkish Tour and a few places left for all of the Provence Tours and would
love to welcome a few more Aroma Travellers this year.


THANK YOU FOR YOUR KIND WORDS
=========================================
For quite a while now after each newsletter, we have been receiving some
lovely messages thanking us for the interesting snippets and content. We
really appreciate these kind words and it is our desire to be informative
and share our passion for the people, places and experiences that we visit
during our tours and retreats.


BOOKING STATUS - UPDATE
=========================================
Bookings for our Turkish and Provence tours are closing soon. If you are
thinking of joining us or if you have any questions please contact us right
away especially for Turkey, as we are holding internal flights that will
need to be released very soon.

Our current booking status is:-

Turkish Aromatic Odyssey 2 vacancies
Provence Aromatherapy Retreat 6 vacancies
Heart of Provence Tour  3 vacancies
Essential Provence Tour 6 vacancies

Bali Women's Retreat 7 vacancies

We can be contacted at info@aroma-tours.com or by phone on [international]
61 3 5331 3254 ( afternoon/evening US time zones, mornings from other
countries ) and would be pleased to help you with any questions or
assistance you require.

If you are ready to make your booking now, please visit our booking page at
http://www.aroma-tours.com/booking-request.htm to reserve your place.

As always our current tour information, including pricing and itineraries
are available at http://www.aroma-tours.com/info-request.htm


BALI REJUVENATION RETREAT
=========================================
We have now finalized the information for our newest program the Bali
Rejuvenation Retreat 10 - 17 March 2003.

We have created this retreat to allow both women and men, either as couples
or individuals to enjoy the wonderful aromatic delights and tranquillity
that Bali has to offer.

A description of the retreat can be found at
http://www.aroma-tours.com/bali-retreat.htm and detailed information is now
available via our information request page at
http://www.aroma-tours.com/info-request.htm


BALI WOMEN"S RETREAT
=========================================
As always our Bali Women's Retreat will be a delightful, nurturing and
nourishing time out for women wanting a peaceful sabbatical from the
busy-ness of life. ( http://www.aroma-tours.com/bali-women.htm )

If you are planning to join us from Australia you may need to book your
flight soon, as closer to September, flights to Bali become very difficult
to obtain. Don't be disappointed as happened with some people last year.


PLEASE KEEP IN TOUCH
=========================================
While we are away Kylie and Caroline will be available to assist you with
your enquiries and bookings and of course we are still contactable via email
at info@aroma-tours.com Please allow a day or two for us to get back to you.

Our next newsletter will be in August after we get back with lots of
wonderful stories of our adventures.


MANNERS FRENCH STYLE
=========================================
We are often asked by people for advice about how to behave when in France.
Many have heard stories of how the French particularly in Paris can be quite
abrasive and rude with people recalling being ignored by waiters in
restaurants or French people able to speak English refusing to be helpful.

The answer to the French conundrum is really rather simple. Of course there
are rude people anywhere in the world but in France it is "politeness and
manners" that are the secret!

We would not dream of speaking to someone without first greeting them with a
cheery "Bonjour Monsieur, comment ca va?" ( hello sir, how are you going? ).
Always use a person's sir name unless you have already developed a
friendship.

In her wonderful book, Savoir Flair, Polly Platt mentions the five
politeness expressions that everyone travelling to France should commit to
learning. This one small skill will serve you very well.

The expressions are:-

hello / how do you do, sir, madame, miss
bonjour monsieur; bonjour madame, bonjour mademoiselle

thank you
merci

please
s'il vous plait

excuse me
excusez-moi

good evening sir, madame
bonsoir monsieur; bonsoir madame

goodbye sir, madame
au revoir monsieur; au revoir madame

Using only these simple phrases and with good humour and politeness you will
find that the French are in fact very friendly and will greatly appreciate
your linguistic efforts. It is all a matter of respect.


BALINESE FISH CURRY
=========================================
This delightful, light and aromatic dish from Eastern Bali is perfect for a
summer's day, served with rice and accompanied by a lovely crisp Reisling or
Sauvignon Blanc.

Roughly slice 400 grams of fresh tuna that has been salted to taste and set
aside.

In a food processor combine 1 ripe or 2 canned tomatoes, 1/2 teaspoon of
shrimp paste, 8 cloves of garlic, 5 shallots, 3 small chillies, 1 tablespoon
of turmeric, 1 tablespoon of almonds, 1/4 teaspoon of freshly ground black
pepper, 1 teaspoon of tamarind, 1 stick of lemongrass, 1 teaspoon of ginger,
2 teaspoons of galangal, 1/4 teaspoon of coriander seeds ( optional ) and 1
teaspoon of palm sugar, grind until fairly fine.

Heat 2 tablespoons of peanut or other light cooking oil in a wok until
medium heat then sauté the spice mixture with 3 finely chopped lime leaves
for a few seconds until fragrant. Do not over cook.

Add the fish pieces and toss in the hot oil and spices until they change
colour and are sealed. Add 1.5 cups of water and simmer until the fish is
cooked - approximately 5 minutes. Add 1/2 cup of coconut milk and simmer for
a further 3 minutes.

Serve straight away on a bed of rice. Yum!


PREVIOUS NEWSLETTERS
=========================================
If you would like to browse through our previous newsletters, they can be
found at www.aroma-tours.com/newsletters/


THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
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"The great path has no gates,
Thousands of roads enter into it,
When one passes through this gateless gate,
He/She walks freely between heaven and earth."

Arthur Young.


OUR INVITATION
=========================================
We look forward to welcoming you on one of our delightful tours or retreats
in the near future and invite you to visit our website at
http://www.aroma-tours.com for more information about this year's Aroma
Tours as well the latest photos of our travels.

As always if you have any questions or would like our advice about your
travel arrangements or with any other details please contact us at
info@aroma-tours.com

Warmest regards,

Robbi and Jim

Aroma Tours (R)
Ballarat Australia
p: +61 3 5331 3254 f: +61 3 5331 3254
e: info@aroma-tours.com
w: http://www.aroma-tours.com