Aroma Tours Newsletter - October 2000

THIS ISSUE
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- Welcome
- 2001 here we come
- Essential Provence our exciting new tour
- Snippets from France
- Suggested Reading
- Wedding a la Lavande
- Turkey
- Bali
- Reflections from Aroma Tours Travellers
- Bookings open for 2001
- Aroma Tours goes to Seattle
- Previous bulletins
- Thought for the day

WELCOME
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A warm welcome to the 1045 members of our Aroma Tours newsletter and a
special greeting to all of our new members.

We are very pleased to see people joining our growing community of Aroma
Travellers from more and more countries. The diversity of peoples and the
stories and experiences we all share are a very important part of the
success we enjoy during our Aroma Tours.

2001 HERE WE COME
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We have now finished all of our tours for this year and except for the final
details of our Australian Aromatic Tour all is now in readiness for our 8th
exciting year of Aroma Tours.

Details of next year's tours and retreats ( except Australia - available in
November ) are now on our web site at http://www.aroma-tours.com
and we invite you to drop by to see our new expanded layout and get your
copy of our new itineraries and prices for 2001.

ESSENTIAL PROVENCE
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We are very proud to announce our exciting new 11 day tour to the Provence
region. We are calling it "Essential Provence" and it will be an aromatic
tour de force from the lavender fields of the Haute Provence through
beautiful countryside and villages to Grasse the perfume capital of France
in the Cote d'Azur.

We have included some delightful new experiences to this longer 11 day
program including, perfume making, gourmet cooking class and visits to many wonderful new places we have been investigating over the last couple of years. We are greatly looking forward to taking our first group next year
and we are sure that Essential Provence will become one of our most popular tours in the future.

For more information please visit:
http://www.aroma-tours.com/provence-essential-tour.htm

SNIPPETS FROM FRANCE
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This year's tours to Turkey and Provence were made even more fabulous by the wonderful folk who joined us this year. And I must say that the Aromatherapy Retreat (which was fully booked once again ) was our best ever.

Images that come to mind include a wonderful evening in a tiny cafe nestled
way up in the hills of Drome with the proprietor performing songs for us
accompanied by his reed music box. He was a professional cabaret performer in Paris for many years and we shared a magical evening with Patrick grinding out song after song and other locals, singing and making merry.

Another moment was our visit to a delightful small winery where we were
welcomed by the wine maker - a charming man called Didier - who give us a
fascinating talk on the process involved in creating the Cremant and Claret
de Die styles of wine followed by a tasting of over a dozen fine wines and
samplings of his delicious aromatic liqueurs. On our way back we visited a
huge field of clary sage in full bloom and the combination of lovely wines
and the euphoric effect of the clary sage left everyone with a lingering
sense of delight. Of course Jim and Pascal ( our local driver ) were there
to guide us safely home.

We are always working hard to find authentic and wonderful places to enjoy
and this year we added a lovely new restaurant to our list of favourites.
Nestled in an ancient stable hidden away in a side street of a small village
we enjoyed one of the finest dining experiences we have ever had in our 7
years. The initially reserved French clientele shared a wonderful 4 hour
lunch with us as Madame the sommellier and Monsieur the gourmet chef took us on a scrumptious journey of gastronomic delight. Truly it is said that
sharing a wonderful meal with friends is one of life's blessings.

SUGGESTED READING
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In our researchings we came across a delightful book about Provence by Lady Winifred Fortesque. It was first published in 1932 and is called "Perfume from Provence". It is a charming tale that describes lady Winifred and her husband Sir John's adventures in Provence in the 1930's From trouble with recalcitrant builders and local politics to her delightful description of Provencale life this is a book for all lovers of things Provencale.

WEDDING A LA LAVANDE
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As we mentioned in our last newsletter, after our tours were finished we
attended the "marriage a la campagne" of our dear friends Sophie and Jack in the heart of lavender country.

It was a memorable day beginning with the marriage ceremony in a beautiful
little stone church with the Mistral blowing great swirling drifts of confetti into the air. The wedding reception was held in the huge distillery of their lavender farm which we helped decorate very festively the day before the big event.

The wedding party was photographed amongst a backdrop of undulating fields of fragrant lavender. What a glorious picture that made. We danced and made merry until midnight. And they were married at 11am! Those country folk sure know how to enjoy themselves.

When time permits we will put up a web page with photographs of the wedding and reception for you to enjoy.

TURKEY
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After an unseasonably wet but wonderful few days in Istanbul enjoying the
classic attractions, markets and restaurants of this amazing city we winged
our way to the Mediterranean and the beautiful turquoise coast.

Now with glorious weather every day we enjoyed exploring several of Turkey's finest ancient sites including the fascinating city of Perge ( circa
400BC ). It was incredible to stand in the ruins looking at the remains of
mosaic floors, colonnaded streets, bath houses and temples. In places it was possible to see the imprints of wagon wheels in the marble paving.

During our time in the valley of the roses it was wonderful to see the calm
dignity of the peasants as they rapidly picked fragrant blooms of Turkish
roses ( Rosa Damescena ) in the early morning and the joy of some of our
number unable to resist rolling in drifts of these same fragrant blooms at
the distillery where they were converted into pure rose oil. The aroma was
absolutely heavenly.

Next year we are extending the Turkish Tour to 13 days so we will be able to
spend time in the world renowned Cappadocia region with its striking rock
formations and unique underground, cities and monasteries.

More information can be found at http://www.aroma-tours.com/turkish-tour.htm

BALI WOMEN'S RETREAT
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Once again Helen and I shared an idyllic 8 days in Bali with a small group
of beautiful women including a delightful mother and daughter team all the
way from Minnesota USA.

One of the highlights this year was our journey to the royal temple of
Mengwi where we were able to dedicate an offering basket filled with sacred
flowers, fruits, rice and incense, made for us by two beautiful Balinese
women, Made and Deyu. We were very privileged to be invited into the inner
sanctum of the temple where the local priest individually blessed us in a
simple, but moving ceremony.

Always a big favourite was the luxurious 2 hour massage and spa treatment
which culminated in a warm bath strewn with fragrant frangipani, cananga
and tuberose flowers. An absolutely delightful indulgence - blissful was the
unanimous vote!

Our last night together was very memorable as we dined in a beautiful ocean
front restaurant and celebrated our special time together. At times it
seemed appropriate to just sit in silence listening to the waves and watch
the moon rising over the water. From time to time the warm breeze would
rustle through the palms, wafting the aroma of delicious food and tropical
flowers through the night.

Why not plan now to spoil yourself, take time out of your busy schedule and
join us in September 2001. For more information visit
http://www.aroma-tours.com/bali-women.htm

REFLECTIONS FROM AROMA TRAVELLERS
=================================
Thank you, thank you, thank you! for a beautiful holiday. You realize you
have ruined any other tour we may take in the future. You are so good at
your organizing and both of you share your joy of life with others. Turkey
was just great!"
Nancy and Gavril Miltenoff - Australia

" Thanks for the gracious hospitality and superb cuisine. A treasured
vacation indeed"
Sandi Nye - South Africa

"There is no secret to the success of Robbi and Jim's Aroma Tours, they
simply treat others in the way they would like to be treated themselves."
Ronan and Elizabeth Kisch - USA

"Thank you both so much for a truly serendipitous moment in time."
Vanessa Simpson - UK

"Thank you for the excellent time in France. We appreciate everything you
arranged and enjoyed it so much we are planning for next year."
Dodo and Hazel Hau - Hong Kong

"Thank you for my new and precious awareness of the beauty and fragrance of lavender. Your kindness, care and enthusiasm made this aroma holiday so very special. Merci beaucoup."
Debra Perry - Australia

"I cannot keep the smile off my face or my heart skipping with joy....Deep
reflection, beautiful surrounds, aromatic food and fun have made this
special time out for me in Bali, a wonderful pampering journey."
Claire Knight - Australia

BOOKINGS ARE NOW OPEN FOR AROMA TOURS 2001
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We are now taking bookings for next year's tours and already have 5 bookings for next year's Provence Aromatherapy Retreat ( which was fully booked again this year ) and 2 for our Bali Women's Retreat in September. There are also 2 Bali Women's Retreats in March which are already fully booked.

It is gratifying for us to see the growing number of repeat Aroma
Travellers and the increasing interest in our tours from all around the
world and by businesses and travel agents keen to send their employees and clients to experience our small groups and unique itineraries.

If you would like to join us next year we suggest that you avoid
disappointment and reserve your place right away. Either visit our safe and
simple booking page at http://www.aroma-tours.com/booking-request.htm or
email us at info@aroma-tours.com and we will fax or post a booking form to
you.

AROMA TOURS GOES TO SEATTLE
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We are off to Seattle for the NAHA Aromatherapy Conference and trade show
October 19 - 22 where Robbi will be presenting a paper. We will also be
promoting Aroma Tours at the trade show and catching up with many of our
past Aroma Travellers.

PREVIOUS NEWSLETTERS
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Our previous Aroma Tours newsletters can be viewed at
http://www.aroma-tours.com/newsletters/

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
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"In all places, then, and in all seasons,
flowers expand their light and soul-like wings,
teaching us, by most persuasive reasons,
how akin they are to human things"
Henry Longfellow

If you have any questions or would like advice about joining us next year
please contact us at info@aroma-tours.com Also, if you would like to have a
chat, please let us know and we would be happy to give you a call.

Fragrant 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

ITALY

TURKEY

PROVENCE

LOIRE VALLEY

BALI

AUSTRALIA