we met with jean at the last minute for help in planning our trip to florence. she jumped right in and locked up a fine airfare, quickly found several apartments for us to choose from, and began to check on several tours and activities that our family was interested in. her enthusiasm matched our own, and she never wavered from trying to ensure we’d have a great experience. our apartment turned out to be within walking distance of virtually all of florence. it was spacious, clean, quiet and comfortable. additionally, jean booked us for some great stuff: a guided bus trip to san gimignano, siena and chianti country, a private tour of the uffizi and l’academia, and a cooking class. each was great in their own unique way. our leaders [irina, joanna, francesco - respectively] were knowledgeable, fun and took care to find out our own interests. we would never have found this level of expertise without jean’s experience, hustle and determination. to sum up, my family of four had a fabulous trip, due in no small part to the work of jean grobe.

We wanted to trace my husband's ancestral roots in France and see the country in depth, so we sketched out a 23-day road trip by ourselves, but we needed expert help in ensuring that our wants were realistic, that our car rental was reasonable and that our accommodations were memorable. We got all that and more! For example, Jean and her contacts in France managed to get us a a very comfortable Peugeot sedan on a short-term lease, which saved us many dollars. Our itinerary was tightened up and our accommodations included two spa hotels, a bed and breakfast, two wine-producing chateaux, a manor house and a five star hotel--what fun! Jean was unfailingly cheerful and very responsive to our questions and concerns; we would recommend her without reservation.