West Panoramas

Trip Description

Accomodation

Stay program

• day 1

  Paris - Los Angeles

  Flight to Los Angeles. Pick-up of your rental vehicle. Discover Los Angeles, the first city of California and the 2nd in the United States, which stretches over nearly 100 km. Defying imagination, it has nothing in common with a traditional city: it is by traveling from one neighborhood to another that you discover a true architectural and ethnic mosaic. L.A., as it is nicknamed, is the great center of the "American dream," with huge amusement parks, beaches where all eccentricities are allowed, and an extraordinary film industry where the wildest movies have been made... Dinner at your leisure. Overnight at the Best Western Plus Dragon Gate Inn (or similar).

• day 2

  Los Angeles

  Suggestion: Discovery of the "City of Angels." Stroll through the streets of the residential neighborhoods of movie stars: Hollywood and the Walk of Fame, where many actors have left their mark, as well as Mann's Chinese Theater. Discover Beverly Hills and its very chic Rodeo Drive, lined with luxury boutiques, sometimes bearing the names of major French brands. Free lunch. Optional: visit to Universal Studios with your skip-the-line tickets. Visit the park at your own pace and discover the various attractions offered. Free time to explore "Universal Studios." You can wander through the park as you wish. Free dinner. Overnight at the Best Western Plus Dragon Gate Inn (or similar).

• day 3

  Los Angeles - Laughlin

  This morning, you are on your way to the Mojave Desert. Lunch at your leisure. In the afternoon, drive towards Nevada to Laughlin, where many hotel-casinos line the Colorado River. Dinner at your leisure. Overnight at the Tropicana Express hotel (or similar).

• day 4

  Laughlin - Grand Canyon

  Departure to Grand Canyon National Park. Lunch on your own. Arrival at the Grand Canyon site. Suggestion: visit the Grand Canyon. Rarely is the spectacle of nature so grandiose! The gradient colors, the impressive dimensions, and the interplay of light and shadow compete in an incredible way to offer the traveler an unforgettable memory. Each photo stop at the various observation points is a new enchantment, and superlatives quickly run out... This giant gash stretches over more than 400 km and descends up to 2,000 meters deep to offer us a million years of our planet's geological history! Optional: helicopter flight over the canyon. Half an hour of breathtaking views of this fascinating and prodigious panorama. Dinner on your own. Overnight at the Red Feather Lodge hotel (or similar).

• day 5

  Grand Canyon - Kayenta

  Route to the legendary site of Monument Valley. Free lunch. Arrival at Monument Valley and its famous red sandstone monoliths. Suggestion: Access to the Monument Valley site. Monument Valley is the symbol of the lone man on the vast expanses of the Far West. Monument Valley features unique landscapes made up of sandstone monoliths with very distinctive shapes. Above all, it is a sacred Navajo territory; many archaeological sites have been discovered in the valley, the oldest dating back more than 1300 years before Christ. It became a universal landscape thanks, first, to the western "Stagecoach" (1938) by John Ford, where this landscape was discovered, which serves as the backdrop for many films and many advertisements... Route to Kayenta, in the heart of Navajo Country. Free dinner. Overnight at the Kayenta Monument Valley Inn hotel (or similar).

• day 6

  Kayenta - Page

  Departure to Lake Powell, whose deep blue waters contrast with the sunburnt ochre of the rocks that border it. Free lunch. Optional: cruise on Lake Powell (1h30). This cruise allows you to admire the spectacular Antelope Canyon. This narrow and winding canyon offers an amazing ochre-pink parade where the red sandstone walls, sculpted by erosion, resemble great mineral waves. Free dinner. Overnight at the Lake Powell Resort & Marina hotel (or similar).

• day 7

  Page

  Free day around Lake Powell. Optional: discovery of the ancient site of Antelope Canyon. The visit is necessarily guided: it is a risky site due to the possibility of a rapid rise in water levels in case of a storm, even a distant one. Indeed, it is only possible to enter accompanied by Native American guides, aboard 4-wheel drive vehicles. Once in the park, you will explore on foot the inside of this unique canyon, with its spectacular, undulating, glowing, and fascinating rock walls, whose color changes and multiplies with the sunlight throughout the day. Lunch and dinner at your leisure. Overnight at the Lake Powell Resort & Marina hotel (or similar).

• day 8

  Page - Bryce

  Route to the surprising Bryce Canyon National Park. Lunch on your own. Suggestion: Visit Bryce Canyon National Park. The Native Americans respectfully called these rocks "the standing men." As far as the eye can see, thousands of stone columns sculpted by erosion stand in this natural amphitheater, defying time and the assaults of snow, wind, and sun. It is the hours of each day that act as the artist, giving this grand panorama the infinite colors that delight our gaze, never satisfied. Suggestion: Walk on foot in this strange setting. Dinner on your own. Overnight at the Bryce View Lodge hotel (or similar).

• day 9

  Bryce - Las Vegas

  Route to Zion National Park. Suggestion: Visit Zion National Park. Your perspective changes... Impressive sheer cliffs tower over you, guarded by Ponderosa pines clinging to every ledge. The tumultuous Virgin River creates green oases that give all its charm to this wild and beautiful site. Lunch on your own. Continue to Las Vegas, as all the neon lights set the city ablaze. It is hard to believe today that Las Vegas was originally just a meeting place for pioneers who wanted to cross the very impressive Sierra Nevada in a convoy. Excess and carefreeness are the key words of this city where gambling is everywhere, even in the most unexpected places. Las Vegas never sleeps... In the background, slot machines swallow the coins that players try to multiply, all amid surreal settings worthy of the greatest movie productions. Without even realizing it, you pass from Ancient Egypt (Luxor Hotel) to the medieval era (Excalibur Hotel), from the streets of Manhattan (New York-New York Hotel) to Caribbean coves haunted by pirates (Treasure Island Hotel), from Venice (Bellagio Hotel) to Florence (Caesar's Palace Hotel)... Night surely shortened to visit the many hotel-casinos and see if luck is on your side... Dinner on your own. Overnight at the Tropicana Hotel (or similar).

• day 10

  Las Vegas - Bakersfield

  Suggestion: Excursion to Death Valley. Bewildering and chaotic landscapes of a gigantic desert expanse located more than 80 m below sea level, where life is never so absent... Millions of seeds await a hypothetical rain to bloom, many animals wait for the sun's intensity to decrease before leaving their burrow. The sun never stops illuminating the lunar landscapes of Zabriskie Point and makes Furnace Creek a true oasis in this relentless setting... The arid, sometimes hostile, but fascinatingly beautiful scenery seems to conspire to keep you away from this land where only snakes, scorpions, tarantulas, and the curious road-runner survive. The viewpoints here are particularly striking. Free lunch. Drive to Bakersfield, south of the Sierra Nevada. Located at the southern end of the Central Valley, this city is surrounded by various crops (cotton, citrus fruits, vineyards...). Free dinner. Overnight at the BW Plus Hill House hotel (or similar).

• day 11

  Bakersfield - Modesto

  Route to Sequoia National Park. Suggestion: visit Sequoia National Park. A dream of eternity in progress for these majestic trees, which are simply the oldest living beings on our planet. Their name is associated with extraordinary longevity and more than impressive dimensions. It is in Sequoia Park that you will find the oldest forests, as well as the tallest and oldest specimens! Walk starting from Grant Grove in the Giant Forest. During your walk, you will meet the tallest tree in this forest: General Sherman, reaching 84 m high. Lunch on your own. Route to Modesto. Dinner on your own. Overnight at the Best Western Palm Court hotel (or similar).

• day 12

  Modesto - San Francisco

  Route to San Francisco. The discovery of gold in the Sacramento Valley, in January 1848, spread within a few weeks. In less than a year, it would be known around the world, triggering one of the greatest migrations in history. In three months, San Francisco suddenly grew from 300 to 20,000 inhabitants and, during the first three years of this gold rush, it is estimated that more than 200,000 people made the journey to California. You are following in the footsteps of those pioneers who made it today the "favorite city of everyone"... Lunch on your own. Arrival in San Francisco. This is the most densely populated American city in the United States after New York, and the Bay Area around the city is, with more than 7 million inhabitants, the fifth largest metropolis in the United States by population. The southern part of the latter is occupied by Silicon Valley, which is home to a large number of world-renowned high-tech companies. It also hosts the very famous universities of Stanford and Berkeley. The main symbols of the city are the Golden Gate Bridge, the island and former prison of Alcatraz, the Transamerica Pyramid, the Coit Tower, and the cable cars. It is also known for its Chinatown, its gay and hippie neighborhoods, as well as its many hills. Return your rental vehicle at the airport station. Transfer on your own. Dinner on your own. Overnight at The Kimpton Buchanan hotel (or similar).

• day 13

  San Francisco

  Suggestion: Visit San Francisco, one of the most beautiful cities in the United States. Free lunch. Optional: bike rental to cross the Golden Gate (duration between 3 and 9 h). Ride across the legendary Golden Gate Bridge by bike. This bridge spanning the "Golden Gate" was inaugurated in 1937 and has since been the symbol of the city of San Francisco. Its orange-red colors stretch over 3 km of roadway located 67 m above the waters of one of the most beautiful bays in the world. Your ride ends in Sausalito, from where you will take the ferry back to San Francisco. An opportunity to discover magnificent views of the city. Free dinner. Overnight at The Kimpton Buchanan hotel (or similar).

• day 14

  San Francisco - Paris

  Free day to enjoy this peaceful and cosmopolitan city at your own pace. Take advantage of your last hours to take a ride on the unmissable "Cable Car", a strange cable tramway, to discover Fisherman's Wharf with its shops, its cafés, or to take a mini-cruise in the San Francisco Bay. Lunch at leisure. Free transfer to the airport. Return flight.