House and Garden Trip to the Gers
Download House and Garden 2012 Brochure in PDF 
Prestige Tour 2012 in Touraine
Download the PT 2012 brochure in PDF 
About the archeological excavations at Blérancourt
Discovery of a medieval site
Save the Date ! AFB Annual dinner
Turkey May 15 - 25
Dear Friends of Blérancourt,
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| Beautiful Istambul |
See skeleton program below.
If you have any questions, contact Elaine Leary at 212 725-5380 or by email at blerancourt@rcn.com .
Prestige Tour 2011 in Austria
To our friends
Land of the mighty Habsburg dynasty, home of prestigious music festivals and site of the few of Europe’s most beautiful castles, Austria is a favorite destination for most travelers to Europe. Prestige Tour 2011 will be a memorable experience spent in and around Vienna with a day in Salzburg and a boat trip down the Danube river to Bratislava, capital of Slovakia, the former Pressburg. Most of our visits will be in romantic homes and monuments of the past, but we have included a few glimpses of 21st Century arts in Austria. Our Tour will take place from Sunday, September 25 through Sunday, October 2.
Below you will find our detailed program of the trip and practical information.
We are asking $5,000 for the trip. As always, each person will be responsible for his or her hotel reservations and expenses, insurance and air travel fare. However the $5,000 will include everything else. To reserve a place on the trip, please send a non-refundable deposit of $1000 at your earliest convenience to Elaine Uzan Leary, Executive Director, American Friends of Blérancourt, 20 West 44th street, Room 506; New York 10036, tel: 212 725 5380, fax: 212 686 8130. The balance of the payment can be paid as follows: $2,500 by June 31 and the remaining $1,500 by August 31. If for any reason we were obliged to cancel the Tour, we would refund you the totality of your deposit. If you had to cancel, we would refund you 50% before August 31. After September 1, we could no longer refund you.
The end of September is one of the most beautiful season in Austria; do join us !
With my very best regards,
Eugénie Anglès
For logistical reasons we cannot yet evaluate the tax deduction.
Prestige Tour 2011 - Austria, Romanticism and Modernity
Save the Date ! Prestige Tour 2011
Detailed Program of Prestige Tour 2010
SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 26
We will have our usual welcome glass of champagne – or vodka ! -in our hotel on this « arrival evening ».
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 27
Our program this morning is unique: a visit of the famous Wieliczka salt mines. Legend has it that the salt mines were part of the dowry of the Hungarian princess, Kinga, when she married Boleslaw the Shy over 700 years ago. Our guided tour will take us down 440 feet below ground, through underground corridors, to the richly ornamented Chapel of the Blessed Kinga, carved by hand in salt. Lunch will be at the nearby restaurant, Halit.
After lunch we continue to a splendid palace that was formerly the property of the princely Lubormirski family, Nowy Wisnicz. An association of military and residential architecture, it presents a remarkable combination of gothic, Renaissance and baroque styles. We will be accompanied by Princess Renata Lubomirska and will dine at the restaurant Wentzl.
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28
In the morning we shall go up Wawel Hill to the Royal Castle, home of the Polish Kings at the turn of the 2nd millennium. During the early 16th century King Sigismund I the Old (1506-1548) brought in the best native and foreign artists (Italian architects and sculptors, German decorators, etc.) to create the splendid Renaissance palace which has survived, little changed, until now. Lunch will be in the restaurant CK Dezerter.
This afternoon’s program will take us to the 15th century Collegium Maius, as well as St. Mary’s Basilica, with its famous wooden altarpiece carved by Veit Stoss (Wit Stwosz). Time permitting; we shall also stroll through the Renaissance Cloth Hall. Inside are stalls of traditional Polish arts and crafts.
In the late afternoon we shall go for a stroll through Kasimierz, the picturesque former Jewish quarter of Krakow. Steven Spielberg used it as the backdrop for his movie, “Schindler’s List. Dinner, accompanied by popular Jewish music and dance, will be in one of the Kazimierz restaurants, Ariel.
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29
Auschwitz was the largest German concentration camp during WWII. Originally founded in 1940 for Polish political prisoners, the camp was used by the Nazis as a site for the extermination of jewish people during the War years. It was liberated by the Russian army on January 27, 1945. For those who do not wish to go to Auschwitz, an alternative visit is being organized
After lunch in the nearby restaurant Art Deco, we will return to Krakow, stopping off at the unusual Kosciuszko Mound, a totally artificial hill erected by Krakovians in commemoration of the Polish and Lithuanian national leader, Tadeusz Kosciuszko. This great Polish patriot fought in the American War of Independence.
Dinner tonight is in the gourmet restaurant of our hotel.
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 30
We leave Krakow this morning for Warsaw. Our stopover for the day is at the stunning Nieborów Palace, which we will visit after lunch. Built in 1694, this baroque palace was acquired by several aristocratic owners, including the famous Lubomirski family, before being acquired in 1784 by Duke Michal Radziwill. It is he who amassed a remarkable collection of Polish paintings, English and French furniture and objects. Subsequent descendants dilapidated the collections and the building deteriorated. Fortunately in the early 20th Century Janusc Radziwill restored the palace. We continue to Warsaw where we dine and spend the night at the Hôtel Bristol.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 1
This morning we visit Warsaw’s Royal Castle, the official residence of the Polish Monarchy. On Hitler's orders, the Castle was due to be blown up at the beginning of 1940. The bomb unit drilled a number of holes to put dynamite in, however it was not until after the Warsaw Uprising of August 1944 that the order was carried out. Wonderfully restored today, the castle’s interiors consist of many different rooms, all painstakingly restructured with many of the original exhibits.
After lunch we continue to the Palais de la Culture. This gargantuan tower was Stalin’s “gift to Poland” and remains extremely controversial. A polish joke is that the best view of Warsaw is from the top of this building because it is the only place in the city from where it can’t be seen... it nevertheless merits a visit!
This evening we are invited for drinks at the French Embassy as the kind invitation of Ambassador François Barry de Longchamps.
Dinner will be in the restaurant Qchnia Artystyczna.
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 2
Wilanów Palace is one of Poland’s most remarkable baroque buildings. It was built by King John III as a haven of rest, far from the turmoil at court. Alas, he was destined never to see it for begun in 1677, it was finished only in 1696, the year of his death. It is interesting to note that the architect grouped together the attributes of a country manor, a country home in Italy and a French château.
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 3
This morning we drive to the Lazienki Palace and Royal Baths Park. Also called the Palace on the Water, it is a neoclassical palace on a lake. The palace is connected to the surrounding park by two ionic colonnaded bridges. We continue after lunch to the newly refurbished Chopin Museum. Established in the 1930s, the museum presents the history and works of Poland 's famous son, Frederick Chopin, including original manuscripts and documents written by the composer, sculptures and music.
Count Marek Potocki will be receiving us in his home to show us his collection from his family’s chateau of Lancut.
Our farewell dinner will be at famous restaurant Fukiera.