Jo Dunin, Melbourne

Dearest Marieke,

I have been trying to get to my emails and send you a very big thank you. Tonight I will not let anything get in the way!

Travelling with you is always such a joy … so much fun!
Your research and careful planning were in evidence yet again – a marvellous mix as always: traditional and contemporary, culture, food, architecture, landscape, art and the simpler pleasures of wandering off the track in some truly magical places…not to mention a cooking class with someone from Master Chef!!!
I can never quite explain to others what its like travelling with you – Is it like travelling with your family? – but without all the terrible family dramas! Or is it like travelling with friends? – no.. because that can be the beginning of the end of friendships if someone gets upset about the wrong hotel or restaurant or …
And yet its not like travelling with strangers either because Marieke you always draw together people of like mind who, after a week or so travelling together, find so many shared pleasures and interests.
I always know it will be fun and I love the fact that I don’t know exactly what we are going to do. Putting yourself in someone else’s hands requires trust – and you always repay that trust in spades!
You brought us the traditional and the surprising, the cutting edge and the quaint, the sophisticated and simple, the amazing layers of history and some 21st century wonders, the picturesque and the rugged … all in this extraordinary part of France!
That afternoon at Chateau La Coste just blew me away – I can’t stop telling people about it!!
So …. a thousand thank yous to you Marieke … yet again. Jo Dunin, Melbourne