“I wanted to make my dream come true by sharing my love of traveling and giving people the opportunity to really experience a different culture. Instead of the traditional ‘tourist’ sightseeing trips, I wanted to immerse very small groups of people in the culture, and make them experience another way of life. That’s how French Escapade was born in 2003.
I was then approached by art teachers who wanted such an experience incorporated in a painting workshop so that their students could discover a different culture and paint on the same tour. Our first painting tour took place in 2005.
I have welcomed about 100 teachers, 2,800 guests, and run more than 250 trips. When traveling with French Escapade, you are not a tourist, you are our guest. That is why I have made many new friends since 2003.”
With a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology, Jacqueline Grandchamps came from Belgium to the United States in 1995 to conduct cancer research at Stanford University. But her heart has always been in traveling — in Europe, the United States, Africa and Asia. She created French Escapade with Valerie Sans in 2003 and now splits her time between Delaware, US and the South of France.
Her passions: socializing/ dancing/ gardening and all racket sports (tennis, ping-pong and now pickleball).