About Us
Kathy, Kelly & Charley Wood
Our family has been passionate about France and Europe for over 25 years. We came to Provence and the Luberon for the first time in 2003, renting a cottage in a village near Bonnieux for a week. We still remember spending a few hours in Bonnieux. In just that one week, the Luberon captured our hearts.
In 2004/2005, the year Kelly was eleven, we left our jobs and our comfortable life in Knoxville, Tennessee to spend 14 months traveling in Europe… kind of a family sabbatical. The centerpiece of this experience was our 6-1/2 months living in Provence. We rented a 17th century farmhouse in the countryside between Bonnieux and Lacoste, and Kelly attended the village school in Bonnieux.
This was a life-changing experience for all three of us. We loved the simple way of life in the beautiful countryside, and we made many lasting friends. We truly found our “bonheur” in Bonnieux and the Luberon, and we’ve been spending two to three months a year in Bonnieux ever since. It was great thrill to finally get our own place in December 2012. The village apartment is perfect for us.
After our return to the USA, Kathy and Charley launched European Experiences, providing small group tours in several beautiful places in Europe. Our Luberon Experience tour is based in Bonnieux and was named one of the top tours in the world in National Geographic Traveler magazine. We’ve hosted 63 groups in Bonnieux (738 people) and love introducing people to our area. We also offer tours in other special areas of France (Alsace and the Dordogne), Italy, England, Austria and Germany. We’re now in our 15th year.
When we’re not in Bonnieux or elsewhere in Europe, we’re at home in Knoxville, Tennessee. After a 27-year corporate career, Kathy spent 10 years on the faculty of the business school of our state university and took early retirement in 2015 to focus full-time on our travel business. Charley writes novels, works on inventions, and does volunteer work with senior citizens. (Check out his most recent book, The Crain Strategy.) Kelly has continued to pursue her passion for France. She’s now a PhD candidate in History and French Studies at New York University and is living in Paris for her dissertation research.