DOUGLAS BOND 

"The saints in the land, they are the excellent ones in whom is all my delight." Ps 16:3

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On Rome to Geneva Tour 2023 we will discover the splendors of some of the most fascinating cities in Europe. But this tour is not simply about a geographical starting point and ending point, Rome to Geneva. It is rather a tour that retraces the theological move from the error of the medieval church in Rome to the recovery of the Reformation gospel of free grace in Christ alone centered in Calvin's Geneva. It is really a tour from works to grace, from law to gospel, from my performance to Jesus' perfect righteousness in my place. Themes explored in my non-fiction book GRACE WORKS (And Ways We Think It Doesn't), especially the many ways we can launch ourselves on a trajectory back to Rome, will be included in some of my chats on the journey we take together from Rome to Geneva.

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The 2015 tour was such a wonderfully rich and blessed tour and we are confident that the ROME TO GENEVA REFORMATION TOUR June 17-27, 2023 will be an amazing time together. We anticipate this being a tour that will fill up very fast so plan to register early if you would like to join us exploring fascinating sites from Early Church history, the Renaissance, and Reformation. We will be especially seeing places where Girolamo Savonarola lived and challenged the corrupt RCC of his day (my biography with EP on Savonarola would be a good read to prepare for this tour, as would The Accidental Voyage).

 

"We appreciate that Bond tours are accessible and affordable for families."

Canadian family on Rome to Geneva Tour, 2015 (with children ages 6-18)  

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ITINERARY

(There'll be fine tuning and updates to this itinerary)

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DAY 1 Rome: Mamertine Prison (where Peter and Paul may have been held before execution), Santa Maria in Aracoeli, Portico d'Otavia and the Jewish quarter, St. Peter in Chains (San Pietro in Vincoli), 

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DAY 2 Rome: St. Peter's Basilica, Coliseum, Santa Maria di Poppilo (where Luther stayed for a month in 1510), Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri (Michelangelo's Roman baths turned 16th century church), Santa Giovanni Laterna, Scala Santa (Luther prayed on his knees on each step); Palatine Hill, Roman Forum, other sites during free time: Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museum, Flower market... (Rome is vast and full of delicious flavors, so plan to gain a few pounds!) Catacombs of San Callisto and Saint Sebastian, Villa Appia Antica,

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DAY 3 Florence: Duomo, Piazza della Signoria, Palazzo Vecchio (Savonarola's Prison Meditations written here), Ponte Vecchio. On free time: Galleria dell' Acadamia (where Michelangelo's David is), shopping and eating...

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DAY 4 Florence: Convent of San Marco (Savonarola lived here), Santa Croce (Michelangelo, Dante, etc., buried here), (on free time): The Baptistery,

Campanile Bell Tower, Galleria degli Uffizi, shopping and eating...

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DAY 5 Ferrara: Este Castle (Renee of Ferrara hosted John Calvin here; first Italian translation of the Bible commissioned here...), Santa Maria di Pomposa (7th century Benedictine Abbey), 

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DAY 6, coach to Milan: Basilica d'Ambrosia, Ambrose and Augustine sites, Cathedral and climbing to the terraces, free-time shopping in the fashion capital of Europe, exploring, eating... Hotel near Milan

 

DAY 7: leave our hotel in Milan and drive to Menton for lunch and a splash in the Mediterranean Sea, "the Pearl of France"; follow the breath-takingly scenic Mediterranean coast road to Aix-en-Provence (total drive time 5:00); this is our longest driving day of the tour, but it could not be along a more spectacular stretch of scenery. Arrive in afternoon in Aix, check into hotel in the centre ville and begin exploring, dinner nearby our hotel. Our daughter studied in Aix for a year in '07-'08. Aix is home to Faculté Jean Calvin, a confessional Reformed seminary whose mission is the training of men in gospel ministry and church planting in France today. Participants in the tour can have coffee at Les Deux Garcons where painter Paul Cézanne' had his daily cafe au lait; explore the provincial market Le Grand Marché--Aix is known for its markets and fountains, every gargoyle-ish shape imaginable, oft-painted Mont Sainte-Victoire rising over all. We will visit the splendid Cathedrale St. Sauveur, with architecture ranging from Romanesque, Gothic, to neoclassical. Morning drive to Avignon (2:36)

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DAY 8 Avignon, France: Papal Palace, street performers, shopping, wine country. Chateauneuf des Papes (castle ruins and rich wine country). Orange: Cathedral built in 1204 (Huguenot Temple before the people of God were slaughtered here); ancient Roman theater, Roman arch of triumph (one of the best preserved in the world, built 20 years before the birth of Christ); Hotel and dinner in Orange

DAY 9 Orange to Lyon (2:10), charming Medieval riverside hotel;  Irenaeus founded church in Lyon (2nd century disciple of Polycarp, disciple of Apostle John), Cathedral, Pierre Viret preached the gospel here and the Lord brought about a great revival. Calvin wrote a letter to five Huguenot pastors, his students, who were soon to be burned at the stake here for preaching the gospel of grace alone in Christ alone.

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DAY 10 Lyon to Geneva (1:35): Calvin and the center of Reformation Christianity in the 16th century, Saint Pierre where Calvin preached, the Auditoire, Reformation Wall, the Academy, the Reformation Museum.

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DAY 11 Breakfast, final farewells, shuttle to Geneva airport, journey home with much to think about and lifelong memories to cherish (okay, and a few pounds to work off when we get home; someone on the Knox 500 tour suggested it should be called the Bond food tour of Scotland with highlights from Knox)

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"...one of the greatest gifts I have ever been given. Thank you! God used the time in France to remind me of his love."

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Contact me by email for more information and to reserve your place: bondbooks.net@gmail.com