Jules Verne is celebrating the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee with the launch of a brand-new travel podcast series, Passepartout, People & Places, the first episode of which highlights the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee and also Jules Verne’s royal connections.
The specialist tour operator, Jules Verne, has been renowned for its adventurous holiday ideas since it was founded, 44 years ago (in 1978), by global pioneer Philip Morrell. He is widely acknowledged as having changed the way we travel. On the Passepartout, People & Places podcasts, the Jules Verne team will discover past adventures, delve into current travel stories and reveal future journeys – ultimately, the podcast aims to inspire the listener to discover the wonders of the world anew.
On the first episode, podcast host Abbey Renshaw talks to Jules Verne’s recently-appointed General Manager, Debbie O’Neill, about Philip Morrell, who really made his mark in 1979, when he launched holidays to China – a previously untapped destination – from the UK. This was at a time when the Bamboo Curtain was still in place. Morrell’s first adventure trip, a 42-day escorted rail journey from London to Peking (now Beijing), and on to Hong Kong, sold out and was a resounding success, paving the way for many more adventures to follow.
More recently, The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh witnessed the Diamond Jubilee flotilla as it made its way along the River Thames from on board Morrell’s luxury barge, The Spirit of Chartwell, which he loaned to the Pageant organisers for the Royal family’s use, on 3 June, 2012.
Continuing its royal links to this day, Jules Verne has secured the former Royal barge for a select number of departure dates in its new home, the Douro River in Portugal, where a group of travellers will be celebrating the Platinum Jubilee in style this week on the tour operator’s Royal Barge on the Douro cruise.
The Royal Barge on the Douro cruise has four departure dates remaining this year and six more departures scheduled between May and September 2023. Due to popular demand, Jules Verne has also released an additional departure date for the Royal Barge on the Douro cruise later this summer. Departing from Porto, guests will cruise deep into the verdant hillside landscapes of Portugal, discovering wine estates, sun-drenched vineyards, idyllic villages, Baroque castles and medieval hilltop ruins.
The brand-new podcast is inspired by Jules Verne’s classic 1872 adventure novel, Around the World in Eighty Days. The name, Passepartout, People & Places, was chosen for the podcast as a nod to Phileas Fogg’s French valet, Jean Passepartout (whose surname, appropriately, means ‘goes everywhere’).
General Manager of Jules Verne, Debbie O’Neill, says: “From that first iconic 7,000-mile rail journey, through to the present day, Jules Verne and its specialist travel team have so many travel stories to tell, share and inspire – stories about the places we’ve visited, the people we’ve met or how these experiences have shaped us.
“The podcast will unlock the doors to Jules Verne, transporting the listener around the world, evoking a sense of travel like Philip Morrell first did when he founded the company in 1978. We’ll be inviting special guests to share their stories along the way, and we’re really looking forward to watching this new and inspirational adventure unfold.”
The podcast – Passepartout, People & Places – will be available to download on 31 May, with new episodes released monthly.
