Day tripping... wine tours from Paris?

[bctraveller]

I am new to this board. We are going to France next week for 3 weeks. My girlfriend has business in Paris the second week. In addition to Paris we would like to spend one week in an area where we can enjoy great wine and food and walking, and the remaining week in a different area (same criteria). We prefer full bodied reds (cabernet sauvignon and merlot over pinot noir and gamay). We both really enjoy wine tasting in Napa and Sonoma but have heard that Bordeaux is primarily barrel tastings and appointments are needed for most wineries. We are not interesting in barrel tastings. We would prefer a village setting over a large city for our first week. Food is complicated as we are vegetarian but eat fish. Ideally we would prefer to use train transportation rather than driving. We have considered spending our first seek in Bordeaux and the Basque, and the final week somewhere in Provence. We are open to suggestions for both the region and village/town/city. For accommodation, what experiences have people had with gites, logis and auberges? We are from Canada so that given the weak state of our dollarette, we are budget conscious.

What suggestions do you have for dining alone in Paris?

Thanks

[Bux]

Trains are excellent, but best used for transportation between cities. If you want to see and enjoy rural France, I'd have to recommend a car. France has a great network of "gites." I've not used them and prefer small country inns and hotels, but my guess is that the gites would be best used when driving in the countryside.

My experience with wine tasting in France has been limited primarily to tagging along with friends who are buying cases for their own use. On the whole, I've not experienced anything like the tourist industry that's grown out of wine tasting in Napa and Sonoma counties in California. I have seen tours of wineries advertised in Bordeaux, however and I think there's been some advice here in the past. You might try a search on "tasting" or perhaps better yet on "wine tasting" or "wine" and "tasting" in this board using the search feature.

I am omnivorous and not a good person to guide you on food. I recall spending a week or more in Brittany and realizing we hadn't had meat in a week or more, but that didn't count ham sandwiches or ham in crepes and it didn't account for the fact that many of the vegetables were cooked in, or finished off in, veal stock or that a fish finished off with a sauce based on veal stock was served with potatoes cooked with tripe sausage.

[bctraveller]

Thanks for your advice. I am resigned to driving. After a little more research, I think we will spend 3 days in t6he Bordeaux area, and 3 in the Basque. Then we will spend a week in Paris and one driving through Burgundy and spend most of the remainder of our time in Provence.

We will lok into small hotels as well as the gites.

[Bux]

The choice between small hotels and gites is probably entirely subjective. I have French friends who swear by gites. Are you driving to France or renting a car there? I only ask because you will not want a car in Paris. Parking is difficult and will probably run into a bit of money for a week. Coming from the US, I've always arranged to spend my first r last few days in Paris and will pick up a car when I leave Paris or drop it off on my return.

[magnolia]

Thanks for your advice.  I am resigned to driving.  After a little more research, I think we will spend 3 days in t6he Bordeaux area, and 3 in the Basque.  Then we will spend a week in Paris and one driving through Burgundy and spend most of the remainder of our time in Provence.

We will lok into small hotels as well as the gites.

NB!! If you're going in mid-to-end of September, which it looks like you are, wine regions such as Burgundy (and probably Bordeaux) will be in the full swing of harvest. This is a *really* busy time of year for them and as Bux has mentioned, most are just not set up for casual tourists/travelers/curious observers. While someone at each winery probably will be answering phones, you should do some research before showing up, because it's unlikely anyone will be able to spend quality time with you. That said - I certainly don't want to discourage you - call the tourist agencies in Bordeaux and Beaune, they may be able to advise about specialist vineyard tours or wine industry guides who can take you around and arrange for tastings etc. and if the weather's good and cool, it should be spectacularly beautiful. Have a great time !

[jaybee]

Driving in France can be one of the great pleasures if you take smaller country roads ("C" and "D" roads). It is essential that you get good maps!! Michelin Yellow maps are good but I've used the series put out by IGN for years and they are the best. The thing to do is to get a large scale map of the region and buy smaller maps of the specific areas that magnify everything two or three times. The real detailed maps actually show roads as small as a driveway! The IGN maps can be purchased in the FNAC stores or if you are in New York, from some of the better travel stores. Or check the internet. This is crucial if you are to drive and enjoy the trip. You should bring a yellow marker so you can mark places and or routes you want to take. One person can navigate while the other drives. The road signs are usually very good, with every intersection telling you what towns are where. A "Toutes directions" intersection is a good sign to know, as it will take you to any road you are looking for.

I aslo recomend that you buy a few good books about the areas you are going to and use them as resources to plan day trips the night before as well as to plan your major itinerary. I'm sure Bux and others here can recommend some good guide books. The Michelin Green guides are always good for sight seeing. Patricia Wells "Food Lover's Guide to France" is a good overall food guide. But then there will be books about the regions you are going to that will give you lots of detaialed information and tips. You should do as much book learning before you leave a possible. Then xerox the pages of the books that are most relevant to your trip so you don't have to carry the whole book for a few pages of information.

There are some very good books about Burgundy, Bordeaux and Province and of course Paris. For Paris, I'll put in a plug for my in-laws book The Bistros of Paris by Barbara and Robert Hamburger. I can vouch for its accuracy (I did some of the research!). Amazon sells it for $12.

Read, read, read.

[bctraveller]

I want to thank everyone so being so helpful. I know it is probably a pain to get some newbee asking questions that you have answered many times before.

The itinerary now looks like this:

Sunday Sept 1 arrive in Paris from Canada, rent a car and head off to the Bordeaux region, spend the night at a hotel around Bordeaux

Monday tour/explore/taste (I hope) in Medoc

spend the night in a gite around St. Emilion

Tuesday tour/explore/taste in St. Emilion, Cotes de Castillon, Bergerac

2nd night same gite

Wednesday complete Tuesday's mission, stock up for a fews day supply, tour/explore/taste Graves and maybe a sweet wine, and head for Basque

new gite in Basque country, or possibly a small inn

Thursday, explore the Basque coast

Friday possibly attempt to surf

Saturday back to Paris (and drop off the car! - thanks for the advice Bux!)

Sunday - Saturday Paris Don't yet have a clue what I will do. I suspect probably indulge too much .

Saturday Sept 14 drive through Burgundy to Provence

We have booked what sounds like a beautiful gite in Avignon/Ile de la Barthelasse. Special thanks to Beachfan for pointing us in the right direction and suggestions for some wines to try!

I am working at all the homework. Being a very good procrastinator, I will not have finished planning the trip until it is already over.

Using maps - isn't that sort of like cheating - not as bad as asking directions but defeating the male perogative to mindlessly drive around until the destination is stumbled upon? I wil check with our equivalent of AAA to see if they have the maps Jaybee recommends. I am busy reading bits and pieces of several guides.

After a week in Provence, we return to Paris for one last night and then fly home.

Again, thanks to everyone for the friendly advice!

[Bux]

I am also a fan of the Michelin green guides. If you have a deep interest in a small area or have a real interest in some aspect of the local culture you may find other books useful, but the green guides are terrific for the casual travler who wants basic information on key sights along with some background information on the area. We seem to have copies for most of France and will update our editions if we want reliable information on opening times and things like that.

As for road maps, I find them essential for driving in rural areas as we're always looking for back roads and interesting roads to offbeat places. I like the Michelin series at a scale of 1:200,000. I just find them the easiest to read. It may be a matter that I like the ones I know and am used to reading.

I've been a fan of the Patricia Wells' Food Lover's Guides to Paris and to France, but while the one to Paris has been updated, the one to all of France hasn't and is getting less and less reliable with shops and services that are no longer in business as well as an absence of new listings since 1987.

[jaybee]

If the drive from Paris to Bordeaux isn't a big part og yuour plan, you could take the TGV from Paris to Bordeaux and pick up your car at the Bordeaux RR station. Arrange to return it in Paris. The train will take 3 + hours. The drive a lot more and will be quite tiring. We did his a couple of years ago and it worked well, except we returned the car in Bordeaux after touring the region and TGVd back to Paris.

The maps can be bought in Paris at a FNAC store, or here IGN Roadmaps

OR HERE

[MartyL]

Jaybee's suggestion is a good one. Better to take advantage of the excellent high-speed train system for the longer legs on your journey and save the driving for exploring the areas that are the focus of your trip.

The following is a link to a service that provides quotes on car rentals in France. You tell them which cities in which you want to pick up and drop off the car (no problem if they are different cities) and they canvas the local offices and e-mail you a quote a day or two later with the best rate. In my experience they offer excellent deals. Once they tell you which rental office will be providing your car, you might consider calling the rental office and asking if they have any cars equipped with GPS. This was a godsend on our last trip. Best of luck.

http://www.france.com/travel/cars

[bctraveller]

Great suggestions! We will now use trains for all the long hauls: Paris to Bourdeaux, the Basque to Paris, Paris to Avignon and return. I was dreading all the time behind the wheel.

Anyone have any restaurant recommendations (fish/vegetarian) for the Medoc, Bordeaux, St. Emilion, and Basque coast areas? While I am at it, also Paris, and Provence.

[bctraveller]

PS Where can we find great creme brulee?

[currypuff]

Anyone have suggestions on a good day trip from Paris... I am looking for a good guided tour that isn't too expensive and will run on a weekday (thursday or Friday).

I am thinking of going to either Loire Valley or possibly Burgundy. I don't know much about wines... so a guide that will provide a good education as well!

Hope this is not too tall of a task. I apologize if this topic has been covered before... search terms didn't come up with anything relevant.