Provence to Paris with Wine Region in Between

My husband and I are planning a trip to France and currently our plan is to travel from Provence to Paris and visit a wine region in between. Our original thought was Bordeaux but it would require a lot of travel time (we only have 2 weeks total for vacation). Would we be %26quot;missing out%26quot; if we went to the Rhone region instead of Bordeaux? This is my husband%26#39;s first trip to France and my first trip to a wine region in France. Thanks for any input.

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Going north from Provence you will find many first-rate wine regions: Châteauneuf-du-Pape, the clustered wine villages of Beaumes de Venise/Vacqueras/Gigondas/St-Joseph (and more), then the vineyards of the Rhône Valley. Beyond that is the Beaujolais and then the best of them all, Burgundy. Putting all that together will give you a wonderful trip with a wide variety of wine styles.

Note that in France you can%26#39;t always drop in at a winery and taste. Some of the smaller wineries require reservations, but quite a few villages have tasting rooms. Gigondas has a central shop featuring tastings from most vineyards. In Burgundy, the town of Beaune has a number of tasting rooms.

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Catullus,

Thank you for your response! If we were to go this route, my next question would be where to stay and how to get there. I would prefer to pick a %26quot;home base%26quot; between Provence and Paris. Given our itinerary, what town would be a good middle point and does it make more sense to rent a car while in Provence and traveling north rather taking a train everywhere? Judging from other posts, it appears we%26#39;ll need a car in Provence anyway so I%26#39;m wondering if we should just keep it until we reach Paris.

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Keep the car and spend a week driving from Provence to Paris, with 2 overnight stops along the way. I%26#39;d suggest seeing the %26quot;cluster%26quot; vineyards on one day, then continuing up to Nyons for the night. Nyons is in the middle of a major olive area; it has, so far, the only olive-oil appellation controlée in France. Visit the cooperative there for some good shopping.

The following day visit some of the Rhône Valley vineyards, then back to Nyons for the night.

On the third day head up through the Beaujolais, with a few stops on the way, and spend the night in Beaune. That makes for a good stop for visiting some of the local wineries, including the Château de Meursault, which has a very good tasting set-up, and some of the villages along the Route des Vins. Spend that night in Beaune as well.

On the following day head up along the northern part of the Route des Vins, tasting as you go, to Chablis and explore the white wines of the region. Spend the night in Chablis, possibly at the Hostellerie des Clos.

The next day you can head straight to Paris, although there is good sightseeing in the area: the cathedral at Autun, the city of Dijon, the basilica at Vézelay. If you approach Paris via the Loire Valley you can visit a vineyard or two on the way and stop at the magnificent Chartres cathedral.

As for missing out if you skip Bordeaux, non. Since you%26#39;ll be in Provence anyway you might as well stay on the eastern side of France instead of taking the time to head over to the far west.

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Catullus,

Wow! Thank you so much for you help! We appreciate all of your recommendations and I%26#39;m really excited about the route you suggested. Thanks again!

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You%26#39;re very welcome. I hope you have a wonderful time.

If you can find a copy of Frederick Wildman%26#39;s %26quot;A Wine Tour of France,%26quot; you%26#39;ll find it very good reading and quite useful. The book was originally monthly articles in Gourmet magazine, which got me started on French wines.

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