Sidny

I'm going to Paris for a long weekend in early March and want to get out of the city for one day trip. Before you chastise me for leaving the city, I've been to Paris several times and while I know I haven't seen the whole city, my friend and I would really like to see another town/city in France for the day. And rather than just wandering aimlessly around a new town I like to have one target site/objective/goal for the day, and I think wine tasting is a perfectly acceptable goal for a day of vacation! I'm not particularly interested in champagne tasting, more red wines.

I found this information on the Maisons des Vins in several of the Loire towns: http://www.vinsvaldeloire.fr/en_EN/v...sons_vins.aspx

Has anyone been to these Maisons? Would anyone recommend one of these towns in particular? I'm picturing getting into town and wandering a bit, having lunch, doing some wine tasting, wandering/shopping, and having dinner before catching a train back to Paris.

Would love to visit actual vineyards, but no car and trying to keep it simple. Are there any other such wine tasting opportunities in other towns such as Dijon or Lyon or ??? (that would be within a couple of hours of Paris by train)? I believe Beaune has something similar to the above with the Marche aux Vins but I think that's a bit much for a day trip (am I wrong)?

Thanks for the advice, and would love a first hand report if anyone has been to the Loire Maisons above!

annhig

Hi sidny,

We've walked past these "maisons" a few times but never been in. Both Angers and Saumur would be good venues for the sort of walk you describe, and of course if you're on the train, you don't need to worry about the drink -driving laws.

did you see that the website also had a list of local producers some of whom do tours? also, on the Discover the Loire button, there was a drop-down menu for vineyards that you can visit:

http://www.vinsvaldeloire.fr/en_EN/c...e_accueil.aspx

another place you might consider would be Reims - several of the champagne houses do guided tours with tastings, I believe.

PalenQ

How about Reims - less than an hour by train from Paris and home to some of the world's ,most prestigeous Champagne Caves and Houses - places where they really produce wines - the Maisons you talk about I think are generally places where wines produced elsewhere in the area are sampled and showcases but not produced on the premises - not sure about that but a quick look over seems like that - some promotional place for local wines.

Reims offers about a dozen separate ornate Champagne Houses and caves - like thoseof Mumm's Tatinger, etc - right inside the city - easy to reach by train and Reims also has a world-class cathedral, where kings and queens of France were once crowned.

Loire wines also are not nearly the most celebrated in France - at least not the ones in the towns where the Maisons are.

Rumseydog

Authentica Tours in Burgundy ( http://www.visitdijon.com/en/dijon_authentica_tours.htm ) have received some nice reviews here on Fodors and on TripAdvisor. They advertise several half-day tours and can meet you at the Dijon Ville railway station, about 1h35 from Paris Gare de Lyon.

Midnightsun

I would second PalenQ's suggestion of Reims, with the cathedral (including one stained glass window dedicated to the manufacture of champagne) also highly recommended. If your time is tight, you should probably book tours and tastings in advance. I think Ruinart only does them by appointment (but they offer a great tour), and Taittinger only has a few times. Veuve
Cliquot probably has the most frequent tours; you may not need a reservation there.

thursdaysd

I'm a red wine fan myself, so am interested in the answers, as I thought the area round Paris was more into whites. However, I'm still trying to understand why a post that says quite clearly: "I'm not particularly interested in champagne tasting, more red wines" draws two posts recommending champagne....

StCirq

No kidding, adrienne. I would choose Dijon myself, but if you can more easily get to Saumur or Chinon in the Loire, those would be good venues for red wine tastings. I don't know much about train connections there, though, as I've always had a car.

annhig

However, I'm still trying to understand why a post that says quite clearly: "I'm not particularly interested in champagne tasting, more red wines" draws two posts recommending champagne....>>

simply because I didn't spot that bit, thursdays.

but there are of course some very good, if not great, Loire red wines. We like them a lot, though they are not that easy to get hold of.

StCirq

You weren't one of the ones that missed it, ann. I thought your suggestions for Loire venues were great. Angers and Saumur are both in red wine territory in the Loire.

annhig

lol, St. Cirq, but I DID miss it.

just lucky, i guess.

thursdaysd

It wasn't you I noticed ann....

And I agree about Dijon, really enjoyed staying there, despite bad weather. Interested to hear about the Loire reds.

Sidny

Thanks for the suggestions thus far. The reason I mentioned the Maisons in the Loire towns is that they seemed easy to just stop into when we arrive (though I noted their closing times on the website for lunch). I'm not sure we want to be on a timetable and having to make it to Dijon in time for a scheduled tour, though I appreciate the suggestion and will investigate it further--Authentica does seem to get excellent reviews. I have to admit, I like the idea of Dijon and/or Beaune as they're a bit further away from Paris. I need to check train schedules to Beaune to see if that's even an option.

Would love more feedback if anyone has additional ideas!

Midnightsun

Well I can certainly be accused of inattention to detail, maybe because I like champagne so much that I glossed over the part of the original post ruling out champagne. Sorry about that. I think you have other options, Sidny, that will serve you well

annhig

sidney - Angers in particular is worth going to see, just for the Chateau with its wonderful Apocalypse tapestry in a specially constructed basement:

http://editions.monuments-nationaux....e/bdd/livre/14

the gardens are also lovely. My recollection is that the maison des vins is in the corner of the square where the chateau is to be found, and the website seems to agree with me:

http://www.vinsvaldeloire.fr/en_EN/v...sons_vins.aspx

My problem with Dijon or Beaune would be is that it takes quite a long time to get there and back for the sake of a good lunch and wine tasting; IMHO they are better as overnight destinations.

PS - i just went to the SNCF website and checked train times. The ones to Angers are about 1hr 35 mins and they go regularly from Paris Montparnasse. There are TGV trains to Dijon that apparently take about the same time but are pretty costly; there are cheaper ones that take a LOT longer.

http://www.voyages-sncf.com/billet-train/horaires

Christina

I've been to both Angers and Dijon, the former as a day trip, and either would be fine for this trip. There is a tourist office fairly near the Dijon train station that has lots of these day wine tours. I think you can't go direct to Beaune, you have to go through Dijon.

There are plenty of cheap TGV PREM fares to Dijon, it depends on how far ahead you buy, and fares are always cheaper at some times of day than others (even when both are TGVs). You can easily get a ticket 1-way for about 25 euro that is a PREM at some times, and even more expensive tickets can be had for only about 32 euro. It's basically the same price to Angers or Dijon, they both have PREMS for around 25 euro and Loisir fare s for around 30-35, and they both take about the same time.

So train fare doesn't make any difference in the choice, nor the time, if anything Dijon is about 5-10 minutes quicker. Now Beaune is another story because you have to go to Dijon and usually transfer, so it does take a lot longer and costs more.

Sidny

OK, train experts. I'm having a helluva time trying to find fares. I can find through RailEurope (UK version, I believe), fares between Paris-Angers and Paris-Dijon...both appear to be about $120-$130 USD. I wasn't expecting the price to be so high, my only train travel experience was with a Eurail pass. Does this seem like a reasonable price (keep in mind, no chance of PREM fares as I'm looking for tix for next week, March 2nd)?

I also tried the SNCF website with appropriate country choice to avoid redirection to SNCF and in many cases I'm told there are no tix available for the trains...do these routes really sell out or did I find a bug in the system? Incidentally, same thing happened when I searched a Paris-Reims route (it's closer (and cheaper?), I'll deign to drink champagne!), but no return tix. Is that route so popular that a return train coming back Sat evening is really sold out? Perhaps I'll search Friday and see if I have any better results.

Any tips or experiences to share? Thanks!

StCirq

<<Angers in particular is worth going to see, just for the Chateau with its wonderful Apocalypse tapestry in a specially constructed basement>>

Not to mention the incredible Jean Lurçat tapestries on the other side of town that are a modern interpretation of the originals.

Sidny, you don't want to go anywhere near the Rail Europe site, and the prices you're seeing are highly inflated. For March 2, SNCF is showing prices of about 70 euros Paris to Angers and about 50 euros Paris to Dijon. The cheap fares have already been snapped up because you're late in booking, but that doesn't mean you need to pay Rail Europe prices.

Sidny

StCirq: I see total round trip fare of 106 euros Paris-Dijon-Paris on Mar 2, the 50 euros appears to be outward bound only...or am I looking at something incorrectly?

I know RE is more costly, but I resorted to it because I wasn't finding any trains available at all, regardless of price, on SNCF. But that problem seems to be solved now, so possibly a temporary bug. Anyway, based on above which is about the cheapest fare for a reasonable length day trip, it would be $140 in train fare alone to Dijon for the day. If that's what it costs a week out, I might save a day trip for a future vacation that I've planned further in advance.

Thanks for taking the time!

FrenchMystiqueTours

If you are interested in a day trip outside of Paris, but not involving wine, then there are loads of lovely day trips all within an hour or so from Paris by train and your round trip train fares will vary from between roughly 15€ to 30€. If this interests you let me know and I'll post a list of easy day trips you can do from Paris.

bilboburgler

I've tasted in both the Angers and Saumur houses. I think I found the Saumur one more fun, they have a load of details on soil types which we chatted through. Because of Saumur and Champigny (and Saumur-Champigny) being just above the town they really do know their stuff.

The reds will be mainly Cabernet Franc which smells and tastes of privet. To my mind these wines are better than the Chinon across the river but others differ with my views.