My wife and I will be spending a couple of weeks in France. We have been to Paris and the Champagne area during another trip. We hope ot spend the final week in the Nice/Cannes/Monaco area.

We are red wine lovers and try to avoid large metropolitan areas. Is Burgundy or Bordeaux a better choice for the first week? Any other suggestions?

Any opinions wold be very much appreciated!

Tim

What time of the year will you be traveling?

I would probably add the rest of Provence since you haven't been. Arles, Aix, Avignon, St Remy, Pont du Gard, perhaps Moustiers-Ste.-Marie and the lavander route, if traveling in June-Aug.

Dont forget to add Menton to your list, I thought it was nice than Cannes or Nice.

sorry, I kind of merged lavande and lavender

Hi Tim,
Even if my point of view is biased because I live in Burgundy I think it is easier to go to Provence passing through Burgundy. There is so much to see!
You can taste wines in every village on the golden slope between Dijon and Beaune (like marsannay, Fixin, Gevrey Chambertin, Chambolle Musigny, Vougeot etc...) If you like red wines with character they're all in Burgundy!
http://www.terroirs-b.com/english/wine/wines.htm
http://www.burgundywine.net/

How will you be travelling and when are you going to France?

Thanks all for your ideas.

cocofromdijon, we will be in France for the first half of September 2007. Will rent a car for each area we stay in but may take a train if there is a great distance between the locations we wish to see.

Burgundy sounds great! You may want to consider a career in tourism.
Is it possible to roam the countryside and stop into various wineries to sample/buy? Are appointments usually neccesary?

Thank you!

Tim

One of my favorite routes for wine in Provence is through Les Dentelles de Montmirail to taste the wines of Vacqueyras, Giondas(a faovorite of mine)
Beaume de Venise, a wonderful dessert wine, so good over the Cavaillon melon and so many others.

>Is it possible to roam the countryside and stop into various wineries to sample/buy? Are appointments usually neccesary?<
The wine growers will be busy with the harvests but the cellars will stay open anyway so you'll see the harvests AND taste wine, great!

Hi Mimi, you mean Gigondas maybe...

Burgundy should be lovely at that time of year, and is certainly a more logical trip to make in conjunction with a trip to Nice/Cannes.
We really enjoyed our stay at Le Cep in Beaune; the Hospice de Beaune is not to be missed and the surrounding area is lovely. You should be able to visit vine yards and taste, but the weather will affect the harvest and possibly your ability to visit; you will need to to some research. I think that the "touring wine country book" for Burgundy is probably out of date (my edition is 2000) but there are certainly on-line resources that you can use.

YEs, I'm famous for typos

I find Burgundy much more interesting than Bordeaux.
Variety of landscape and nearby sites.

Wow! You have all given me some food for thought and great information. I was originally leaning towards Bordeaux... but Burgundy is looking like a better choice.

I'm hoping to rent a villa for a week and do lots of wine tasting. Burgundy sounds like it will be fantastic!

Thanks again.

Tim

I'm a Burgundy fan, too. (Actually, my poles of attention straddle far-west Burgundy and the department of the Cher: The vineyards of Poully-sur-Loire and Sancerre.)

For the best, most profound wine experience, I'd urge you to rough out an itinerary and make appointments. Many Burgundy vineyards are small, family-run operations that can't afford full-time greeters and pourers. And you do want to talk with the vintners themselves, don't you? You can find some who can share their passion for wine with you in English, and will be happy to do it, if you work on it.

After your stay in Paris, rent a car there and head south.Visit Burgundy, Provence and finally drop the car off in Nice.The driving is easy and you'll enjoy the small villages and vineyards.

We thoroughly enjoyed 11 days in Burgundy. We stayed in Dijon and it is a charming town. You can walk to so many things if you enjoy walking. We stayed in a charming appartment that was centrally located. It is www.myhomeindijon.com You will find many other pleased people who have stayed at Coco's apartment. It is easy to travel to other towns in Burgundy if you are interested in exploring outside Dijon. Enjoy your trip. We have traveled to other parts of France but definitely plan to return to Dijon.

More raves for Burgundy from this Burgundian lover. My favorite area of France - small, charming, relaxed, wonderful food, and of course the wine. DH and I have always been there in September, it can range from very hot to cool. Lovely time of year as the growers are preparing for vendages. We stay outside of the Beaune ring road at the lovely Hostellerie du Bretonnaire. Request a room in the new wing in the garden.

Wonderful information about Burgundy. It sounds like a perfect place to go.

I haven't heard from any Bordeauz lovers though. There must be some folks out there who favour bordeauz??

Sorry... I meant Bordeaux NOT Bordeauz. Itchy typing finger I guess.

bumping for future reference