La France Gastronomique, What is Gastronomique?

As the name implies, it is a focus on French food and wine. When creating such a trip, one has the option of including all the meals as sit-down affairs in fine restaurants. Instead, I have opted for a broader range of gastronomic experience. I'll be showing travelers on a budget how to eat inexpensively but well by choosing delicious fresh food and low-priced regional wines from a local Monoprix or town market. We'll be tasting wine in several different wine-growing regions. We'll visit a chocolate shop run by the same family since 1913.

We'll sample brasseries, bistros, bars, pâtisseries, and cafés along with some of the finest restaurants in France. We'll visit family-style restaurants where we may be the only tourists. We'll enjoy a dinner cruise along the Seine. Often our menus are prepared by the chefs especially for our group. All this makes it a gastronomic experience. In addition to the food and wine, I want us to enjoy the special treats each region has to offer: châteaux in the Loire, the tiled roofs and ramparts of Beaune, the cathedral and canals of Strasbourg, the great monuments of Paris. So, not only do we savor the French food and wine, but also the sights, sounds and history of each location.

The itinerary is laid out like a good meal. We start with the lighter fare of the Loire Valley. Here the traditional dishes and wines are crisp and light. When we visit Beaune in the Burgundy region, we experience a heartier, richer flavor. This region gives us some of the world's finest red wines, as well as dishes like boeuf bourguignon and coq au vin. Next, Strasbourg has an even heartier, Germanic flavor, with sauerkraut dishes alongside tartes flambées.

Finally, in Paris, all the great flavors come together in the continent's most elegant and sophisticated city. Here we'll enjoy not only a variety of dining experiences, including a dinner cruise on the Seine, but also our own private cooking class with French chefs!