EXPLORING FRANCE’S GEMS

Aweek-long trip to Paris is time enough for three full days and nights in the capital and still have time for visiting some of the other amazing destinations France has to offer. France’s high speed rail system Trains à Grande Vitesse makes it easy.

PARIS
Paris was buzzing this November, as the first Christmas markets opened, seasonal decorations appeared, and snowflakes descended. We visited the Louvre and the Centre Pompidou, admired the view from the rooftop at Galeries Lafayette Haussmann, toured Montmartre—arriving for dinner at Le Moulin de la Galette which Renoir made famous— and listened to Ravel’s Bolero within the church of La Madeleine. Our London cousins met us for the day, via Eurostar, to cruise the Seine on the Bateaux Parisiens and lunch with a view of the Tour Eiffel from Alain Ducasse’s Les Ombres atop the le Musée du Quai Branly – Jacques Chirac.

We also lunched on foie gras and truffles at Truffes Folies, on an inventive twelve-course vegetarian extravaganza at Alain Passard’s three-star Arpège, near the Rodin Museum, and at restaurant Pierre Gagnaire, the three-star Michelin restaurant within the newly launched Hôtel Balzac, a Relais & Chateaux affiliate, where we stayed.

We dined under an original Eiffel ceiling on an authentic Italian dinner by Chef Baldassare Mazzara’s at Restaurant V in the Hotel Vernet and at Le Moulin de la Galette in Montmartre, which Renoir made famous and viewed the Palais Garnier Opera House from our balcony at Hotel Edouard 7, the lighted Arc du Triomphe. Champs Elysees was just a short stroll from our accommodations in the authentic Haussman style Majestic Hôtel. www.parisjetaime.com

CHAMPAGNE
The very word Champagne conjures up images of elegant events celebrating with wine made from grapes grown in the region. It’s a 46-minute ride on the direct TGV from Paris to the historic regional capital of Reims, (rhymes with dance). In the old city, Americans —Ford, Rockefeller and Carnegie—helped rebuild the Cathédrale Notre Dame after daily bombing during World War I, from 1914 to 1918; subsequently, Marc Chagall designed its magnificent, biblically themed, stained-glass windows.

Grande Maison champagne houses located in Reims, such as Ruinart, Taittinger, Veuve Clicquot and Vranken Pommery, welcome visitors for tastings and to tour the Roman-era underground multi-storied chalk cellars, called Crayères, which protected citizens during the bombing.

Travel the picturesque, vineyard-bordered, 40-mile Champagne Trail, lined with teeny, historic villages and dozens of small producers. It leads to l’Abbaye d’Hautvillers where Dom Perignon, the Benedictine monk Deus Optimus Maximus (D.O.M.) Pierre Perignon, died in 1715 and is buried and Epernay, the wine capital, where Moët and Chandon and de Vonage are located along the pristine Avenue de Champagne.

In Reims, stay at Domaine Les Crayères, a Relais & Chateaux affiliate, or at La Caserne Chanzy Hotel & Spa, Autograph Collection, which views the cathedral. Alternately, stay in a luxe countryside inn with a spa near Epernay: the 49-room Royal Champagne Hotel & Spa. www.champagne.fr 

CANNES 
Captivating Cannes, my favorite city on the French Riviera is reached in only five hours and four-minutes on a TGV direct from Paris. The city’s lush, palm-lined grand boulevard bordered by palace hotels and designer boutiques and the beach lined Mediterranean Sea. It’s only a short walk to countless cafés boulangeries, patisseries, both daily marchés and the abundance of shops along rue d’Antibes. There’s even a weekend brocante, for vintage finds and antiques.

Savor Italian specialties at Le Vesuvius, sit on the terrace watching the world go by—delight in simple grilled fare at Le Maschou, in Le Suquet, where the steep pedestrian streets of the ancient fisherman’s village lead up from the Vieux Port and wonderfully authentic Provençal specialties at Le Safranier, in nearby Antibes. www.en.cannes-france.com

GETTING AROUND
Trains à Grande Vitesse — Traveling silently up to 199 miles per hour to makes getting around quick and easy. Book tickets from Rail Europe online. Assist en Gare handicap assistance is available, if reserved 24 hours in advance; and car rental agencies are on site at each destination.

Train travel via Rail Europe is the best way to visit various French destinations, including those featured plus Beaune and Lyon, Bordeaux and Biarritz and Nice and many more.  

For More Information on Rail Europe visit: www.raileurope.com
Visit www.france.fr for more information on planning your french vacation.