Guide to France

Reasons to visit the Dordogne region of France
by: Marcus Smith

There are many reasons to visit and explore the Dordogne region of France. Some of the key highlights inlude:

Lascaux caves

The prehistoric paintings at Lascaux are probably the most renowned cave paintings in the world. The cave paintings you can now visit are a copy of the prehistoric paintings contained in the original Lascaux caves, 200 metres away, because human breath was damaging the originals. The replica paintings have been made using the same materials and techniques as were used for the original paintings, 19,000 years ago.

The Lascaux cave paintings are mostly pictures of large animals, including the 'auroch' - a now extinct early relative of the ox (it is thought that the Auroch was worshiped as a sacred beast in prehistoric times). Truly a remarkable experience, and you quickly forget that you are looking at modern day replicas.

Sarlat

Sarlat is a beautiful medieval town a few kilometres north of the River Dordogne. The old town, dating from both medieval and renaissance times is a pleasure to visit, especially during the spring and autumn, or early in the morning. If you can catch the early morning sunshine on the yellow sandstone buildings, so much the better.

Wander through the back streets around the cathedral to get a feel for how the town must have been 500 years ago.

Les Eyzies

Les Eyzies is at the centre of a very beautiful area, in the Vezere Valley, with numerous cliff and rock formations, surrounded by rivers, hills and tranquil countryside. At the centre of prehistoric life in Europe, there are several interesting cave systems and prehistoric relics to visit around Les Eyzies.

Les Eyzies is also home to the National Prehistory Museum which houses one of the world’s most complete collections of prehistoric artefacts. Just a couple of hundred metres from the National Prehistory museum is Abri Pataud, a cro-magnon shelter dating back almost 40,000 years. The cave-lined Vézère valley has been classified as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO

Chateaux

In the Dordogne region there are reputed to be 1001 chateaux. Many of the most magnificent are open to the public. Start perhaps with the Chateau de Commarque, Chateau de Castelnaud, or (my personal favourite) Chateau de Beynac, set high above the Dordogne river and the attractive village of Beynac.

Each has its own impressive tale to tell of centuries of conflict, often between the French and the English during the Hundred Years War, and each has its own magnificent views over the surrounding countryside.

Most beautiful villages

There are several villages in the Dordogne region that have received the prestigious ‘Most Beautiful Villages of France’ award. These include Monpazier, a perfectly preserved medieval bastide town to the south of the region; La Roque-Gageac, a picture postcard village spread out along the Dordogne river, with troglodyte dwellings and a tropical garden spreading up the cliff behind; and Beynac, mentioned above for its castle but equally attractive as a village in its own right

Several other villages in the immediate vicinity also have the award.

The Dordogne region provides a glimpse into a world virtually unchanged as the centuries have unfolded, and a visit is always an unforgettable experience.

About The Author
Marcus Smith lives in, and writes about, France. For more information about the Dordogne region visit North of the Dordogne and for France in general visit France This Way.

Labels: Dordogne

Discover the Paris-Beauvais Airport
by: Jeff Steiner

Over the last few years there has been an explosion of cheap flights to a number of high profile tourist destinations in France. Budget airlines like RyanAir and easyJet are now offering daily flights to such well-known French tourist destinations, as Paris, the French Alps, Toulouse and the south of France.

These cheap flights often arrive at out of the way unknown airports. Airports, that before the low cost flights arrived where little used. Take for example, Ryan Air’s flights to Paris. They arrive at the Beauvais-Tille Airport, a little known regional airport north of Paris.

Beauvais Airport is a small local airport typical of those used by no thrills airlines like RyanAir. You get what you pay for, space is limited. Never the less the Beauvais Airport has everything that any airport needs. There is friendly staff, restaurant and bar, overnight parking and of course because it is small you don’t have to walk far to get to your flight. There is also car hire on the airport grounds and local hotels nearby.

The best way to get to Beauvais Airport is with the regular shuttle service. This coach service runs between the Beauvais Airport and Paris and is timed to the RyanAir flight schedule. Buses leave from Paris three hours before each departure and from Beauvais Airport 20 minutes after each arrival. The coach leaves Paris at Porte Maillot (Metro and RER stop Porte Maillot) on Boulevard Pershing, near the Concorde Hotel. Coach tickets can be bought online (They need to be obtained more than 24 hours in advance. There is a 2-euro processing fee when you buy on the Internet) or at the coach station in Paris or of course at the Beauvais Airport. Seating for the coach is reserved for those passengers with a airline ticket.

The travel time to Beauvais from Paris is about an hour and a half. Don’t let this throw you, yes that sounds long but getting to Paris’ main airports - Orly and Charles de Gaulle can at times take over an hour, if not longer depending on how you travel. All the cost of getting to the Beauvais Airport is not that much more than travelling to either Charles de Gaulle or Orly.

There are a number of other budget airlines other than RyanAir that serve the Beauvais Airport, including BlueAir, Norwegian Air Shuttle, Sterling European Airlines and WizzAir. These airlines fly to many major European destinations: Barcelona, Dublin, Copenhagen, Rome and Venice, just to name a few.

So if you are traveling on a budget should you use the Beauvais Airport? Is it really worth it? That depends; the flights offered can be a great value at times. Just know what you are getting into, you need to add 15 euros and about an hour and a half to each way (the cost and travel time of the coach). Also make sure there are not any other cheap flights going to another Paris airport, like Orly.

For more information about the Beauvais Airport see - http://www.beauvais-airport.com/.

About The Author

Jeff Steiner - Jeff Steiner is an American living in the French Alps. Over the last eleven years he has learned a lot about living and traveling in France. Which is why he created Americans in France.

Labels: Paris

Visiting a Nature Park In The Camargue
by: Jakob Jelling

The Camargue is a very interesting French destination where visitors can find a wide variety of different activities to do and spots to meet. This area is located on the Mediterranean coast, and it is highly recommendable for those who enjoy water and beach related activities to visit it.

One of the main places visitors can meet while being at The Camargue is Camargue Parc Naturel or Camargue's natural park. This park is of a great size and includs several different spots within its area. One of these areas is St. Maries de la Mer, a very interesting town offering several attractive spots to visit as well as amazing landscapes to observe. This town is famous due to its folkloric music which attracts people from all places all year around that come wishing to enjoy from close this unique art expression method.

In this area, visitors could also meet French ranches and observe how horses and bulls are bred in them. These ranches are locally known as manades always welcome visitors and allow them to observe from close this activity that is typical of The Comargue and its surroundings.

As it could be expected in an area famous by its natural park, the fauna and flora of it is very attractive and might be very interesting for visitors to observe. The Comargue contains several amazing ponds and plains, ideal for visitors to walk around and enjoy of the fresh air and beautiful natural environment while meeting them. The Launes Pond and the Port Gardian are examples of these natural spots which visitors should not miss.

There also are several other interesting places to meet and things to do while being at the Comargue. This area offers a great quantity of activities available to visitors, such as horseback riding, mountain biking, bull fights, races, sunbathing at beaches, practicing several different water sports, and going to discos, to theatres and to music shows as well. Among the places visitors should try to visit while being in this area there is the Baroncelli Museum, the Romanesque church, the Pioch Badet Tzigane Museum, Giraud and the Ornithological Park.

About The Author

Jakob Jelling is the founder of Eurotomic.com. Please visit France if you're planning a trip to France.

Labels: Camargue

The Champs Elysées
by: Jakob Jelling

The Champs Elysées is one of the most famous areas of not only France but Europe and the entire world as well. This area can be visited through the Champs Elysées Avenue, which goes from the Arc of Triumph to the Place de la Concorde. This is one of the main spots which tourists who visit Paris could not miss, due not only to its beauty but also to its historic past.

The Champs Elysées Avenue contains several theaters, shops, cafes, restaurants and cinemas at its sides towards the western area, and the Jardins des Champs Elysées towards the area of the Place de la Concorde. This way, there is a wide range of different activities available to those visitors who might walk from one end of this Avenue to the other, so many that they might need more than one day to fully explore them.

The Jardins des Champs Elysées is a very beautiful place to visit, especially for those visitors who enjoy nature. This place contains amazing gardens, highly cared and carefully arranged combined with fountains, and providing an overall image of a healthy and cared open space.

The Champs Elysées Avenue is the first choice for any important celebration in Paris. During celebrations such as New Year's Eve, this area receives an amazing amount of people who congregate at it. Also, national events such as the commemoration of historical events are held on the Champs Elysées Avenue and the surrounding area.

The Champs Elysées Avenue became such in the 1600's after the Medicis decided to create a path surrounded by trees in the area. Before that, this area consisted on fields and gardens, and it was not until much later that it did take the form of Avenue which nowadays has.

In 1994, the Champs Elysées Avenue area was redesigned and had a few changes which made it have a slightly different appearance. Among the main changes visitors could observe, there is the addition of more trees and the creation of pedestrian zones at the side lanes, very convenient for tourists who wish to observe the area while walking.

About The Author

Jakob Jelling is the founder of Eurotomic.com. Please visit France if you're planning a trip to France.

Labels: Paris

Hotels in Strasbourg: how to choose the right one
by: David Brights

Going to visit Strasbourg won't forget to choose the best hotel in the city. There are a lot of hotels in Strasbourg to all tastes. The hotel and its location greatly imports. If you arrive in Strasbourg on business you'll choose one hotel, but if you a tourist you hotel must situated in the center between the world-famous tourist attractions. Welcome to Strasbourg!

Strasbourg is a frontier French city. European character of Strasbourg is based on its long and rich history. Before Strasbourg was a free city of the Holy Roman Empire and now it is a capital of Europe and the world. Also Strasbourg is home to major international organizations without being a national capital.

Strasbourg is not only a business center as you can think, it is also home to numerous parks and gardens, charming old quarters like "La Petite France" and the area around the Cathedral. The Ill River winds around the city and encircle the center of town, where a large part is intended only for pedestrians.

You should visit Strasbourg to feel the spirit of the city. Preparing for the journey, first of all you should determine dates of your trip and then you need to buy airline tickets and choose and book a hotel.

Flights to Strasbourg are available from all major airports of the country and world wide. You can buy tickets in air companies in your country or with help of internet. Most of air companies have the latest best flight deals on flights to Strasbourg.

As regards the hotels, there is the wide choice of hotels in Strasbourg to all tastes. To choose the suitable hotel you should look through the catalogues in your travel agency or in internet. You can ask your agent to show you the most popular hotels in Strasbourg or the hotels' rating that will help you in choosing the right one. Also you can ask the agent to advise you the hotel which fits you most of all. Just will say what kind of hotel you want, which services must be in it, in what part of Strasbourg it must be situated, etc. and qualified stuff of travel agency will sort out the hotel which suites your interests. You can choose hotels which are situated near the famous attractions or near beautiful parks. Sure several of them can cost enough, but there are a lot of special offers for hotels in Strasbourg:

- If your travel is planned in low season then you can expect the prices will be lower that usually.

- You'd like to make your vacations unforgettable: the hotels offer special week-end prices that can help you to save some money. It's nicely, isn't it?

- Booking on-line through the internet you can get special internet offer for any available accommodation on your travel dates.

- You decided to visit Strasbourg spontaneously and would like to make the trip immediately? Well, you can reckon on "last minutes" hotels' offers.

The hotels usually participate in different Preferred Hotel Programs that are organized by travel agencies or internet booking companies. The preferred hotels featured in catalogues or on websites and offer an excellent service and quality. Such hotels are highly recommended based on the mentioned criteria and feedback from previous guests.

Large companies are able to offer the most competitive rates due to the high volumes of reservations they deliver to the hotels and their personal relationship with them.

There are a lot of special offers for accommodation in Strasbourg. Just ask you travel agent about special offers when you book the hotel or look through the internet sites that offer services in booking hotels in Strasbourg. I'm sure you'll find the best hotel!

About The Author

David Brights writes for Show Cheap Hotels where you can find out more about cheap hotels and other topics.

Labels: Strasbourg

Eating (Way too Well) in Paris: Third Stop at Le Gourmet
by: Phil Chavanne

Yet another interesting stop in our culinary adventures in Paris, the Le Gourmet restaurant offers great French cuisine for prices I hadn't seen in Paris in 15 years.

Lunch time, where to go?

This is the third installment of the series of articles which I set about to write a couple of weeks ago on eating out well in Paris. I love food, I love good cuisine, and I want fellow travelers to enjoy Paris to the hilt. That's enough reasons to guide them to those places I am certain they will enjoy.

Lunch time in Paris is restaurant time. People who work in the city do not carry their lunch bags with them. They rarely enjoy the benefit of a corporate catering service, but even if they do, such catering is hardly a feat for anyone's eyes and taste buds.

Small restaurants perform a vital service: they feed the locals rather satisfactorily, inexpensively, and in record time.

What applies to locals applies to travelers, and your next culinary stop happens in just such circumstances. After a long morning walk in the quaint streets on the slopes of the Montmartre hill, you feel nicely hungry. Your steps lead you to Place de Clichy, a busy crossroads between the 17th, the 9th and the 18th districts (metro station: 'Place de Clichy').

Time for a gourmet experience!

Le Gourmet

You may be hungry, but you are no fool. You want to eat well, and spend your heard-earned cash on food worth this name.

In my considerate opinion none of the eateries positioned around Place de Clichy are worth the money they ask for. I find their cuisine either overpriced, or downright vulgar. I never had a satisfactory lunch at any of these places.

So where to go? Not far away.

When you are on Place de Clichy, turn yourself so as to face the downward slope, with the metro station in your back. Aim at Rue de Clichy, left of Rue d'Amsterdam. Walk down the street for about 200 yards, and turn left in Rue de Bruxelles. Walk another 200 yards. There you are on the right sidewalk.

Your next favorite food stop is located at No. 19 rue de Bruxelles.
Name: Le Gourmet.
Identifiable sign: its French bistro-style facade. And a crowd.

Entering the bistro

If you happen to walk in at around noon thirty, you may have to wait just a tad. The place is packed. I have been to this restaurant numerous times, and I still have to be there the day it is not packed at lunch time.

My advice: come at around 12:00 am, and grab a spot before everybody else does.

The place exudes old charm, with dark wood panels, old posters, menu slates marked with chalk on the walls, a traditional bar, a mosaic floor, bistro-style chairs and tables. It smells good, though cigarette smoke can become an issue at times when the facade door isn't left open.

The owner and chef bought the restaurant about 2 years ago from its first and long-time owners, an elderly couple who retired after having steered the ship for longer than any local can remember. The new owner liked the decor, and decided to preserve it as-is, except for the facade which was changed early in 2006.

In this very Parisian setting, patrons feel immediately welcomed and are quickly seated either by the boss or a smiling waitress. This is lunch time, and they know patrons are in a hurry. No unnecessary delay.

Seated, and menu in hands

The menu is in fact chalked on the slates that hang on the front and back walls. A remarkable feat for such small a restaurant, the menu changes every day.

Anyone who lived in Paris for some time knows that restaurant menus do not change beyond the 'plat du jour' - the main fare for the day. Even the 'plat du jour' does not change that much: from one week to another, the same courses tend to get back on the menu.

Not so at 'Le Gourmet': the menu changes everyday and no two weeks are alike. True diversity. Even if you were to eat there every day for 20 days, you could try 20 different courses.

Gourmet cuisine is a mission

The boss comes from the province of Touraine, in Western France. He likes to work on French traditional dishes, and his cuisine draws its main inspiration from the famous Burgundy and Lyons regions.

Among the 'terroir' dishes served at Le Gourmet, you can taste veal knuckle (souris de veau), prime cuts of veal (onglet de veau), roasted gilthead bream (daurade royale rôtie), stewed duck (pot-au-feu de canard), pike dumpling (quenelle de brochet). And the list goes on.

To get fresh products from his favorite suppliers, he wakes up at 3:30 am every day to go to the wholesale market (the Rungis market, situated south of Paris). He buys only what he needs for the day, loads up his truck, and heads back to his restaurant where he's spend the rest of the morning to cook for lunch.

The chef's motto is "fresh products, traditional preparation". He uses butter, not margarine. He doesn't buy frozen products, and no off-the-shelf sauces as he prepares his sauces himself. He is light-handed on spices which he thinks 'are all too often used to hide something'.

Appetizer, main course, dessert, wines

Le Gourmet's menu typically offers a choice of 4 appetizers (such as a warmed up goat cheese served on a loaf of country bread), 3 or 4 main courses (meat, fish, poultry), and 4 desserts.

The choice of desserts is also 'old-school': depending on the day, your selection may include chocolate whipped cream, baba au rhum (a spongy cake saturated with dealcoholized rum), biscuits with ganache (a mix of chocolate, cream and butter), orange cake, fondant cake, floating island (beaten egg whites floating on a French custard), red fruit pies, and so forth.

Light wines get the lion's share of the wine list. The chef's hometown is Valencay (in the heart of the Touraine region), and he purchases his bottles directly from local producers. The list comprises a variety of well-thought-of vines: Gamay, Cabernet, Valençay, Bourgueil, and Saumur-Champigny.

All this for how much?

Beyond the quality of the food you are served at Le Gourmet, the check is another pleasant surprise. For a meager 13 Euros (about $16), you have a full meal served in record time in a most pleasant atmosphere. For just a few more bucks, you have the wine to complete your experience.

To be honest, there are very few Parisian restaurants which will give you that much for such a low price. Le Gourmet wins my vote any time, any day. I recommend it to you wholeheartedly.

Where?
Le Gourmet
19 rue de Bruxelles
75009 Paris
Tel: 33 (0)1 48 74 53 42
Subway station: Place de Clichy
Lunch and dinner

About The Author
Phil Chavanne shares lots of useful advices and travel information on Paris with the help of his Paris experts team. Click here: Paris Restaurants to find now about French food and Paris hotels.

Labels: food, Paris

What is Language Immersion?
by: Dorioara Pinku

Language immersion is a program where a foreign language is used as the language of instruction in school. In partial language immersion, only 50-80% of a given school day is in a foreign language. In full language immersion programs and international study abroad programs, students eat, sleep, and breathe the language they are attempting to learn, and so the language is picked up much more quickly. The curriculum that the student follows will still be the same. The only difference is the language of instruction used by the teachers. This differs from second language programs where the students attend a class learning the language singularly.

Those who partake in an immersion program are forced to communicate in the foreign language. If you choose to study French in Paris, all classes will be taught in French. Also, you will practice French all over Paris, speaking to native people. Language is effectively acquired through the regular usage of it. You have to communicate socially and there is a wide variety of situations that require the language to be learned. This natural interaction is fun and enriching and it also motivates you to learn about the culture. While studying Spanish in Barcelona, for example, you are likely to desire to learn as much as possible about the culture of the people around you. By incorporating language learning with content learning, it becomes an important part of a student’s cognitive and social development. Those in an immersion program learn the foreign language faster and are more likely to become proficient in the language than those attending a regular second language class.

Bilingualism and multilingualism are increasingly becoming the norm. Bilingualism opens doors to communication with people of different races and languages in different parts of the world. Those who know more than one language will be more competent in this ever-cosmopolitan world of ours. Not only does immersion assist us socially, but there is also a high possibility of reaping economic benefits. A company looking for a bilingual employee is much more likely to hire someone who has studied Spanish in Madrid or learned Japanese in Japan than someone who took a few language classes at an American university. No college, regardless of how prestigious, can replicate the experience and result of learning a language among native speakers.

Regardless of what some people might think about how to handle a second language, it will not jeopardize your ability to speak your native language. In fact, research shows that the stronger the development of your mother tongue, the greater the proficiency level in the immersion language. This also works vice versa.

Being able to study in another country, absorbing the cultures, lifestyles and habits, is truly a once in a lifetime opportunity. There are many countries whose education systems provide immersion programs for international students, where you will be able to learn the language with other students from all around the world.

Paris, the capital of France, proud host of the grand Eiffel Tower and the Louvre art museum, is a wonderful place for students studying abroad. France is a country rich in culture and heritage, with a history that links closely to England’s. You can be romancing down the Seine, visiting the disturbing Catacombs, or marveling at the French gothic masterpiece, the Cathedral of Notre Dame. Besides being the perfect tourist attraction, Paris has schools and immersion programs that cater to people of all levels of French language proficiency. The French are very proud of their language, and they have a reason to be, for it truly is a beautiful language. After learning French in Paris, you will no doubt appreciate the beauty as much as the native French do.

What about a walk down the birthplace of the oldest civilizations known? See the 900 year old Forum, or take a look at Pantheon, the floating dome. Rome, Italy is the perfect place to indulge in the Italian language, culture and heritage. Studying in the heart of Rome, you, as an international student, gain not only proficiency in one of the most spoken languages in the world, but you also learn about modern Italian culture and society. And don’t forget the food!

There are so many places in the world that you can go to and absorb culture. From studying Chinese in China to living in laidback Spain, the choices are endless. Each country gives you an entirely new experience from the other. You live life their way, you eat their food and you breathe their air; there is much to learn and take in. If you choose to study abroad or taking an immersion program, be prepared for a whole new world that will open up to you.

About The Author

Dorioara Pinku

Enjoy your free Spanish phrase ebook: free Spanish phrase ebook download - This 30-pager is great if you quickly want to learn common Spanish phrases for travel or life in general. Also pronunciation and basic grammar. www.amerispan.com.

Labels: learning French

I Love French Wine and Food - A Burgundy Chardonnay
by: Levi Reiss

If you are looking for fine French wine and food, consider the Maconnais area of the Burgundy region in eastern France. You may find a bargain, and I hope that you'll have fun on this fact-filled wine education tour in which we review a local white Chardonnay.

Among France's eleven wine-growing regions Burgundy (with its neighbor Beaujolais) is fourth in vineyard acreage. Partisans, and they are many, claim that Burgundy is really the number one or number two wine-producing region in France, if not in the world. The wine reviewed below comes from the Maconnais area of southern Burgundy, whose wine production is almost 90% white, almost exclusively Chardonnay. While this area produces three times as much white wine as the other areas of Burgundy, is not very well known.

If you are visiting the Maconnais area, and you really should, make sure to stop by the village of Cluny and its medieval abbey, once the largest church in all Europe. Today the site lies in ruins, as it has been since the French Revolution, but what ruins. This site includes a horse-breeding center which was founded by Napoleon using stone from the abbey. You'll also want to see the Musee Ochier, a Romanesque lapidary museum. Don't forget to tour the town of Autun once called Augustodonum, city of Augustus. The original name refers to Augustus Caesar who modestly described it as "the sister and rival of Rome itself." Avoid disappointment, don't expect Rome II. But do visit Autun's Portes (Archways) and the Theatre Romain, once the largest arena in Gaul (Roman France) with room for 15,000 spectators. Every August (could that be a coincidence?) traditionally costumed locals put on a period piece. Talking about Napoleon, he and his brother studied at the local military academy, where at age nine the future Emperor first learnt French.

Before reviewing the Burgundy wine and imported cheeses that we were lucky enough to purchase at a local wine store and a local Italian food store, here are a few suggestions of what to eat with indigenous wines when touring this beautiful region. Start with Pate en Croute de Grenouilles au Bleu de Bresse (Frog and Bresse Blue-Cheese Pie). For your second course savor Poulet de Bresse à la Creme-Trompettes de la Mort (Free-Range Bresse Chicken in Creamy Sauce with Horns of Plenty Mushrooms). Read more about Bresse chickens in our article I Love French Wine and Food - A Red Beaujolais. And as dessert indulge yourself with Ile Flottante (Floating Island, a Meringue Island in a Custard Sea.)

OUR WINE REVIEW POLICY All wines that we taste and review are purchased at the full retail price.

Wine Reviewed Pouilly-Vinzelles AOC 'En Paradis' 2003 Louis Latour 12.6% about $18.50

Let's start by quoting the marketing materials. This pretty wine from the Maconnais is pale yellow in color and has a beautiful nose of lemon, honey, apple, and tropical fruit. It is elegant and pleasing revealing hazelnut and fruit flavors on tasting. This wine is perfect for drinking now.

This Chardonnay was fermented in stainless steel tanks and never saw the inside of an oak barrel. The Pouilly-Vinzelles is a not very well-known neighbor of the more expensive Pouilly-Fuisse. And now for the review.

My first meal was a Poulet Chasseur (Chicken Cacciatore) that I was particularly proud of. The wine was very delicate and yet not weak. Its apple flavor expressed itself well. I enjoyed how the wine's acid dealt with the meat's grease, which was relatively low because I cooked the chicken without its skin.

The next meal was more pedestrian. It consisted of chicken legs in a soy, onion, and garlic sauce. The wine was refreshing and pleasant but fairly short.

Continuing to work my way down the food scale, the next pairing involved a baked noodle dish, a cheese-less lasagna with tomatoes, onions, peas, and chicken hamburger. The wine was appley and floral and went very well with the meal, but seemed a bit wasted.

The final meal was disappointing. It consisted of an omelet with brown mushrooms, local provolone cheese, and the fixings. The wine was pleasant but not at all special, in fact it was not particularly present.

The wine and cheese tastings were more successful than usual. The first pairing was with a soft, buttery northern Italian Bel Paese cow's milk cheese. This cheese seemed to intensify the wine's flavor. Then I tried the wine with a French Saint-Aubin, also a soft cow's milk cheese. In its presence the wine became softer.

Final verdict. I'm not sure. This wine was sometimes quite good, but I think it was too expensive. What do you expect from a Burgundy? By the way, the label's term En Paradis was not the least bit justified.

About The Author
Levi Reiss has written, alone or with a co-author, ten books on computers and the Internet. Between you and me, he would rather just drink fine French or other wine, accompanied by the right foods and people. He teaches various and sundry computer classes at an Ontario French-language community college. His major wine website is The Worldwide Wine.

Labels: Burgandy, food, wine