05_007451 ch01.qxp 9/22/06 10:37 AM Page 3 1 The Best of France France presents visitors with an embarrassment of riches—you may find yourself bewildered by all the choices. We’ve tried to make the task easier by compiling a list of our favorite experiences and discoveries. In the following pages, you’ll find the kind of candid advice we’d give our closest friends. 1 The Best Travel Experiences • Hunting for Antiques: The 18th- Burgundy, and the Loire Valley. See and 19th-century French aesthetic chapter 3. was gloriously different from that of • Shopping in Parisian Boutiques: England and North America, and The French guard their image as many objects bear designs with Europe’s most stylish people. The mythological references to the French citadels of Right Bank chic lie on rue experience. France has some 13,000- du Faubourg St-Honoré and its exten- plus antiques shops throughout the sion, rue St-Honoré. The most glam- country. Stop where you see the sign orous shops are along these streets, ANTIQUAIRE or BROCANTE. stretching between the Palais Royal to • Dining Out: The art of dining is the east and the Palais de l’Elysée to serious business in France. Food is as the west. Follow in the footsteps of cerebral as it is sensual. Even casual Coco Chanel, Yves Saint Laurent, bistros with affordable menus are and Karl Lagerfeld on the shopper’s likely to offer fresh seasonal ingredi- tour of a lifetime. See chapter 6. ents in time-tested recipes that may • Exploring the Loire Valley: An add up to a memorable meal. For our excursion to the châteaux dotting the favorite restaurants in France, see valley’s rich fields and forests will “The Best Upscale Restaurants” and familiarize you with the French “The Best Affordable Restaurants,” Renaissance’s architectural aesthetics later in this chapter. and with the intrigues of the kings • Biking in the Countryside: The and their courts. Nothing conjures country that invented La Tour de up the aristocratic ancien régime bet- FranceCOPYRIGHTED offers thousands of options ter MATERIAL than a tour of these landmarks. for bike trips. For a modest charge, See chapter 8. trains in France will carry your • Paying Tribute to Fallen Heroes on bicycle to any point. Euro-Bike & Normandy’s D-Day Beaches: On Walking Tours of DeKalb, Illinois June 6, 1944, the largest armada ever (& 800/321-6060; www.eurobike. assembled departed on rough seas com), offers some of the best excur- and in dense fog from England. For sions, including walking and cycling about a week, the future of the civi- tours of areas such as Provence, lized world hung in a bloody and 05_007451 ch01.qxp 9/22/06 10:37 AM Page 4 4 CHAPTER 1 . THE BEST OF FRANCE brutal balance between the Nazi and • Schussing down the Alps: France Allied armies. Today you’ll find only offers world-class skiing and luxuri- the sticky sands and wind-torn, gray- ous resorts. Our favorites are Cha- green seas of a rather chilly beach. monix, Courchevel, and Megève. But even if you haven’t seen Saving Here you’ll find cliffs only experts Private Ryan or The Longest Day, you should brave, as well as runs for inter- can picture the struggles of deter- mediates and beginners. The après- mined soldiers who paid a terrible ski scene roars into the wee hours. See price to establish a bulkhead on the chapter 15. continent. See “The D-Day Beaches” • Marveling at the Riviera’s Modern- in chapter 9. Art Museums: Since the 1890s, • Climbing to the Heights of Mont- when Signac, Bonnard, and Matisse St-Michel: Straddling the tidal flats discovered St-Tropez, artists and between Normandy and Brittany, their patrons have been drawn to this Gothic marvel is the most spec- the French Riviera. Experience an tacular fortress in northern Europe. unforgettable drive across southern Said to be protected by the archangel Provence, interspersing museum visits Michael, most of it stands as it did with wonderful meals, sunbathing, during the 1200s. See “Mont-St- and stops at the area’s architectural Michel” in chapter 9. and artistic marvels. Highlights are • Touring Burgundy during the Aix-en-Provence (Cézanne’s studio), Grape Gathering: Medieval lore and Biot (the Léger Museum), Cagnes- legend permeate the harvests in Bur- sur-Mer (the Museum of Modern gundy, where thousands of workers Mediterranean Art), Cap d’Antibes (armed with vintner’s shears and (the Grimaldi Château’s Picasso baskets) head over the rolling hills Museum), La Napoule (the Henry to gather the grapes that have made Clews Museum), and Menton (the the region’s wines so famous. You Cocteau Museum). In addition, Nice, can sample the local wines in the St-Paul-de-Vence, and St-Tropez all area restaurants, which always stock have impressive modern-art collec- impressive collections. See chapter 13. tions. See chapters 16 and 17. 2 The Best Romantic Escapes • Deauville (Normandy): Using the windswept Atlantic; and the Belle resort of Deauville to propel herself Epoque architecture help justify the to stardom, Coco Chanel added name of its 8km (5-mile) beach, La greatly to its sense of glamour and Côte d’Amour. See “La Baule” in romance. Try your hand at the casi- chapter 10. nos, ride horses, stroll along the ele- • Talloires (The French Alps): The gant boardwalk, or simply revel in the bracing climate, the history that resort’s sense of style and nostalgia. goes back to the Middle Ages, and the See “Deauville” in chapter 9. Gallic flair of the innkeepers make • La Baule (Brittany): Consider an for a memorable stay. The accommo- escape with your significant other to dations include a converted medieval La Baule, a coastal resort in southern monastery, and the village’s cuisine is Brittany. The salt air; the moody, superb. See “Talloires” in chapter 15. 05_007451 ch01.qxp 9/22/06 10:37 AM Page 5 THE BEST DRIVING TOURS 5 • Les Baux (Provence): During the • St-Tropez (Côte d’Azur): Any blonde Middle Ages, troubadours sang bal- feels like Brigitte Bardot in sunny lads to audiences at the fortress of Les St-Tropez, and the number of scantily Baux. The romantic tradition contin- clad satyrs and nymphs in town dur- ues today, with escapists from all over ing summer could perk up the most congregating in the rocky, arid land- sluggish libido. The real miracle here scapes. The town has an abundance is that the charm of the place manages of romantic hideaways. See “Les to survive its hype and the hordes of Baux” in chapter 16. visitors. See “St-Tropez” in chapter 17. 3 The Best Driving Tours • La Route des Crêtes (Alsace- • The Gorges of the Ardèche (The Lorraine): The Vosges, one of the Rhône Valley): The river that carved oldest mountain ranges in France, these canyons (the Ardèche, a tribu- once formed a boundary with Ger- tary of the Rhône) is the most tem- many. Richly forested with hardwood peramental French waterway: Its ebbs trees and firs, they skirt the western and flows have created the Grand edge of the Rhine and resemble the Canyon of France. Riddled with allu- Black Forest. La Route des Crêtes vial deposits, grottoes, caves, and (the Crest Road), originally chiseled canyons more than 285m (935 ft.) out of the mountains as a supply line, deep, the valley is one of France’s begins west of Colmar, at the Col most unusual geological spectacles. A du Bonhomme. High points are panoramic road (D290) runs along Münster (home of the cheese), Col one rim of the canyons, providing de la Schlucht (a resort with panora- views over a striking, arid landscape. mas as far as the Jura and the Black Plan to park and walk a little on some Forest), and Markstein. At many of the well-marked paths. The drive, points along the way, you can stop which you can do in a day even if and strike out on a well-marked you make frequent stops, stretches hiking trail. See “La Route des between Vallon-Pont-d’Arc and Pont Crêtes” in chapter 12. St-Esprit. See “The Ardèche” in • La Côte d’Or (Burgundy): Stretch- chapter 14. ing only 60km (37 miles) from San- • La Route des Grandes Alpes (The tenay to Dijon, this route is for wine French Alps): One of the most lovers. Rows of terraced vines rise panoramic drives in western Europe in tiers above the D122/N74/D1138 stretches south from the lakefront highways (La Route des Grands town of Evian to coastal Nice. You’ll Crus), passing through the towns of see Alpine uplands, larch forests, gla- Puligny-Montrachet, Volnay, Beaune, ciers, and the foothills of Mont Blanc. Nuits-St-Georges, Vosne-Romanée, Plan on driving 2 to 6 days, stopping Gevrey-Chambertin, and Marsannay- in such towns as Morzine, Avoriaz, la-Côte. Travel at your leisure, stop- Chamonix, and Megève. The route ping to sample the noble vintages covers 740km (460 miles) and crosses (look for the signs sprouting from many of France’s dramatic mountain the sides of the highway). See chap- passes. Some sections are passable ter 13. only in midsummer. See chapter 15. 05_007451 ch01.qxp 9/22/06 10:37 AM Page 6 6 CHAPTER 1 . THE BEST OF FRANCE 4 The Best Châteaux & Palaces • Château de Chantilly/Musée • Château d’Azay-le-Rideau (Loire Condé (Ile de France): Anne de Valley): Visitors thrill to this château’s Montmorency, a constable of France beauty. Poised above the waters of the who advised six monarchs, began this Indre River, it boasts decorative rem- palace in 1560.